Why You Should Try Potash Salt (and Its Taste)
For the past few months I have had two salt shakers in my kitchen. One is Morton’s Salt Substitute , which is potassium based, and I use it for the first few uses of salt when I season a dish. The other is regular table salt, which I use at the table. Now the World Health Organization is recommending more of us try salt substitutes, and not just in the name of lowering sodium levels. Potassium is good for us, and this is an easy way to get more of it in our diet.
Benefits of Potassium Salt
If you’ve ever tried to reduce your sodium intake, you’re probably familiar with low- or no-sodium salt substitutes. One potential benefit, of course, is that they give you an easy way to reduce your sodium intake if you do a lot of your own cooking. Sodium can contribute to high blood pressure and other diseases, which is why the World Health Organization recommends that most of us keep our sodium intake to less than 2,000 milligrams per day. (The US recommendation is a little more generous at 2,300 milligrams.)
But it’s not just about sodium. When it comes to heart health, most of us get more sodium than recommended and not enough potassium. Potassium is another mineral our bodies need, and consuming more of it has been found to reduce the risk of heart disease. In this study , for example, people who switched to potassium-based salt had fewer strokes, heart attacks, and deaths during the study than people who continued to use regular sodium salt.
We usually get potassium from fruits and vegetables. Potassium salt should not replace it, but can be a good supplemental source of the mineral. According to the National Institutes of Health , adult women should get at least 2,600 milligrams of potassium per day, and adult men should get at least 3,400.
Cons of potassium salt
It’s important to note that potassium supplements are not suitable for everyone. If you have kidney disease or impaired kidney function, or if you are taking medications that change how your body processes potassium, you may need to avoid these salts. (Your doctor can tell you more.)
What does potassium salt taste like?
People promoting salt substitutes for health tend to brush off concerns about taste. Most people won’t notice the difference, they say. They may be right, but there is a difference.
Potassium salts have a slightly different taste than regular sodium-based table salt. Sprinkle some on your hand and lick it and you’ll see what I mean. It’s still salty and doesn’t taste bad or anything, but it’s not quite the same.
In large quantities, potassium-based salt substitutes may taste slightly metallic or bitter. When companies make low-sodium versions of their products, they know to use a mixture of potassium and sodium salts, and that’s exactly what I do at home.
I use a salt substitute at the beginning of a recipe when browning meat or sautéing onions. This gives the dish an overall saltiness. The next time I add salt, it’s usually sodium salt. I figure I get about a 50/50 balance, and then the salt shaker I bring to the dinner table is just plain old table salt.
If this is too difficult, you can simply mix both types of salt in one container. Or buy a salt substitute such as Morton Lite , which is a mixture of sodium and potassium salts. And if you want a long-term review to make sure it’s truly suitable for daily use, one of the largest studies of salt substitutes found that after five years, 90% of participants were still happy to use the salt substitute.