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A recent study reports that high-salt diets cause 150,000 premature deaths a year in the United States.13 Restaurant foods, fast foods and processed, packaged junk foods contribute to the majority of sodium in our diets. One serving (half a cup) of Campbell’s Chicken noodle soup has 890 mg of sodium and one slice of cheese pizza, from a Pizza Hut 12-inch pan pizza, contains 570 mg. If you have a full cup of canned soup, you’ve already reached your recommended daily sodium intake and you’re almost half way there with two slices of cheese pizza. Healthier versions are not much better. Thai Kitchens’ Lemongrass & Chili rice noodle soup bowl contains 850 mg of sodium in one serving, which is half the bowl. Imagine’s Organic Creamy Tomato Soup has 620 mg of sodium in one cup. Public health advocates claim that if we could reduce the sodium in processed and restaurant foods by half, we could save thousands of lives. My solution is simpler and immediate: Master the art of home cooking. The next chapter will discuss how to get started or improve your current routine. I strongly recommend using a high-quality sea salt for home cooking. High-quality, natural sea salt is a better choice than poor quality, refined table salt. For the most part, people today use processed, sparkling white salt that is stripped of the trace elements and minerals in high-quality sea salt. Food companies also put additives—such as sugar and potassium iodide—into refined salt. Potassium iodide is added to reduce iron deficiency and thyroid disease, but it’s actually been linked to the recent increase in hyperthyroidism among Americans. All this processing takes place to make salt less expensive and a prettier color, as natural sea salt has a brownish tint. Using high-quality sea salt in limited quantities is a healthier and tastier way to get minerals and satisfy your body’s cravings for salty flavor. Watch out for highly processed sea salts, which usually list magnesium carbonate as an ingredient. Look for sea salts that are free of coloring, additives, chemicals or bleaching. They should have a reddish or brown tint.
*OVJVSH[L I don’t think I’ve ever met a person who doesn’t like chocolate. Whether dark or light, sweet or bitter, chocolate has a widespread appeal in our culture. Americans consume almost 12 pounds of chocolate per person each year. The