Salt Intake

[SJJ]

Anna,
Although it's certainly true that Southerners traditionally will fry just about anything and cook with lots of butter, fat and sugar, I think it's safe to say that all the folks posting on this forum eat a heart healthy diet. We're just playing around. I'm originally from Indiana but moved south when I married my sweetie 27 years ago. My mother-in-law was an excellent cook and made corn pones with lots of bacon grease thrown in that were to die for, ( yeah, I probably mean that literally too). We've been eating a low fat, high fruit and veggie diet in our house for over 15 years but that doesn't mean I don't look wistfully at homemade biscuits, fried catfish, fried okra and fried green tomatoes.....I've just learned to keep moving on.
Sue

 

[hensylee]

grits - very coarse ground corn, not like corn meal which is finely ground corn. Cooked in water and salt. Served with eggs, fried, scrambled - and breakfast meat, if desired. LOts of recipes out there for variations of grits dishes, but the old way is the best and tried and true.

Notice Nancy has not posted here - we all know salt is a cuss word in her house, right Nancy? You could give us all lessons on this subject. Our diets require a bit of salt, but we could all do without it mostly. In our town, an Indian (from India) doctor's favorite directions to patients - 'no salt, no salt'.

 

[epstns]

Wow! I'm stunned at all the culinary excess evident here. . .

We've also been on a low fat, low cholesteral, low sodium regimen at our house for the past 20 years or so. We're still both on meds for blood pressure, but we hope the diet has helped keep it under control. We do not have a salt shaker on our table unless a guest asks for it. I do notice that if I eat something higher than normal in sodium (like turkey hot dogs), I'll pick up a couple of unwanted pounds of water for a couple of days until I work it off. Makes me feel yucky -- I guess I now understand bloating first-hand.

 

[Jean]

This Indiana girl likes her grits with a pat of real butter and a swirl of real maple syrup...that is how my daddy who was from Florida ate them.

Sweet tea...I love it. Have tried to make it at home and just never do as good as they do down south.

 

[Gemma]

Just reading a few threads here I noticed some of you are talking about sodium and some about salt - if I remember rightly the sodium content of food is about a third of how much salt is in it. Over here the guidelines for salt intake for healthy adults are 5g (ie 5000mg) for women and 7g (7000mg for men) - but we like our bacon butties so maybe they're trying to cut down the nation's salt intake gradually. You all know what a bacon butty is, right?
Mind you, even the healthy stuff can be salty - I had a low-fat, no added sugar fromage frais the other day and was amazed to discover than in that one small 100g pot there was 1.5g of salt Won't be eating that again!!

 

[Granbonny]

Take this with a grain of salt lol

Take this with a grain of salt lol

I read that in healthy people, their kidney's efficiently process any excess sodium that your body doesn't need. As much salt as my Daddy eats, he also drinks lots of water. Fills a glass while coffee is making and drinks it, refills all day. Marge, He lives in Alabama and I guess the people who wrote the booklet at UAB..knew that Alabama people work hard outside in the heat.. Sweat, drink water, ect. so they can take a little more salt. I know Daddy walks a mile before breakfast and cuts the grass with a push-lawn mower. And in the heat. When I drive over from Spring until Fall and get out of a/c in car..I almost faint from the humid, hot air..Bonnie

 

[hensylee]

Just reading a few threads here I noticed some of you are talking about sodium and some about salt - if I remember rightly the sodium content of food is about a third of how much salt is in it. Over here the guidelines for salt intake for healthy adults are 5g (ie 5000mg) for women and 7g (7000mg for men) - but we like our bacon butties so maybe they're trying to cut down the nation's salt intake gradually. You all know what a bacon butty is, right?
Mind you, even the healthy stuff can be salty - I had a low-fat, no added sugar fromage frais the other day and was amazed to discover than in that one small 100g pot there was 1.5g of salt Won't be eating that again!!

er - un - uh, no - butties? Same thing as a rasher - or slice?

 

[Lisa]

Yes, Bill. Here in the south we grow up eatin' (that's how you pronounce 'eating' down here) grits. Bob is correct in that, they do not require bacon, cheese, etc. if they are prepared correctly. And most often you will not get a good bowl in a restaurant. Having said that, a bowl of grits WITH the bacon and cheese is heavenly...OMG..I feel my arteries clog.

We have a waterfront restaurant in the heart of Pensacola, The Fish House....and you guessed it, the specialty is Grits a Ya-Ya. It's blackened gulf shrimp on a bed of smoked gouda cheese grits..topped with a bit of spinach and mushrooms...yummy. My husband and I enjoy fine dining...and incredibly, the plate of grits offered at The Fish House...IS. Especially with a good glass of wine.

Oh yeah, you're right about the iced tea thing. Don't know why it became 'sweet tea' instead of 'sweetened tea'....or 'unsweet' instead of 'unsweetened'....

 

[tobagotwo]

Pensacola, The Fish House. I have to get there. That sounds fantastic.

I thought rashers meant bacon, and bangers were sausages. Butties are what - pork butts? fat back?

I can't imagine eating 7g of salt. I can't eat more than a small slice or two of ham, even after it's been boiled with potatoes to get the salt out. Or corned beef (although I used to like the weird, counterfeit Argentine and Brazillian corned beef in the key-opened cans when I was a kid). I also don't have a salt shaker at the table, except for corn on the cob, and then lightly.

And yet, I have no actual, known problem with salt. I wasn't even on diuretics for the AVR, and only had the special socks on for a few hours before they said I could take them off, as I didn't need them.

I think lowered salt in general is a good thing. I do see a shocking number of people who ritually heavily salt their food, without even the courtesy of tasting it. Some TV chefs salt and pepper ("season") everything they make so heavily, you begin to wonder how they can taste anything else.

Conversely, about three years ago, I read that the AHA admitted that less than 50% of the people who were on so-called "sodium-free" or severely restricted salt diets received any benefit for their efforts. Sodium does not affect everyone's blood pressure, including that of many people who have high blood pressure. How can you tell if you're one of them? I don't know. Probably not worth being wrong about.

For me, sodium weakness comes in the form of a fine, well-aged Vermont Cheddar cheese. Cabot Special Reserve. Grafton 5-star.

C'est la fromage...

 

[Granbonny]

www.saltinstitute.org

www.saltinstitute.org

Has a great link..forum..on What you always wanted to know about salt..I liked the one about..Do studies show cutting salt reduces heart attacks..Bob, I believe one study showed cutting salt for b/p only lasted for 6 months....Good news, just talked to my daddy (age 90) and said he did not buy bacon or potato chips when he went to store Monday.. Brother took his b/p and was 145/80.. Mine is 140/78 ..top part..fat, not enough exercise, ect..but am walking more and more.. Is it a myth..I heard to multiply your age by 10 and that would be o.k. for top part of b/p That would make mine 164 Also, heard that in Africa a bag of salt is like a bag of gold. Why?.. Also, when we had a condo in high Blue Ridge Mountains..saw photos of people with huge growths hanging from their throats. Lack of iodine in soil.. In the old days in South meat was covered in salt to cure and was put in smokehouses . I remember that from my Grandfather's home in Alabama.. Cabbage, cucumbers were put in crockpots with LOTS of salt to make brine. I'm sure these men and women needed good hearty food for the hard work they did everyday.. I doubt if any of them ever saw a doctor. Bonnie

 

[Abbanabba]

We've been eating a low fat, high fruit and veggie diet in our house for over 15 years but that doesn't mean I don't look wistfully at homemade biscuits, fried catfish, fried okra and fried green tomatoes.....I've just learned to keep moving on.

When I was growing up, we were only allowed "junk" food maybe 2-3 times a year and because I come from farming folk, everything we ate was pretty much made from scratch from fresh produce. As much as I don't mind the occasional splurge on the "good" stuff, a little sure does go a looooong way!! The funny thing is, I'm doing a test next week to see if I need to be put on sodium tablets to increase my BP!! So much for the "heart-healty" diet!

By the way, great photo Sue!!!

Cheers
Anna : )

 

[SJJ]

By the way, great photo Sue!!!

Thanks Anna. I've had a digital camera for a few months now but am just now getting around to trying it out. I listened to Garrison Keillor(Prairie Home Companion) for a long time on the radio before I saw him on television. It was very disconcerting as he didn't look at all like the man I had fashioned in my mind from his voice. It was so much fun "seeing" Lisa after all this time that I thought it was time to post my pix as well (only with an assist from Ross, I'm chagrined to say.)
Sue

 

[Ross]

Y'all worry too much about food. Eat, drink, and be merry. Life is too short not to enjoy all things. If you want that cholesterol laden cheeseburger, have one. Want a fruit cup, have one. Don't be so Atkins like. If I could put my Foamy the Squirrel video on here without problems, I would. Don't make me send Foamy after you.

 

[Les]

Exactly, Ross...
To quote Ray Charles: "Live Each Day As If It's Your Last...Because One Of These Days, You're Going To Be Right."

 

[catwoman]

Maybe we should send Anna a package of grits? Instant or regular?

My parents (dad from NY & RI and mom a native Texan) moved to Dallas TX from Milwaukee WI when I was 6MO. However, I never had grits until the family drove to Miami FL on vacation when I was 15 or 16. Grits just weren't on the menus in Texas restaurants back then and you still don't find them on all menus now in our part of TX.

Friend in college didn't just salt her food -- she poured a mountain on everything. You could see a little white mountain building up! I occasionally wonder if she's still among the living...

Sue: Great photo!

 

[Granbonny]

Les...This is not a Dress Rehearsal Going out for lunch after Hubby's Dr. appointment..Hummmm..wonder if we should go to one of the famous Southern Buffets..Fried Chicken, Bar-be-cue..Fish fried or baked..Bean, peas, cole slaw many salads, desserts...Fried okra mac and cheese, cornbrean ..Yeast rolls, tomatoes, Country fried steak and gravy, rice...corn, squash Nope. I'm on a diet. staying this time. Oh shoot. Bonnie

 

[Les]

Les...This is not a Dress Rehearsal
It isn't?

 

[catwoman]

Bonnie:
You're making me want some of my late grandmother's wonderful chicken and dumplings? The dumplings were rolled out, very thin, cut into strips. Wonderful.... Stuff they have at Cracker Barrel is very thick and almost chewy.
When we were kids, my mom made the "good stuff" when my dad was on business trips -- chicken and dumplings, pinto beans, fried (not chicken-fried) steak, poke salet (I think that's the correct spelling), black-eyed peas, cornbread dressing.

Hmmmm. I'm sitting here eating grilled salmon, veggies, rice and salad. Good for the heart, but what's it do for the soul???

 

[tobagotwo]

Jean, where did your daddy get maple syrup in Florida? It requires frozen nights with warm spring days - New England weather. The sap goes into the roots on the cold nights, and brings up the sugar into the tree during the warm days.

I used to tap 350-year-old Sugar maple trees on our property in Southampton, Massachusetts. The trees can't really be tapped well until they're at least 100, so these were planted before the American Revolution.

My brother and I would carry the buckets of sap across the street to Mr. Green, a 90-year-old man, who had no sugar maple trees. He had a sugar shack, though. We fed that wood fire for weeks, boiling down that sap to make our own maple syrup. It takes from 40 to 200 gallons of sap to make a gallon of syrup, or a small amount of maple sugar.

We used to take a ladleful from the tank every now and then and put it over snow, and eat it like a snow cone. The best maple syrup is dark, as the particulate matter usually improves the flavor. Also, if you want to be certain of the quality, get Vermont maple syrup, as it is the only syrup regulated by the state.

OK. Where did that come from? Dementia can't be far behind...

 

[ShezaGirlie]

Hey Gemma...

Hey Gemma...

I think we call those "bacon butties" an egg mcmuffin...

'I didn't claw my way to the top of the food chain to eat vegetables' is the saying of this establishment just 'round the corner from me...wunnerful BBQ!

www.rudys.com and you can order their stuff...YUMMMMMMMY