Stop drinking soda for salt reasons!

If you're going to give up some salt, perhaps you should also give up soda. Yes, even diet soda. Diet soda has 2% of your daily intake of salt based on a 2000 calorie per day diet. If you are trying to switch to a heart healty diet of 1800 mg of salt per day, I'd suggest doubling that to get a sense of how close you are to reaching your goal.

I'm sure you're thinking that 2% or even 4% of your daily value is not that bad. Except you probably didn't realize this means that you are actually drinking 8% of your daily value in one can. There are two servings per 12 oz can.

If you start thinking in terms of how many of these 6oz servings are in a refillable cup or a 32 oz serving that is now the norm, you are in trouble if you are trying to cut your level of sodium!

The anti-soda sentiment is on the upswing. I haven't even begun to expound upon all the harmful chemicals in the soda we drink. Drinking regular soda isn't better. Have a read of this article from Yahoo Health, 3 Shocking Soda Facts .

Gotta Cook Tonight seasoning by Urban Accents

I'm always trying to find options which are very low in sodium - especially since you can't always control how much sodium is in prepared sauces. Sometimes it's shocking just how much sodium there can be in a sauce.

Gotta Cook Tonight Santa Fe Mole - This pre-packaged mix packet has only 2% of your daily value of sodium per serving. That's great!

Gotta Cook Tonight has other sauces which have very low or no sodium at all.

Their others sauces include:
Morroccan Tagine
Hungarian Goulash
Puttanesca
Madras Curry
Tandoori

I'm looking forward to trying the curry, tandoori, tagine, and mole! YUM!

Check out more info here: http://www.urbanaccents.com/Gotta-Cook-Tonight-s/31.htm

Kudos to them-except for mispelling mole.

I say mole, you say molé - what is the right spelling?

The correct spelling of mole is just that - MOLE.

I know you're thinking a rodent is a mole that digs hole.

I know you might think a mole is a unit of measurement in scientific chemical terms.

But that's how mole is spelled. It's pronounced MOH-LEH.

If you ever see molé with an accent over the e, it is just plain wrong. Spelling it molé makes people think that they have made it Mexican by adding the accent. It could come from olé which you shout at a bullfight.

Unsalted dining: Five Guys Burgers and Fries

If you need advice on salt-free friendly places, this blog is the place to be.

Well Five Guys is definitely a salt-free friendly kind of place. When I got to the counter and asked them not to salt the patty, the lady at the counter said, "We don't salt our patties." AWESOME!! (You should still ask, as other locations may have a different policy in terms of salting the patties. I asked for no salt on the fries and it was no problem for them.

Never fear: You can still get salt in ketchup and other condiments, but you will, at least, be able to cut back. Beware of the amount of sodium in condiments, but that's another story!!

The burger was delicious!!! It was hand formed, not precut and frozen!!! The fries were tender on the inside!

WARNING: PEANUT ALLERGY SUFFERERS BEWARE!!! Five Guys has peanuts as an appetizer while you wait AND cook their french fries in peanut oil. I wonder if they have epi-pens in case of emergency.

NOTE: Unsalted does not equal no sodium. There can still be sodium in the bread and condiments.

Superbugs and superweeds invade Monsanto's crops!

Not concerned about genetically engineered foods and crops? You should be!! Here is a report about the weeds and insects which have developed resistance to what is supposed to kill them.


1. Nature cannot stand a monoculture. And that's usually how crops are planted nowadays for ease of mechanized farming.

2. If you mess with Mother Nature, she will find a way to strike back. It's really not surprising that some plants and insects might be resistant to herbicides and insecticides.

In case you need proof, here it is:
http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Environment/documents/2011/10/19/GMOEMPEROR.pdf

The Non=GMO Shopping Guide

If you are concerned about genetically modified ingredients, so am I. I don't want to support devious attempts to increase profit margin by creating Frankencrops.

Certainly, some engineering has been acceptable. Grafting and natural hybridiation have been acceptable, though mules proved to be a genetic dead end due to infertility. Instead of learning that nature is best left to its own devices, mankind continues to tamper with bad results. I want to un-salt and un-GMO myself to the greatest degree possible.

Cast your opinion by how you shop.

http://mercola.fileburst.com/PDF/GMObrochure.pdf

Less salt = fewer heart attacks!

In a recent study by the New England Journal of Medicine, scientists found that if everyone reduced salt intake by a half a teaspoon per day, there would be between 54,000 and 99,000 fewer heart attacks each year and between 44,000 and 92,000 fewer deaths.

An overwhelming 75 percent or more of our daily sodium comes from processed foods (canned, packaged or frozen items, deli meats, prepared take-home dishes) and meals eaten at restaurants—from fast food to fine dining. Eating fresh whole foods and cooking more at home is definitely the way to go.

This most certainly has your mind on the same thing I have my mind on. Where can I cut out salt? How can I make food still taste good?

Well, that's what this blog is about. So please subscribe or friend me and keep coming back!

In case you're curious, here is the study: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa0907355