Sodium Watch

Of late, I've been steadily increasing the amount of chili powder I've been putting in dishes in an effort to not use as much Tabasco. Things came to a head the other day when I noticed just how salty my Minestrone soup (Progresso, 200 calories for a pretty healthy-sized can) tasted.

Yeah, that's when I finally looked at the label. More closely than simply verifying that chili powder has no (reported calories).

There's quite a bit of sodium in the stuff.

And salt is a pretty high up ingredient.

I tend not to worry about sodium—I've always had pretty low blood pressure—but I also stray strongly from adding salt to dishes. My diet is heavy on canned and frozen foods, which are loaded with plenty. I never felt like I missed it.

Of course, my other condiments add plenty.

But chili powder? Lots of salt. A scary amount. I threw what I had away when I started doing the math.

Oh. And I just started Googling and it does appear to be caloric.

Great.

I'm starting to suspect my spiciness cravings are more like salt cravings.

I can re-train myself not to want it. I've done it before.

Back to black pepper, and probably looking for a new Tabasco replacement, because that stuff is pretty salty too.

I think red pepper flakes might be safe, but they don't do all that much for flavor for me. They work with pizza but that's pretty salty to begin with.

Blurgh.