How much salt to add when boiling veg?

[KeepTrying0]

I wondered if I could ask a question about adding salt to the water when vegetables are boiled?

I remember my Mum used to bung in what looked like about half a teaspoon of salt when she boiled rice or vegetables, and that was fine.

But she also told me that salt was really bad for people and caused heart attacks. We lived near Glasgow which had a reputation for being the heart attack centre for Europe at the time, so I took her words seriously. A recipe book at the time said I should never add salt to anything.

Then when I started cooking for myself I stopped adding salt to veg, but I never felt quite normal after that, even though I ate plenty of processed stuff, and certainly have enough salt in my diet (I've checked).

I wondered if I could ask what other people do?

Do you add salt to boiling veg and rice? Do you rinse the rice afterwards or just drain it?

I'm still totally confused and my Mum has dementia so I can't ask.

I'm also being tested by a cardiologist for something called dysautonomia, which is something to do with electrolyte imbalance, so really starting to wonder if my errant veg boiling habits are catching up with me.

Thanks!

I think people used to put salt in because it raises the boiling point of the water so they were supposed to cook quicker or something like that.

I don't add salt to vegetables.

I add half a teaspoon to veg/rice pasta, I prefer it to adding salt afterwards.

My Mum always added salt to vegetables while boiling, however I moved out of home at 17 (1987) and never did. I still don’t to this day.

None . My mom.used to do the same. People can add it to their meal if they wish

Thank you very much, this is extremely interesting and very helpful.

We're an ASD family and two of us have extremely limited exclusion diets and complications with perceptions of taste, appearance and texture. It means that I'm constantly winging it, while worrying about whether any of the problems of the ASD thing are caused by my failure to get it right.

It's really so helpful to know what you all do with salt, so that I can get a sense of what is "normal", if you know what I mean.

I'm so happy to hear that there is no exact normal, and that people are just doing all sorts of different things. That gives me confidence to keep on winging it, and trust our own judgment.

I know I definitely can't eat more than 4g total salt a day without messing my stomach up really badly, so it's really interesting to know that salt water is the standard treatment for dysautonomia. That would finish me right off. I suppose that's a good sign because it probably means I don't have disautonomia after all.

Thank you very much to everybody who has answered. I've been wondering this for decades and it's a weight off my mind to have asked.

None. You don't need it and your palate soon adjusts. Add it at the table if you must.

Your body will get all the salt it needs in a varied diet.

I don’t add it to rice, pasta, potatoes or veg at all. My parents never did so i never picked up the habit and it just never occurs to me, I’m used to how they taste without it i guess. I do add it to sauces etc sometimes and occasionally at the table.

I don't add any. Never have.

DM and MiL add about half a teaspoon to a saucepan of boiling water.

I stopped adding it to veg when we had kids, and now can't abide salty veg. I do add it to potatoes and rice and pasta. Rice I often add too much, then can't eat it! I think I have a more sensitive tolerance to salty taste now.

Sugar too actually. I used to drink tea and coffee with sugar, and add a good spoon to cereal. Can't do that now. It would just be wayyyyy too sugary.

My mum used to blanch veg from the garden in salted water then either rinse or cook it in fresh water so it wasn't salty. The salt was apparently to kill any creepy crawlies left on the veg! I just rinse mine really thoroughly with running water and check carefully when I pick it. I don't add salt to anything apart from soup when I'm cooking. It gets added by the individual (me!) on the plate as DH has high BP.

I'm fortunate to not have any issues with BP I think as I love salt and have so many different types I use most days, rock, sea salt, flaked salt, smoked, kosher, salt with iodine, a variety of different flavoured salts.

I didn't realise so many didn't regularly use it but I suppose you can add it at the table if you prefer.
You can get low sodium salt as well op, I'm not sure if that would be good for your purposes though.

I think people used to put salt in because it raises the boiling point of the water so they were supposed to cook quicker or something like that.

👆 this! This is the reason. It makes it cook quicker. But it's not necessary when simply boiling. I need add salt but tend to flavour my vegetables in other ways after boiling

My nan used to add a heaped tablespoon in with boiled veg, then liberally sprinkle even more on at the table!. All her food was extremely salty, but, she lived to be 102!

The only veg I boil are potatoes. Everything else I cook in the steamer. Boiling leaches certain nutrients, whereas steaming helps prevent that. DH recently had a 6mth, pre-diabetic course and they said that a single piece of commercially made bread has you days worth of salt in it. Therefore, no need to add anything more during cooking.

I always add salt to veg, but then I love salty foods.

But not rice or pasta.

I put quite a lot of salt in pasta, and in rice if it's pilau or any other flavoured recipe. But not in anything else.

I add salt to cooking water for rice and pasta. Potato it depends on what I'm having it with . Never in vegetables - totally spoils the taste of them . When DH cooks he sticks a load in everything - I ask for my veg in a separate saucepan .

A liberal shake of salt into pasta water and potatoes. A pinch in vegetables.

I add salt at the table to eggs, potatoes and fresh tomatoes, they are so improved by it

we never boil veg.
they are either steamed or microwaved or roasted.
add a little oil and stock powder after cooking for taste.
pasta and potato water is salted, maybe a couple of tablespoons for a large pan of water.
rice, couscous, quinoa add a little stock powder to the liquid.

I pretty much only use salt for roast or mashed potatoes. I never put it on veg, rice or pasta. (Although I do sometimes use other ingredients that contain salt, like soy sauce). It’s a myth that pasta needs salt to cook properly.

Op you mention dysautonomia, I have POTS which is a dysautonomia condition, and if you do have a form of dysautonomia then you're usually advised to increase your salt intake to help with symptoms. A Dr needs to be involved in working out how much extra salt to have though, as if someone has kidney issues or high bp then they won't be advised to have as much extra salt as someone who doesn't have those issues.

I personally always added salt to veg, rice, pasta etc when cooking, even before being diagnosed with POTS. My dm always added salt when cooking so I just did what I'd been brought up with, I never really questioned it. Sometimes I found dm's food too salty tasting though, so added less with my own cooking.

On the other hand, my dh didn't add any salt to his cooking at all when we first met, as he'd been brought up in a family where any salt was seen as bad for you. His dm had been raised that way, as her dm believed it caused her husband's high blood pressure and death from a heart attack. Dh does now add a bit of salt to his cooking, his dm disapproves though and she insists on buying everything with low or no salt if possible (baked beans, ketchup, crisps etc) It's horses for courses I guess :)

You could try salt tablets for yourself rather than adding salt. Might alleviate your symptoms without affecting your stomach?

You don’t need salt?!

I find restaurant food horribly salty. Split pea soup is only thing I add salt to when I'm cooking, and only a tiny bit to that.

I add salt to the boiling water for vegetables, rice and pasta, but recently I've been using Lo Salt, that gives the flavour with much less sodium. I don't know how much just a sprinkle. My DH has (controlled) high blood pressure and mine is just OK, less salt is meant to help reduce blood pressure.