Sodium

[jayfurr]

To the best of my knowledge, I don't really have a problem with sodium in food, not like my mom whose chronic high blood pressure is exacerbated by sodium and who started cooking almost salt-free decades ago (which is why my wife found my cooking curiously lacking in the first few years of our relationship... I had learned to do without much salt in food).

In fact, my blood pressure is excellent -- 113 over 70, stuff like that. When I'm rested and not stressed, anyway.

But that being said, I really wish that the makers of vegetarian meat substitutes -- the Morningstar Farms, Boca, Gardenburgers people, to say nothing of niche vendors like Helen's Kitchen and Amy's and so forth, did not load their products full-to-the-brim of sodium. I assume they use the extra salt to make them more, um, 'satisfying', or something. But for the love of Grod, if I find them uncomfortably bland I could always put some mustard on them. I don't need to be walking around with half the output of the Dead Sea in my blood system just because I ate 360 calories worth of Morningstar Farms Grillers California Turk'y patties.

Comments

[birdnut.livejournal.com]

My gripe about that sort of altered food is the peppery or spicy additives to anything in a low- or no-fat version, like salad dressing. So I try to use less of the full-fat type instead. The last few years, along with trying for lower fat and higher fiber in general, I've been trying to eat fewer processed foods and less refined sugar. (Not always 100% successful, but I do make the effort.) One of my friends says you shouldn't eat a food product whose ingredients you can't pronounce, and another says not to eat a packaged food with more than 5 ingredients!

[jhvilas.livejournal.com]

Another thing they do to get flavor out of flavorless "healthy" foods is jack up the sugar (although that prolly doesn't wind up happening so much in meat substitutes. But it seems they're kinda robing Peter to pay Paul.

I remember MG and I once bought some low-fat cookies to try. The only way they tasted any good was when I put butter on them. :)

[jayfurr.livejournal.com]

Yup. You're right. I haven't found that to be a huge problem with the stuff I eat, but I do know that Consumer Reports has flagged a lot of allegedly "low fat" foods as actually being WORSE for you than the regular version because they load it up with sugar and other crap.