Category: - Make Simple Vegan Meals

Less Salt at Boston Market Benefits Consumers

8/21/2012

A key theme of theme of this blog is find ways to reduce salt in our daily diets. One of the best ways to do this is to cook fresh food at home and eat less packaged and processed meals. Another way to do this is to eat out less or ask the server for no extra salt when ordering in a restaurant. For those who eat at Boston Market, a big brand in the fast casual dining category, it appears to have become easier to have a low sodium meal.

The restaurant chain, which is based in Golden, Colorado, will reduce sodium in three dishes by 20% in the next several months and also remove salt shakers from the tables according to this article. In addition, all other dishes could have 15% less sodium in a few years.

While Boston Market is not a vegan restaurant, it is helping to lower the exposure of its customers to sodium which can benefit their health. The CDC indicates that 2,300 mg of sodium per day is the maximum recommended amount to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke. The chain is helping its customers stay under this limit and hopefully set an example for the industry.

Love the Food that Loves You Back

8/2/2012

Dr. David Katz writes in this article for the Huffington Post that the patterns of healthy eating are well defined, based on evidence, and have profound health benefits. The healthy eating pattern is to consume "foods close to nature, minimally processed, mostly plants." Further this pattern is correlated to "less sugar intake, less sodium intake, and lower calorie intake."

Many people avoid healthy eating because the food may not taste as good as what they are used to, foods high in sodium, sugar, and calories, all of which, when taken in excess, can be harmful to health in the long term.

But, as the article explains, tastes buds can adapt. In fact, taste buds can learn to enjoy healthy unprocessed foods in time by eating more natural home-cooked meals. I've experienced this myself. I definitely ate a lot of processed foods before becoming vegan. Even when I started out as a vegetarian before becoming vegan, I ate veggie pizzas, garden burgers from the store, and a lot of other food products that were quick to prepare or just convenient. After a while, I noticed that I wasn't feeling that great, even though I was living primarily on a plant-based diet.

They key was to reduce sodium and sugars. Lately, I've stopped buying processed convenience foods. Some of the ingredients I buy for cooking are processed, such as tofu, coconut milk, tomato products, olive oil, and vinegar. But consuming an entire processed meal is something I avoid and it made me feel better. Further, by reducing salt slowly and learning to enjoy the natural flavor of foods, I didn't miss sodium and realized that it's a very harsh seasoning ingredient. The same applies to sugar. One could contend that my journey to becoming vegan was part of a bigger journey to eliminate salt and sugar from my diet which may be one of the best health habits.

When you reduce the amount of salt and sugar, you actually start eating less because the food becomes less addicting. Salt and sugar encourage you to take another bite quickly, even when your stomach has been filled. So weight control becomes easier to accomplish when these two ingredients are removed.

With all of this, it's important to understand that the human body adapts. So why not have it adapt to a healthy way of eating. It will love you back for doing so!

Sodium Levels in Fast Food Meals - Useful Comparisons for All Diets

6/6/2012

Sodium reduction in our diets is a large theme of this blog. Whether you are vegan or not, reducing sodium intake is hard to do. Sodium is prevalent is almost all processed foods, unless they indicate that there is 'no salt added' (such as in canned beans, vegetables, or tomato products). The maximum daily amount of sodium recommended by the USDA is 2,300 mg which is about a teaspoon of salt. Most people consume much more than that. Products which contribute to sodium build up are bread, cheese, condiments, salad dressing, and many other processed foods. Diets high in sodium can lead to elevated blood pressure levels which can cause health complications over time.
This video from the Today Show does a good job of comparing fast food meals based on sodium levels with some interesting and useful results which can be applied to anyone's diet. (Please note, there is a 30 second commercial at the beginning of this clip.)

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Cut Your Consumption for a Healthier Body!

2/9/2012

Most sodium doesn't come from your salt shaker! Sodium is used in so many prepared foods which, when consumed frequently, results in exceeding the daily sodium allowance recommended by dietitians for maintaining good health. Even when food doesn't taste salty, it still may contain large amounts of sodium.

The CDC recently published a report on the top 10 foods that contain the highest levels of sodium. The results are discussed in this article from the AP.

Bread is now the number one contributor to sodium in our diets based on the level of sodium per serving and the number of servings eaten on an average day by people in the study.This is not surprising. Packaged bread from supermarkets contain too much salt. Further, artisan breads from specialty stores or farmer's markets may also contain high levels of sodium. This includes bagels as well. Interestingly, some brands of potato chips and other snack foods we commonly associate with high salt levels were lower on the list than bread products.

So, try reducing the amount of bread eaten during the day. For example, if you have a sandwich, take the top slice off and eat it "open-faced". Same thing if you are making a veggie burger or soy dog. Based on the recommendations of many nutritionists, doing so can help improve long term health and also reduce your caloric intake. Make an honest effort to read labels on breads before you buy.

Sodium to Potassium Ratio - An Important Balance

1/2/2012

I'm continuing on a low salt, low sodium campaign in my blog. This is a very comprehensive article about sodium and health. It illuminates an interesting correlation - sodium and potassium. Potassium may balance, to some degree, the bad effects of high sodium intake. Also, according to the article, the human body only needs 220 mg of salt per day, but the average American intake is around 3400 mg, mostly from processed and packaged foods. It urges everyone to reduce sodium levels in our daily diets. Good advice!
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/27/health/high-sodium-to-potassium-ratio-in-diet-is-a-major-heart-risk.html?emc=eta1

Creating Flavor with Spices

12/29/2011

One way I enjoy eating vegetables is to give them robust seasoning with flavorful spices. The right seasoning takes any meal from good to memorable. There are many ways to season a meal and it can be done without adding salt. Also, spices have many health benefits. This article lists some great spices and details their healthy benefits.
http://www.eatingwell.com/blogs/health_blog/8_of_the_world_s_healthiest_spices_herbs_you_should_be_eating

Does Preference for Salt Start During Infancy?

12/22/2011

A major theme for me in cooking and eating is the reduction of sodium. Without constantly watching the amount of sodium used in the foods we consume, our intake levels usually surpass the daily recommended amount. When cooking meals at home, it's easy to control, however, it's also easy to add salt when cooking or serving. It's very difficult to control the salt levels when eating out, even when you ask the server to notify the cooks to add no extra salt to the meals.

The research study in the article concludes that preference for salt may start during infancy based on the foods that babies are given. It is possible to reeducate your taste buds at any time to enjoy the flavor of food without the presence of salt. However, it becomes more difficult if you've been conditioned to the taste of salt from infancy. The test results from the research project are kind of interesting.
http://www.foodnavigator.com/Science-Nutrition/Preference-for-salt-may-begin-in-the-cradle-scientists-warn

Eating Less Salt

12/9/2011

Eating vegan or vegetarian meals is usually healthy. However, if the amount of salt used to prepare the meals is not reduced as well, you may not be getting the full nutritional impact of the food. Generally, we consume much more salt than is needed. This video from the CDC provides some useful information.