THE NEW YORK TIMES – Salt is magical: It can reduce bitterness, increase sweetness and enhance overall flavor. But 90 percent of people in the United States eat too much of it.
The U.S. dietary guidelines recommend that adults consume no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium each day, but the average American consumes 3,400 milligrams, increasing their risk of heart disease, strokes, kidney issues and death.
The good news is that you can retrain your palate to crave less salt, but many people don’t know where to begin. So we asked experts for their best tips and tricks.
Deepen flavor with less salt.
In general, taste follows two flavor-sensing pathways: one for sour and salty and another for sweet, bitter and umami.
So you can use lemon juice, apple cider vinegar and other sour ingredients to make food taste saltier, said Yanina Pepino, a professor of nutrition at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
If you like to cook, take advantage of the Maillard reaction — the browning process where dry heat creates hundreds of new flavor compounds.
This reaction can make the existing salt in your food pop without increasing the amount of sodium you consume, Dr. Pepino said.
So try searing meat, roasting vegetables and toasting nuts to build deep, savory flavors without extra sodium.
Also, you can try cutting back on the salt while cooking, and add a tiny bit right before you take a bite.
“The flavor you get is when something first hits your tongue,” said Dr. Bruce Neal, executive director of the George Institute for Global Health, Australia. So, the most economical place to salt food is on its surface.
Test out potassium salt.
To cut the downsides of table salt, try potassium salt. Potassium allows your blood vessels to relax and helps your kidneys flush out extra sodium, but 72 percent of Americans don’t get enough …
