Inventory Check: Salt/Pepper (and Sodium Content of Foods)

Do you have enough salt?

How many of us live near a salt mine or ocean? Easy access to salt. Not many of us. Personally, we're landlocked, and the closest salt "mines" are about 400 miles away. I've already warned Hubby that if things happen like "Jericho", he will be taking horses and buggies and a bodyguard detail to go mine salt and bring back as much as possible. Okay, maybe not.

We looked. There really isn't a good substitute for salt.

Recommended Dietary Salt (sodium) Intake:
"Low" salt diet ... ... 400 - 1000 mg/day
"Normal" salt diet ... ... 1100 - 3300 mg/day
"High" salt diet ... ... 4000 - 6000 mg/day

Sodium Content of Common Foods (from: http://oto2.wustl.edu/men/sodium.htm):

All values are given in mg of sodium for a 100 g (3.5 oz) food portion. These values are a guide. More accurate values are given in the Nutritional Information on the package of most products, in the form of mg of sodium per serving. Edited for space:

Apple, raw unpeeled 1
Apple juice, bottled 1
Applesauce, sweetened 2
Asparagus, cooked 1 (regular canned 236)
Avocado 4
Baking powder 11,000
Banana 1
Barly, pearled 3
Beans, Lima 1 (regular canned 236)
Beans, snap green, cooked 4 (regular canned 236)
Beans, white common, cooked 7
Beans, canned with pork and tomato sauce 463
Bean sprouts, cooked 4
Beets, cooked 43 (regular canned 236)
Beverage, water 0
Blackberries 1
Bouillon cubes 24,000
Broccoli, cooked 10
Brussel sprouts, cooked 10
Cabbage 20
Cantaloupe 12
Carrots 40 (regular canned 236)
Cashews, unsalted 15
Cauliflower 10
Celery, raw 126 (cooked 88)
Cereal, Corn grits 1
Cereal, Cornmeal 1
Cereal, Farina, dry 2 (cooked salted or instant 160)
Cereal, Oatmeal, dry 2 (cooked salted 218)
Cereal, Rice flakes 987
Cereal, wheat flakes 1000
Cereal, wheat, puffed 4
Cereal, wheat, shredded 3
Cheese, Parmesan 1,862
Cherries, Raw 2
Chicken, cooked, without skin 60 to 80
Chickpeas, dry 8
Chicory 7
Chocolate, plain 4
Clams, raw soft 36
Clams, hard, round 205
Cocoa, dry 6
Cocoa, processed 717
Coconut, fresh 23
Coffee, instant, dry 72
Collards, cooked 25
Corn, sweet, cooked 0 (regular canned 236)
Cowpeas, dry, cooked 8
Crabmeat, canned 1000
Cranberry juice or sauce 1
Cucumber 6
Dates 1
Duck 74
Eggplant, cooked 1
Egg, whole, raw 74 (whites 152, yolk 49)
Endive, curly 14
Figs 2
Flounder 78
Flour 2
Fruit cocktail 5
Gelatin, dry 0 (sweetened, ready-to eat 51)
Grapefruit, fresh, canned or juice 1
Grapes 3
Haddock, raw 61 (battered 177)
Herring 74
Honey 5
Honeydew melon 12
Kale, cooked 43
Lamb, lean 70
Lemon, juice or fresh 1
Lettuce 9
Lime, fresh or juice 1
Liver, beef 184
Liver, pork 111
Lobster 210
Macaroni, dry 2 (commercial with cheese 543)
Milk, evaporated 106
Milk, dried 549
Molasses, light 15 (Dark 96)
Mushrooms 14 (canned 400)
Mustard, prepared yellow 1,252
Mustard greens 18
Nectarine 6
Noodles, dry 5
Nuts, in shell 1 (processed nuts may contain high amounts of salt)
Oil, corn 0
Okra, 2
Olives, green 2,400
Onions, green 5 (mature 10)
Orange peeled, juice, canned or juice 1
Oysters, raw 73
Papayas, raw 3
Parsley 45
Parsnips, cooked 8
Peaches 2
Peanuts, roasted 5 (salted 418)
Peanut butter 607
Pears 2
Peas, cooked 2 (regular canned 236)
Peas, dried 40
Pecans, shelled 0
Peppers, green 13
Perch 79
Pickles, dill 1,428
Pickles, relish, sweet 712
Pineapple, raw or canned 1
Pizza, cheese 702
Plums 2
Popcorn, salted with oil 1,940
Pork 65
Potatoes, baked, boiled or french fried 2 to 6
Potatoes, mashed salted 331
Prunes 4
Pumpkin, canned 2
Radishes 18
Raisins, dried 27
Raspberries 1
Rhubarb 2
Rice, dry 5 (cooked salted 374)
Rutabagas 4
Salmon 64 (canned 387)
Sardines, canned 400
Scallops, 265
Shrimp 150
Spaghetti, dry 2
Spinach, raw 71 (cooked 50)
Squash 1
Strawberries 1
Sugar, white 1 (brown 30)
Sunflower seeds 30
Sweet potatoes 12
Tapioca, dry 3
Tomato 3 (canned 130)
Tomato ketchup 1,042
Tomato juice, canned 200
Tuna in oil 800
Turkey, 82
Turnips 34
Veal 80
Vinegar 1
Walnuts 3
Watermelon 1
Wheat germ 827
Yeast, compressed 16 (dry , active 52)

= = =

Even though you can get sodium from natural foods, salt is important. Dole it out carefully. Too much can dehydrate you, making your need to drink more, and could send your blood pressure through the roof. Use it sparingly, to pickle vegetables from your garden, to preserve/smoke meat, and so forth. See if you can make it last as long as possible.

Meanwhile, we're buying 25-pound bags, 3 at a time, from Sam's club. It's about $4.00 a 25-lb bag, which is much cheaper than buying the little containers at the grocery store. We store the bags of salt in storage buckets with moisture absorbers. Since we don't use much salt, a 25-pound bag will last us about 3 years (including pickling veggies harvested from our garden).

Note: iodized salt changes chemical composition over time, and even becomes somewhat poisonous, so store just plain table or sea salt.

We don't use black pepper. Son and I hate the taste, and Hubby is getting used to doing without. But we know some people like it, so we've stored a couple of shakers of it.

What about you?

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