Krishan Bakhru

Low Salt Diets

In my opinion salt free diets are amongst the worst type of diets there are. I like my food to be properly salted and spiced before I eat. This doesn’t mean that I liberally shake the salt shaker over my food every time I sit down to a meal. It just means that when I cook I add the right amount of salt for my food to taste good.

If I go to a restaurant I taste my food first to see whether I need a little added salt, I don’t go and start shaking the salt over my dish the minute it’s put in front of me. Now that’s a bad habit and will ruin even the most glorious dishes.

Unfortunately, for people who suffer from certain medical conditions they have no choice but to stick with these salt free diets. These conditions can include high blood pressure or hypertension as it can be called, kidney disease, impaired liver functions, and also people with heart problems.

People who are overweight should also stay away from too much salt intake. But if you suffer from something like a hypothyroid condition, or cystic fibrosis should not reduce your salt intake and therefore salt reduced diets would not be good for you. In the case of people with a hypothyroid condition iodized salt may be their only form of iodine and should not be stopped.

If you sweat a lot, or live in a hot and humid place then you shouldn’t really reduce your salt intake as your body will lose salt through your sweat. In actuality you really shouldn’t go on any salt free diets unless you’re instructed to by your doctor.

However if you are required to go on salt free diets there is still some hope left as it is mainly table salts that are bad for you. Salts, otherwise known as sodium, which don’t contain chloride like MSG, or baking soda are good for you.

You should also be able to include in your diet such foods as pastas, rice, oats, and fresh fruits and vegetables Additionally, although you should ideally stay away from pre-packaged and processed foods, you can look into the ones that are labeled "salt free", or "low sodium". These can fit very nicely into your salt free diets although you should always ask your doctor first before changing your diet.

If you are on low salt diets though there are some foods that you should really avoid and these can include processed meats, butter, most processed and pre-packaged foods, along with cereals, ketchup and cheese. Table salt is naturally, a no-no. You really wouldn’t want to blow your low salt diets by including this item into your meals!

Article Tags: Salt Free Diets, Salt Diets, Salt Free, Free Diets, Salt Intake

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