Fri September 23, 2011 Why Skipping Salt Is So Hard To Do We all
know too much sodium in our diet can be bad for our health. It
can lead to high blood pressure, heart disease, strokes and
more. The U.S. dietary guidelines made specific recommendations
last year for African Americans to reduce their intake. But why
is it so hard to cut back? There are a number of reasons the
habit is hard to shake, including the fact that fast food and
processed food and restaurant food contain lots of the stuff.
But even when companies try to reduce the sodium in foods, they
run the risk of changing the flavors we like (we hate when they
do that), and, charging us more. So we don't buy them. These are
not great strategies for food companies to pursue in a
recession, says Kantha Shelke, a chemist who runs the food
science consulting company Corvus Blue in Chicago. Food
companies rely on salt for both flavor and its ability to
prevent spoilage. And they use it a lot. "There are three
ingredients one can use when you're a really