Our diets are too high in salt and sodium. The optimal limit for sodium is 1,500 milligrams a day, equivalent to the amount of sodium in about two-thirds of a teaspoon of salt.

Lighten up the salt in a favorite family meal by stocking your pantry with delicious, healthy ingredients that can be the foundation for all of your home cooking.

My favorite way to substitute for salt is to use herbs to enhance flavor: 

• Arugula
• basil
• cilantro
• curry
• fennel
• horseradish
• lemon grass
  
• marjoram
• mustard
• oregano
• parsley
• rosemary
• sage
• tarragon
• thyme

and beyond—fresh or dried, all can add delicious flavor to your meals and side dishes.

I also use foods that are rich in umami, or savoriness. Umami is the fifth taste –the other 4 tastes are salty, sweet, sour and bitter.  Mushrooms of all kinds, tomatoes, carrots and Chinese cabbage are naturally high in umami. Incorporate these foods into your dishes and you will find that you don’t need to add as much salt.

For more tips on how to cut sodium, visit The Nutrition Source.

Photo by Michelle Meiklejohn from freedigitalphotos.net