No added salt you read. Yes, well while Yummy Lummy is not the place to share my personal health status, it’s not a secret that I have mild hypertension which is managed with medication.
No added salt
This week I was listening to the NEJM Journal Watch Podcast and episode 255 was titled “Salt talks”.
The podcast cites a meta-analysis in the British Medical Journal.
Which basically concludes I should not add salt to my food.
Dedicated to my parents who both have high blood pressure
Yes, it’s hereditary.
This week I’ve endured an episode of ManFlu and because I needed to function (working from home and participating in teleconferences) I needed to use a reliable oral decongestant. I sought pseudoephedrine from the local chemist shop. After sharing my driver licence details I was able to take pseudoephedrine 60 mg bd.
One of the adverse effects of pseudoephedrine is hypertension so when I measured my blood pressure in the mornings, sure enough, despite my medication, my systolic and diastolic pressures were higher.
The other inspiration for tonight’s recipe is my friend Kate from Twitter. I tweeted my lack of inspiration and she suggested asking readers to suggest an ingredient to include in a recipe to blog about. Kate suggested red capsicum. I’m not sure how Kate would feel about no added salt.
Red capsicum
— Kate (@kateisgr8ok) February 29, 2020
Follow the tweets to see the conversation.
Yummy Lummy is not sponsored by anyone.
Recipe
It’s important to read the recipe before cooking because the timing of processes needs to be understood.
- Broccolini
- Asparagus
- Red capsicum
- Green capsicum
- Red onion
- Radish
- Fennel
- Pork belly
- Whole black peppercorns
- Queensland nut oil
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Heat an oven to 180 °C (350 °F).
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Slice the red and green capsicum into wedge shapes.
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Finely dice the red onion, radish, and fennel.
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Grind some whole black peppercorns in a mortar with a pestle.
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In a large bowel add some asparagus, broccolini, red capsicum, green capsicum, and a strip of pork belly.
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Squirt some Queensland nut oil into the bowl and rub the oil over everything with your hands.
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On a baking paper lined baking sheet place the pork belly and then put it into the oven for 20 minutes.
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After 20 minutes remove the baking tray and then add the vegetables and cook for 20 minutes.
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After 20 minutes remove the baking tray from the oven and remove the pork belly to rest. Add some grated mozzarella cheese to the vegetables and put the baking tray back into the oven for 5 minutes.
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Slice the cooked pork belly into bite sized pieces.
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Remove the baking tray from the oven.
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Mix the ground black peppercorns with the finely diced red onion, radish, and fennel.
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In a bowl add the vegetables, and then the pork belly bites. Sprinkle over the pepper and finely diced onion, radish, and fennel.
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Eat with chopsticks.
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Shoot a photograph.
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Eat the meal.
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Wash the dishes (hint, wash as you cook, it makes life easier).
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Write the recipe.
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Write the blog post.
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Hit publish and hope this blog post gets shared on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest.
Disclaimer
I have no culinary training nor qualifications. This post is not intended to convey any health or medical advice. If you have any health concerns about anything you read, please contact your registered medical practitioner. The quantities are indicative. Feel free to vary the quantities to suit your taste. I deliberately do not calculate energy for dishes. I deliberately default to 500 Calories or 500,000 calories because I do not make these calculations.
Photographs
This is a gallery of photographs. Click on one image and then scroll through the photographs.
Questions and answers
Is high blood pressure a problem?
Yes, it is. It’s a chronic disease many people suffer. Many people don’t know they have hypertension which is a good reason to see your GP every year or so.
A no added salt approach may be helpful.
Will it be hard to stop adding salt to food?
Yes. I love salt. This meal needed salt. I’m not sure I’ll get used to a no added salt way of living.
Do you like red capsicum?
Yes. I haven’t been eating much lately, but I do like it.
Final thoughts
- Do you have hypertension?
- Could you do without adding salt to your food?
- How do you feel about red capsicum?
Sponsorship
Yummy Lummy has no sponsors but maintaining a blog isn’t free. If anyone or any company would like to contribute please contact me.
For real? There’s no salt at all?
I had to look up hypertension. I don’t know if I have it but my blood pressure is usually normal so does that mean that I don’t have it? I love salting my food though! Also cold and flu meds with pseudoephedrine is amazing. It has saved me many a time.
You’re fortunate Lorraine. Hypertension is relatively common in Chinese people. If your parents don’t have high blood pressure you’re in good shape. On your side you exercise a lot which helps.
So, far I don’t have hypertension–and neither does my husband, but he has low blood pressure, so he has to eliminate caffeine. We definitely cook with too much salt though–we really need to cut down.
I don’t know what I’d do if I had to cut coffee. It would be a hard ask.
Salt or no salt, it’s all about the pork belly. You did good!
Thanks, brother 😃👍
No way am I giving up salt!
It will be interesting to see if there is a measurable effect.
I have mild hypertension too but am also a big fan of salt… from time to time I cut right down. The taste buds adapt after a week or so, but the salt always creeps up again… I think if you don’t eat too much processed food and cook for yourself most of the time you side-swerve a lot of salt, but who knows? Red peppers are okay. Not that much flavour…
Thanks, Emma. I had cut out a lot of salt some years ago but in the last twelve months it’s been a big feature of my cooking. Getting used to no adding it will be a challenge but it’s probably worth it.