Mia Lane
Salt accompanies us every day in the kitchen: we use it for seasoning, refining, and simply because it tastes good! The spice is not that healthy and can be replaced by alternatives.
The intake of salt through food often happens unconsciously: We absorb the majority through finished products, snacks such as chips and pretzel sticks, but also bread and cheese. In addition to fat and sugar, fast food also contains a lot of salt. Is salt really that unhealthy and how can you easily replace the delicious spice?
Is Salt Unhealthy? That’s why you should replace it!
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends five grams of salt per day for adults, but this is difficult to implement in everyday life. On average, most people take in up to eleven grams of salt through food.
This can have a negative impact on health: high blood pressure in particular is a dangerous risk associated with too much salt, and kidneys and heart are also damaged.
Another negative aspect of salt: it makes you addicted! If there are salty snacks on the table, you can hardly resist and grab them. Also, as you get used to the taste, you need more salt to feel “well seasoned” as you get older.
Salt substitute: These alternatives exist
To reduce your daily salt intake, you can turn to flavorful alternatives that you can use in cooking.
Yeast as a salt substitute
Yeast naturally has an aromatic, spicy taste – which is why it is an excellent substitute for salt. You can use this alternative to season soups, stews or broths in particular.
Yeast flakes, yeast extract and yeast seasoning pastes are commercially available. When buying, make sure that the product in question does not contain any additional table salt.
Herbs and spice mixes as an alternative to salt
Fresh and dried herbs have an intense aroma and add flavor to your dishes. Here you can be sure that you are doing something good for your body, because many herbs contain a lot of vitamin C (such as basil, sorrel, parsley or wild garlic), calcium (oregano, thyme, marjoram) or other nutrients.
Mix different herbs and different spices together to create exciting spice mixtures, so you can completely avoid salt when cooking. For a spice blend that goes well with veggies, mix things like chili, aniseed, dried garlic, cardamom, and nutmeg together!
Reach for low-sodium salt as a substitute
Sodium-reduced salt contains less sodium chloride than regular salt. As a substitute, potassium chloride is in such products.
However, this salt substitute has one disadvantage: it is said to have a slightly bitter aftertaste and taste less salty than normal salt. You may have to decide whether this alternative is suitable for you in a “cooking and seasoning test”.
Celery as a salt substitute
Did you know that celery can taste like a natural and healthy glutamate substitute? Drying concentrates the aroma of the vegetables and creates a universal seasoning that, as natural glutamate, can be used in a variety of hearty dishes. An effective flavor enhancer that does not require any chemicals.
There are powders from the different parts of the plant: celery bulb or celery root, celery leaf and celery seed. The tuber and leaves are used for seasoning. Other salty vegetables such as parsley, chard, radishes, beet greens can also be used in powder form as a salt substitute.
Miso: Do you already know this salt alternative?
Miso consists of fermented soybeans, rice or chickpeas. You can use miso as a seasoning paste instead of salt!
Miso also contains salt, but this is used differently by the body and does not damage the arteries!
