Paleo and Salt

[Jakob Kopfeld]

A few Days ago I changed my diet to be completely Paleo. Nowadays all I eat is Vegetables, Eggs, some Meat (Mainly Chicken and Pork because of price) and some fruits.

 

I know Salt is off limits, because our prehistoric ancestors didn't have the technology or knowledge to extract salt. I still do miss the taste though. To me Eggs don't taste as good without salt.  So far I've tried seasoning my breakfast eggs with Pepper and Thyme, aswell as a mix of both, but it hasn't yielded the desired result for me. 

So I'd love to ask someone whose a bit more experienced with the paleo lifestyle, is there a good paleo conform substitute for salt? And if not, when will my desire for salt go away?

[Kirkor]

Paleo is a diet man, not a religion --- cavemen didn't have refrigerators or stoves either.  Eat some salt if you really want to.

[leadchipmunk]

Paleo is not against salt at all. While it is a low-sodium diet in relation to the standard American diet, it doesn't forbid you from salting to your heart's content. Processed foods, the ones that you are now avoiding, have much higher amounts of salt than you will ever get from salting whole foods.

 

And paleo has nothing to do with cavemen anymore. Sure, it originally started with the idea of a paleolithic man's diet, but it has moved past that and now relies on nutritional science. Get the stigma of "Did Grok eat this?" out of your mind and you will have little to no problems on this diet.

[Jakob Kopfeld]

Paleo is a diet man, not a religion --- cavemen didn't have refrigerators or stoves either.  Eat some salt if you really want to.

I usually eat neither my refrigerator nor my stove but i get your point, thanks!

 

Paleo is not against salt at all. While it is a low-sodium diet in relation to the standard American diet, it doesn't forbid you from salting to your heart's content. Processed foods, the ones that you are now avoiding, have much higher amounts of salt than you will ever get from salting whole foods.

 

And paleo has nothing to do with cavemen anymore. Sure, it originally started with the idea of a paleolithic man's diet, but it has moved past that and now relies on nutritional science. Get the stigma of "Did Grok eat this?" out of your mind and you will have little to no problems on this diet.

Oh. On my, admittedly short, research on the topic I found 2 websites that said salt is a no go. Hm I think I'm still keeping the caveman metaphor for describing my eating habits to my friends. Thank you very much for your advice. 

[PrincessHeather]

Salt is essential to a ton of processes and systems in the body, you absolutely need some salt/sodium in your diet.

 

One suggestion would be to experiment with different varieties of salt. Different types have different mineral makeups, which you might consider when selecting one. For your consideration: http://www.theecologist.org/green_green_living/health_and_beauty/270993/what_type_of_salt_is_best.html

[Loren Wade]

When you are making the decision to eat something or not, don't ask yourself, "Did my ancestors eat this?" - ask yourself, "With the human diet in mind, how will this affect me?".

 

Salt in moderation is fine.

[Kenny007]

Yeah, my mother in law is constanly telling me I put too much salt on things...while she douses half her food with soy sauce? As previuos poster mentions cutting out processed food greatly reduces your sodium intake (not to mention Gatorade and crap like that whee you are drinking sodium/elctrlytes). So salt up those eggs!!

[Jakob Kopfeld]

When you are making the decision to eat something or not, don't ask yourself, "Did my ancestors eat this?" - ask yourself, "With the human diet in mind, how will this affect me?".

 

Salt in moderation is fine.

The ancestor thing is so much simpler though

[Loren Wade]

The ancestor thing is so much simpler though

Maybe, but it's not the complete picture.

[Jakob Kopfeld]

Thats probably true, but I have yet to set up a daily nutritional requirement sheet. On that front I'm a bit uninformed. But I'm sticking to paleo, so atleast I shouldn't catch Scurvy