The Perils of Salt

Just finished writing an article about sugar myths and realities. Learned a lot, as usual--that's one of the benefits (since money isn't!) of writing for a living. I learn a lot from the research I do for articles.
The Internet is not buzzing so much about sugar and HFCS any more. Now it's salt. Oh, yes. We Americans over-indulge. In sugar. In fat. In calories. In salt. No doubt about it. No arguments here. I'm thinking salt is more of a danger than the others, though. So last night while cooking dinner I really tried to pay attention to how much salt I use. Holy shit. A lot.
First, I don't measure even when I'm following a recipe. And you know how the TV chefs are always telling us to salt as we go along-salt the onions softening in the oil, salt the water liberally before you add the pasta, etc. So I sprinkle and dash and dump salt into everything. And, let's face, salt makes food taste better. Especially chocolate. For you non believers, just add a few crystals the next time you bite into a chocolate candy and you'll see how salt enhances the flavor of chocolate.
Salt is the darling of the chefs and apparently the bane of the medical community right now.
How to cut down on salt? The recommendations are lame just like they are for cutting back on sugar. You've just got to "retrain" your taste buds. Easier said than done. Even if you don't think you "like" salt, you do. Commercially prepared foods, whether canned, frozen, or restaurant food, is very heavily salted. We've grown accustomed to the taste.
I tend to think lots of restaurant food is too salty for my palate but give me one of those fabulous NY soft pretzels rolled in salt and I'm in heaven. The bland starchy pretzel is made very special by the salty crust.
As much as I love french fries, without salt I probably wouldn't eat as many (I'd still eat them...just not as many).
A burger. Love a good rare fatty burger. But without salt, I'd probably pass it up.
Chicken soup is flat without salt. And no amount of herbs can change that.
People, like me, who like chips probably like them for the salt (and the crunch).
Overcoming a salt habit is going to be a lot harder than overcoming a sugar habit.
I'll probably start out by not salting during cooking but salting at the table because right now I do both. I think salting at the table is a better idea because the salt will be more prominent since it will not be dissoved into the food. I don't eat many packaged foods so those don't contribute a lot to my salt intake. Restaurant meals are going to be a challenge. It's not like I can ask the chef to not add salt! How can we manage that one if we eat out a lot? It's easy to control what we do at home. But since most of us eat lots of our meals away from home, it's going to be a challenge.

Fat, Sugar and Salt...Oh, my!

I'm still reading David Kessler's book, The End of Overeating. I thought I'd be finished by now. It's certainly riveting but life intervened. Anyway, I'm back to the book. Can't wait until I get to the part that tells me how to stop being seduced by the fat, sugar and salt the evil food industry has secretly added to the prepared foods I buy.
Yes, even I am sometimes amazed by the number of calories in restaurant and packaged foods. Absolutely floored. I don't think people are ordering the "blooming onion" thinking it's a low cal appetizer but who knew how many calories (1500) were in that crispy delight? And don't you dip the onions in Ranch dressing? If not, you should (NOT).
Since I don't frequent chain restaurants (and in truth, I've never had the "blooming onion" although I've had fried onion rings many times), I've sort of convinced myself that if I order smartly, I'll get something that passes for healthy food. But that's a delusion. Because I've worked in restaurants. I know how food is prepared. And I know that if it tastes really good to me, then it is indeed full of, as Kessler points out, fat, sugar and salt. Because my palate is addicted to fat, sugar and salt.
And that's the main problem for me. Yes, I know when I'm satisfied. I know when I'm overfull. I can look at a burger and get pretty close to guessing the weight. I can control the portion size when it comes to feeling full but I cannot control the urge to eat more sugar, fat and salt.
They've hooked me! I'm addicted. So should I try a slow detox by avoiding certain foods when eating out? Should I avoid eating out all together???? Please, don't suggest that I do that. I can't bear to think about cooking three meals a day every day of every month. I love to cook--just not for the two of us. I like to cook grand meals with many courses involving hundreds of ingredients, lots of utensils and copious amounts of food. But dinner for two. Boring.
And what about food shopping? Trader Joe's, evil Trader Joe's. They tempt me with each new product. Bottled sauces (that I could make on my own) entice me. Curiosity takes hold and I have to buy them even though the label screams salt, sugar and fat at me.
So no restaurants. No supermarkets. No specialty stores. But even my local farmers' market is chock full of temptation--breads, cakes, cookies, tamales, prepared dressings, bbq sauce. Is there no haven for me?