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Soy sauce is one of my favorite condiments, but one little slosh too many can easily add too much sodium to a meal.  I’ve been looking at my sodium intake lately, and I’m really enjoying my meals with less salt.

Raw Coconut Aminos

Don’t get me wrong – there’s nothing wrong with salt. Our bodies need sodium for important chemical reactions. Like a lot of things, a little is essential for life, while too much can be harmful. Lowering your salt, or sodium, intake is one of the first steps towards reducing high blood pressure.

The American Heart Association recommends that we consume less than 1500 mg of sodium per day, but the average American often gets twice that amount.

Regular fries from Burger King have over 800 mg per serving, while a serving of Dairy Queen fries has over 1500 mg per serving – that’s just the fries!

Add a regular burger (that’s another 500 and 400 mg respectively), a Big Mac (for 1040 mg) or a Chicken Sandwich from McDonald’s (1330 mg), and you’re way over your limit for your daily sodium intake.

So besides staying away from the fast food, which I already do, (if you need even more of a reminder, watch Super Size Me), what can I do to lower my sodium intake?

I try not to consume too much soy or wheat – I’m not allergic to them, but I know that relying too much on any one food can cause digestion problems.  Which means I try not to over-do the soy sauce, one of my favorite condiments.

I was at the store last week looking at the soy sauces, comparing the sodium on the nutrition labels – and right next to them was this stuff called Raw Coconut Amino Acids from Coconut Secret.

This “soy free seasoning sauce” looks very much like soy sauce, and tastes great. Once I got it home, I did a little taste test, and was really surprised.

It’s very light tasting compared to the Bragg’s Liquid Aminos, which are made from non-GMO, non-organic soy beans. Bragg’s tasted downright metallic and harsh next to the slightly sweet (although unsweetened), slightly smokey coconut aminos.

I’ve tried some of the other products from this company, so I knew they put out some tasty stuff, and I decided to get a bottle. At less than $5 at my co-op, it was pretty reasonably priced. I’ve used this product just as I would Bragg’s Liquid Aminos or any other soy sauce and it holds up well in all types of cooking – just replace the soy sauce in your recipe with Coconut Aminos.

What I’m really thrilled about is the low sodium content compared to the other brands of soy sauce I’ve used:

Coconut Secret Raw Coconut Aminos: 1 tsp = 113mg sodium

Bragg’s Liquid Aminos: 1 tsp = 320 mg sodium

Low-sodium soy sauce and tamari (various brands): 247 to 335 per teaspoon

Coconut Aminos are made from coconut sap, which is extracted from the tree’s blossoms. There is no added water, molds or yeasts, which adds to the deeper flavor I tasted. It also means this is probably a better option for people with candida or long-standing yeast issues.

These “aminos” are the building blocks of protein, which are important for repairing and rebuilding muscle tissue, as well as maintaining the immune system and nervous system.

So next time you’re at the health food store, pick up a bottle!