3 ms·

Worst thing about my trip to the US was how undersalted the food was. Seriously, salt is flavour! I assume it's some combination of the American obsession with

Worst thing about my trip to the US was how undersalted the food was. Seriously, salt is flavour! I assume it's some combination of the American obsession with salt as a cause of hypertension, and the belief that choice and customization is paramount, so people get to add exactly how much salt they do or do not want with the shakers. Adding salt to food after it's cooked is, with some caveats, like adding sugar to tea after it's already iced, it ain't the same people. I don't really know where this rant is going other than my general feeling that the medical establishment is constantly working to make food as unpalateable as possible, and is wrong about it 3/4 of the time anyway. We need to teach people to listen to their own bodies, not make one-size-fits-all pronouncements.

DiscourseFan 2y ago
Europeans might not consume healthier diets than Americans, but they move around a lot more, the portions are smaller, and the regulations on food are much tighter, so in the end they end up healthier. But, if you didn't walk much more than the distance between your bed and the toilet, and the toilet to your car, and your parking spot to your desk (or worse for WFH employees, just the trip around the supermarket), you, too, would probably be worse off for consuming the same amount of sodium day to day as the average Chinese person or European.
whatevaa 2y ago
You can't remove salt from food after you add it. You also can't argue with taste.
- SuperNinKenDo 2y ago
  You can't cook the salt into food after you serve it either.
TheNewsIsHere 2y ago
Speaking as an American: our commercially produced, restaurant, and fast foods all tend to be fairly high in sodium, but it doesn’t always taste salty.
- SuperNinKenDo 2y ago
  Perhaps, I can only speak to my experiences, but keep in mind that, as an American, your bar is set by precisely the standard you are then attempting to measure the bar by, a bar which you are constantly told is too high. I honestly expected food in America to be on the saltier side from everything I had heard, but I was constantly adding liberal amounts of salt to everything.
  - TheNewsIsHere 2y ago
    I see what you’re saying and you make a good point. The best control I can claim, if we take an experimental perspective, is that most of my meals are home made. Your point stands nevertheless. Sometimes my spouse will remark on how salty something is if we are eating out of the home, and sometimes I don’t think it’s salty. We both grew up in regions that were really heavy on salty foods, but in different parts of the country. I wonder how that has shaped our perspectives.

DiscourseFan 2y ago

Europeans might not consume healthier diets than Americans, but they move around a lot more, the portions are smaller, and the regulations on food are much tighter, so in the end they end up healthier. But, if you didn't walk much more than the distance between your bed and the toilet, and the toilet to your car, and your parking spot to your desk (or worse for WFH employees, just the trip around the supermarket), you, too, would probably be worse off for consuming the same amount of sodium day to day as the average Chinese person or European.

whatevaa 2y ago

You can't remove salt from food after you add it. You also can't argue with taste.

SuperNinKenDo 2y ago
You can't cook the salt into food after you serve it either.

TheNewsIsHere 2y ago

Speaking as an American: our commercially produced, restaurant, and fast foods all tend to be fairly high in sodium, but it doesn’t always taste salty.

SuperNinKenDo 2y ago
Perhaps, I can only speak to my experiences, but keep in mind that, as an American, your bar is set by precisely the standard you are then attempting to measure the bar by, a bar which you are constantly told is too high. I honestly expected food in America to be on the saltier side from everything I had heard, but I was constantly adding liberal amounts of salt to everything.
- TheNewsIsHere 2y ago
  I see what you’re saying and you make a good point. The best control I can claim, if we take an experimental perspective, is that most of my meals are home made. Your point stands nevertheless. Sometimes my spouse will remark on how salty something is if we are eating out of the home, and sometimes I don’t think it’s salty. We both grew up in regions that were really heavy on salty foods, but in different parts of the country. I wonder how that has shaped our perspectives.