I am adamantly opposed to making New Year's resolutions in January, as I think they are a set up for failure. Why can't we adopt September as our time for a 'new start' - each fall at the beginning of every school year, we would get a clean slate. I always loved that - new composition books, new notebook, new pencils... ah, my love affair with supplies must have started in the fall of my childhood. But that's another topic.
Everywhere you turn in January, someone somewhere is expounding on how to live better. I am all for living better, at least in theory. But when it gets too personal, I feel those strong rebellious urges rising up inside me.
The most recent item to slap me down was this article about SALT in the Jan issue of Prevention Magazine. Did you see it? I briefly saw it as a headline on the cover, and decided that I would not read that article. After all, I love salt. It is my only seasoning because of my genetic health problem. Remember, I'm an old person, and back when I was a baby, there were not any options for a no-fat diet. My mom taught me to just "do without" flavorings - which has served me well, I thought. But the other night, I was making divinity to feed my sugar addiction, and since I usually have something to read during the 7 minutes I'm cooking over the double boiler... and because I read all articles consecutively when I open a magazine (OCD, I know), well, you know it was bound to happen because I quickly came to page 18, the Salt piece!
TRUE OR FALSE
Salt (a) is addictive (b) will make you fat (c) will kill you (d) all of the above
Sadly, the correct answer is d.
But the most intriguing part of the article spoke to the addictiveness of salt.
Can you believe it?
Consuming salt triggers the release of dopamine in your body, which is the neurotransmitter associated with the brain's Pleasure Center! Wow!
There is some small hope for me. The article goes on to say that we have about 10,000 tastebuds, each one has 50 to 150 receptor cells that live for 1 to 2 weeks -- which means that if you eat a lower salt diet for a couple of weeks, you can re-train your new receptors thus making the lower salt diet more pleasure-able for you.
Let's face it. We're all going to die of something. Of course, no one wants to live and feel bad all the time either...
Best wishes on your quest to improve your life. We're all in it together, right?
Oh, here's the article link online if you want to read for yourself - or maybe you prefer the path of denial? lol
http://www.prevention.com/health/health/health-concerns/how-to-kick-the-salt-habit/article/3bd0b810e847c210VgnVCM10000030281eac____
