Get the Salt Out (54 page)

342
Better yet, toast raw nuts yourself at home.
Nuts are absolutely scrumptious when you eat them warm right out of the oven; the toasting process intensifies their flavor so much that they really don’t need salt. To make these simple, delicious snacks, spread shelled raw nuts of your choice on a cookie sheet and bake at 275 degrees for 5 to 15 minutes (depending on the size of the nuts). Allow the fragrant and lightly brown nuts to cool slightly before eating. Pecans, almonds, and cashews make particularly tasty toasted nuts.
One Salt Shaker.

343
Don’t be afraid to eat snacks that contain low-sodium protein.
Especially if you’re overweight, a slice or two of lean cooked meat or a hard-boiled egg may be the ideal snack for you. Protein like this increases the metabolism and causes the body to produce glucagon, a hormone that acts like a key to help the body burn fat stores for energy. Carbohydrates like pretzels and chips, on the other hand, cause the body to secrete insulin, a hormone that works in exactly the opposite way, helping to promote fat storage. Instead of eating processed carbohydrates for snacks, eat small amounts of protein. Natural, lean animal protein is lower in sodium than typical snack foods, and it also promotes weight loss better.
One Salt Shaker.

B
everages are so overlooked as important parts of our diets that many clients whom I ask to keep detailed food diaries fail to write down what they drink. Like most people, my clients seem to have a hard time remembering that although liquids seem insignificant, they really have a major impact on our nutritional status and health. Our thirst response is, after all, a call to satisfy the body’s need for water. The body requires water for countless reasons, but often it is needed to be able to flush unnecessary sodium (and other minerals) out of the system.

Unfortunately, far too few of us drink the water we need. Most of the beverages Americans drink—although not high in sodium themselves—actually stress the body’s sodium-balancing mechanisms. Caffeine-, sugar-, and alcohol-containing drinks indirectly hinder the body’s ability to remove any unnecessary salt we may consume. In addition some drinks, such as vegetable juice cocktail, are quite high in salt, placing an additional burden on the body’s sodium-regulating functions. The tips in this section address the importance of the drinks you consume. They’ll help give you the savvy to avoid salty drinks as well as to eliminate those drinks that inhibit the body’s ability to get the salt out.

Unlike beverages that we consume frequently throughout the day, party foods are meant for special occasions. Unfortunately, from what I have seen, parties in this country are often salt-filled events. Whether chips and dip are served, or smoked meat and cheese slices, or upscale hors d’oeuvres, it seems almost impossible to avoid consuming unhealthy levels of sodium at parties. Even normally health-conscious hosts often break their nutritional guidelines and serve refined salty foods at parties because somehow it’s expected. The same often holds true during holidays. I find that hosts often feel pressured to serve overly salted foods for holiday meals, many times because of “tradition.”

The tips in this chapter remind you that traditional festive foods can be vastly improved and needn’t jeopardize your salt-cutting resolutions. Rely on this chapter to use abundantly fresh, flavorful ingredients in the party and holiday foods you prepare, and you can get the refined salt out of them without anyone even noticing.

344
Do not drink the following beverages:
added-sugar-rich fruit juices and soft drinks and caffeine-containing coffee and tea. Although none of these drinks are high in sodium, they all stress the adrenal glands and kidneys, organs that help the body metabolize and excrete sodium properly. An important way to get the unnecessary sodium out is to eliminate drinks that impede these organs’ sodium-regulating functions.

345
Avoid saccharin-sweetened diet drinks.
Although you may think saccharin tastes sweet, it is actually another form
of
sodium
that contributes to our excessive sodium intake. In addition, saccharin in high doses has been shown to cause liver damage and cancer in test animals.

BONUS TIP:
Also steer clear of drinks sweetened with aspartame (NutraSweet). Five deaths and at least seventy different symptoms have been reported to result from the use of aspartame. For more information about the hazards of aspartame, see my book
Get the Sugar Out.

346
At parties, remember to order seltzer or low-sodium bottled water
instead of club soda. (See tips 120, 121, and 123.)
One Salt Shaker.

347
Trying to get extra vegetables in your diet by drinking vegetable juice cocktail?
If so, you’re probably doing your body more harm than good. Hidden in six ounces of V-8 juice—a drink that sounds so healthy—is 625 milligrams of sodium! It’s better to add vegetables elsewhere in your diet and stick to drinking good, old-fashioned water, the beverage we were meant to drink.