Spice Up Your Life — Without Salt

Monday, October 09, 2006

ROCHESTER, Minn. — If you're working to lower your blood pressure, your doctor has probably told you to cut back on the salt.

With new approaches to seasoning — and some cupboard cleaning — you can reduce salt consumption and still have flavorful foods.

Start by tossing out the table salt and any salt seasonings such as garlic, onion and celery salts. Don't forget to check the lemon pepper, which often has added salt. It's a good time to pass on "light salt" products, too, such as bouillon cubes, meat tenderizers, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, teriyaki sauce, oyster sauces, fish sauce and miso. Packaged taco, gravy, salad dressing, soup and chili mixes also can be high in sodium.

Stock your cupboard with garlic and onion powders, dry mustard and plain black pepper. Keep fresh garlic, onion and herbs on hand as well as lemon juice or fresh lemon, vinegar and salt-free seasoning blends. Replace condiments — ketchup, mustard, barbecue sauce — with salt-free varieties. Use regular table wine instead of cooking wine, which has added salt.

Then, get creative. Flavor meats and vegetables with combinations of herbs with oil, vinegar, lemon juice or table wine. Let the mixture sit for an hour before brushing it on food as it cooks. Or, brush meat with oil, sprinkle on fresh herbs and refrigerate an hour before cooking.

The October issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter suggests spices and herbs to season and enhance the foods without salt. Here's a sampling:

Meats: Poultry — paprika, fresh mushrooms, thyme, sage, parsley, dill, cilantro, lemon, rosemary. Fish — dry mustard, paprika, curry, bay leaf, lemon juice, fresh mushrooms, cilantro, dill, tarragon, marjoram. Beef — dry mustard, marjoram, nutmeg, onion, garlic, sage, thyme, pepper, bay leaf, fresh mushrooms, rosemary, balsamic vinegar, fresh ground horseradish.

Vegetables: Asparagus — lemon juice, toasted sesame seeds Carrots — parsley, mint, nutmeg, dill Green beans — lemon juice, marjoram, nutmeg, garlic, onion Squash — ginger, honey Tomatoes — basil, sage, garlic, green pepper, onion, oregano, chives

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About Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic is the first and largest integrated, not-for-profit group practice in the world. Doctors from every medical specialty work together to care for patients, joined by common systems and a philosophy of "the needs of the patient come first." More than 3,700 physicians, scientists and researchers and 50,100 allied health staff work at Mayo Clinic, which has sites in Rochester, Minn; Jacksonville, Fla; and Scottsdale/Phoenix, Ariz. and community based providers in more than 70 locations in Southern Minn., Western Wis. and Northeast Iowa. These locations treat more than half a million people each year. To obtain the latest news releases from Mayo Clinic, go to www.mayoclinic.org/news. For information about research and education, visit www.mayo.edu. MayoClinic.com is available as a resource for your health stories.