Herbs and spices a good alternative to salt
ESCANABA – Are you getting too much sodium in your diet? Do you know how much sodium you should be eating?
These are two very important questions to ask yourself as you look to a healthier diet. Too much sodium in your diet can lead to high blood pressure. Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide, and high blood pressure is a major risk factor as stated by the American Heart Association.
The average person only needs 200 mg of sodium in his/her diet for the proper functioning of their body. The American Heart Association recently updated its recommendation for the daily allowance of sodium from 2300mg to 1500mg.
Sodium-related terms are important to understand as you navigate your way through the supermarket. Sodium-free products contain less than 5mg of sodium per serving. Very low-sodium products have 35 mg or less per serving. Low-sodium products have 140mg or less per serving. And, if a package states light in sodium it is reduced by at least 50 percent per serving.
Food labels cannot claim a product is healthy if it exceeds 480mg of sodium per reference amount, according to the US Food and Drug Administration and the US Department of Agriculture.
It does not take much salt to get our daily allowance of sodium. One-fourth teaspoon of salt contains 600mg of sodium while 1/2 teaspoon of salt contains 1200mg of sodium. Most of our daily sodium intake comes from prepackaged foods.
So what can you do to reduce your sodium and spice up your meals? Add herbs and spices. Many of us don’t add spices because we are not familiar with all of the options and how to use them. Herbs are leaves of low growing shrubs. Examples of herbs are parsley, chives, marjoram, thyme, basil, caraway, dill, oregano, rosemary, savory, sage, and celery leaves. These can be used fresh or dried.
Spices come from the bark (cinnamon), root (ginger, onion, garlic), buds (cloves, saffron), seeds (yellow mustard, poppy, sesame), berry (black pepper), or the fruit (allspice, paprika) of tropical plants and trees.
Depending on the food you are preparing will help you determine which herb or spice to add. For meat, poultry, and fish try adding curry powder, garlic, rosemary, sage, thyme, dill or poultry seasoning. For vegetables try experimenting with cinnamon, cloves, dill, ginger, marjoram, nutmeg, rosemary, and sage.
Some cultures have a preference in which spices they use, Italian cooking uses oregano, Mexican cooking uses cilantro, Chinese cooking uses ginger, and French cooking uses marjoram.
How long should you keep your herbs and spices? As a general rule keep herbs or ground spices for one year and for whole spices keep for two years. If a spice or herb smells strong and flavorful, it is probably still potent.
To contact an expert in your area, visit people.msue.msu.edu, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).
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Julie Moberg is director of the Delta County MSU Extension. Her columns run occasionally in the Daily Press. The Michigan State University Extension Office is located at 2840 College Ave., Escanaba; phone: (906) 786-3032.
Bill & Sheila’s A-Z of herbs
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