AlsoSalt Salt Substitute: Taste Test

Sounds good - substitute foods are a great idea. They help people give up the foods that give them health problems without forcing them to give up the things they enjoy about the food itself.

I also rarely add salt to my meals, but I have heard good things about AlsoSalt.

Your friend is not using an ACE inhibitor to control the blood pressure, I hope. If so, the friend should not take potassium or if s/he does, monitor blood levels closely for hyperkalemia which is a risk on ACE inhibitors and other drugs such as Yasmin. I take an ACE inhibitor myself and have been warned to avoid potassium supplementation.

I'm not a fan of substitute products that supposedly allow people to have their cake and eat it too. I can see that there might be some potential for health benefits from this product, but at the end of the day, the only long-term solution is for people to adjust their tastebuds to appreciate the subtle flavours of REAL food.

I did it without even knowing it, slowly removing one "vice" from my diet at a time, until I realised one day that when I ate processed food I didn't enjoy the artificial and extra-salty flavours. I think that the huge array of products like this (salty and sweet) stop people from enjoying real food because they believe their cravings are being satisfied with no apparent consequences.

Are there more ingredients than the two mentioned in the web site.

We bought a "lite" salt made with potassium chloride to cut the sodium when my mom was diagnosed with Meniere's disease and had to go on a very low sodium diet. The lite salt was okay, but it had a strange metallic taste to it from the potassium. I wonder if this stuff is similar. I myself prefer to use sodium-free Mrs. Dash or Pleasoning on my food...it tastes really good and there's no salt.

I think this kind of fake food is silly. Salt is a perfectly good food in moderation.

Since 3/4 of your sodium intake comes from processed food and restaurant food, your first line of defense should be to prepare your own meals. You can liberally use salt and soy sauce in cooking, and still end up cutting your sodium intake in half, while eating good, tasty, salty food.

If at that point your blood pressure is still too high, look to your BMI. Are you fat? If so, losing weight is going to do your blood pressure more good than cutting back on salt.

If you're thin and you don't eat processed food and your blood pressure is still high, at that point these kinds of products may make sense. A better option may to snag a used copy of Craig Claiborne's Gourmet Diet from Amazon or abe.com, and use his clever recipes that use other spices, vinegar, and the like to satisfy without salt -- or fake salt.

The other ingredient mention above is calcium stearate. It is used as an anti-caking ingredient.

I agree with Mark.

Another point is what most consumers do not realize when they purchase refined salt - so that it is pure white and 'pours' - all the good trace minerals are extracted and of course the actual sodium becomes more concentrated. This is why using true unrefined salts such as Himalaya or similar has much lower sodium and in very small amounts is good for you.

Someone brought up the potassium/sodium ratio. This is very important as well as magnesium.

Still another point is that if you are dedicated to drinking at least 2 litres a day of water, then you MUST add a healthy pinch of good salt per litre. This helps keep the electrolites, potassium and other minerals in balance. Without it, one 'pees' the good minerals away.

Too little water, and the body begins to retain it. Add concentrated refined sodium (table salt) to the problem in excess, then of course there is more 'water retention' and one thinks the answer is drink less water.

It is all about the healthy balance. I too am against imitations, but all for educating the masses.

Caramelle-Oh (and anyone who cares): it's EAT your cake and have it too. Big deal if you have a piece of cake and eat it.... the point being made when this expression is used, is that it's *impossible* to eat your cake and still have it.
*sigh*
I love reading posts here, and I beg the indulgence of all for my ridiculous need to correct the misuse of words.

I think the debacle that has occured over artificial fat might be a clue that food substitutes are on their way out. Five years ago our medical office advised a diet close to nature.They made no mention of the word fat or salt. In our low fat world I thought that was odd. I studied on both sides of the fence. I am a true believer that nothing can be substituted. If you believe something is bad, break the habit. Although it can't be done 100%, I believe eating mostly fresh meats and vegatbles or nothing added frozen foods will reduce fat, salt and calories. I think the food processing industry picks up on health advice and distorts it.

@frances - I think you have the truth of it. But in this age market demand drives supply and self-denial is not a popular concept.

@spectra - yes when I tasted the AlsoSalt directly from the jar it did have that slight "metallic" taste to it...

Very interesting observations and very valid about how medication can be impacted but what we eat and what we use as substitutes in our foods. One thing which few people consider is that if they are eating foods rich in potassium and magnesium, the sodium issue would become moot. I had a client approach me for a natural approach to controlling her blood pressure - she didn't like the way the blood pressure pills were making her feel. I ran her a list of vegetables and fruits which are rich in those minerals and told her to review it with her doctor. He approved her dietary adjustments and by the end of the month her blood pressure had returned to levels low enough to forego the medications. It has been 6 months and she is still off all blood pressure meds and doing well.

The average American consumes 4500 mg of sodium a day to 1800 mg of potassium. Unfortunately, the amounts should be reversed. You should be ingesting 4500 mg of potassium to 1800 mg of sodium. One major source of sodium which no one really considers is your drinking water. It is a naturally occuring mineral in your water and we cannot contol what is in our water but we can control what is in our food. So, even if you do eat a low sodium diet that does not give you a true reflection of how much sodium you are ingesting a day.

By eating a nutrient rich diet based on a variety of vegetables and fruits, you take the worry out of eating. At Nutriet Rich (http://www.nutrientrich.com) we provide the guidelines to help you make those choices with the aid of our food classification chart. You can see at a glance which foods provide you with the greatest nutrient density for the least amount of calories. Take a look and see for yourself how easy it is to boost your nutrition!

@diet blog: AlsoSalt needs to be used on food as you would use salt. If you put it directly on your tongue, you can taste a bit of the potassium chloride. But used on or in food, all you taste is the flavor of salt. Our patented process masks the bitter metallic aftertaste that all of the other salts subs have. Plus it is all natural and supplies nutrients that are essential to good health.

This really does taste great, but I am going through so many bottles so fast--can this be bought in bulk? By the pound?