Sweet tooth, Salt tooth - what's enough, what's too much?

[Opti]

Inspired by the 'would you save money if you didn't buy sweets' thread
I'm curious what posters think is enough of either and too much of either.
Do you measure that by items bought or by percent of grocery spending?


So the questions are:
1) Sweet or Salt tooth?
2) What's enough for you in your weekly groceries?
3) What do you think is too much per week?
(Feel free to answer for both sweets and salty snacks)

[milee]

I don't break out grocery spending by those categories. Also, since I do most of the cooking from scratch and avoid processed foods, it would look like we didn't eat much - if any - sweet or salty foods. But just because we're not buying candy, chips, etc. doesn't mean we don't eat sweet or salty things. We do, they're just homemade.

I love, love, love salt. Love it on veggies, love it on meat. It's awesome and I will die if I ever have to cut back on salt. Luckily my BP is normally around 95/60 and the kids is even lower, so high BP is not an issue.

We all also like sweets, but probably eat a lot less sugar than most American families.  We don't have sweetened drinks and get most of the sugar from fruits.  Even things I bake, I tend to add less sugar than what's called for.

[Opti]

Milee, I have more of a sweet tooth and have become somewhat sensitive
to how much sodium is in food because my Mom had to watch her salt.
When I had a bigger kitchen I used to bake more but right now I buy
most of my indulgences except for occasionally making some cookies.
Like you I tend to reduce the sugar which is why I think I generally don't
like brownie mix brownies or cake mix cakes because they tend to be
sweeter than I prefer.

Growing up my Mom and family tended to sweets. My Mom OK'd sweets after
lunch and dinner but in moderation. She regularly made cake from scratch
usually baking it in a 13x9x2 pan. Probably because its quicker than many cookies
although I've become the master of cookies that can be made into bars.

1) Sweet tooth
2) No more than 12oz. soda a day, strong preference for Zevia(Stevia sweetened)
or cane sugar sweetened with less than 140 cals per 12 oz.
3) I'm not sure where to draw the too much line, but over a liter of soda a day
no matter how its sweetened is too much IMO.

[Sum Dum Gai]

I have more of a salt tooth than a sweet tooth, but we don't buy many snacks period.  Our groceries are things for meals.  We'll occasionally buy a bag of chips and make guacamole, but other than that the only snacky foods in our house are fresh fruit.  We only buy chips, crackers, cookies, candy, and stuff like that, if we're entertaining.  Neither of us bake much either.  Loop will occasionally make banana or zucchini bread, and every once in a while a fruit pie.  There's a reason I'm not fat, and it ain't my self control.  If we had junk in the house I'd eat it.

[Miss Tequila]

In a huge saltaholic....I would pick something salty over something sweet everytime. My dd only has one kidney and can't have a lot of salt so I don't cook wih much...I just bury my food with the salt shaker once it is on my plate.

[Opti]

If we had junk in the house I'd eat it.

Although I don't consider dark chocolate bars junk per se, the above is the
reason I will never buy more than two even when they are on extreme sale.

The chocolate bars would actually last the week. When I splurge on
two pints of raspberries, they don't.

[kittensaver]

Dec 2, 2013 19:42:19 GMT -5 @missmargarita said:

Fresh fruit is NOT a snack or a meal.. it is a garnish.. that is it!  What is wrong with you people...  

Oh Miss M, don't come to my house!  Our snacks are fruits, nuts, yogurt, celery with nut butters, apples with peanut butter, veges and hummus (homemade), cheese quesadillas (homemade), guacamole, handmade popsicles and sometimes if we're really hungry - leftovers. I guess we are weedy-tweedy-crunchy-hippie-dippy whole food snackers.

Stay away if you like junk food!  

[Miss Tequila]

Dec 2, 2013 19:37:17 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

I have more of a salt tooth than a sweet tooth, but we don't buy many snacks period.  Our groceries are things for meals.  We'll occasionally buy a bag of chips and make guacamole, but other than that the only snacky foods in our house are fresh fruit.  We only buy chips, crackers, cookies, candy, and stuff like that, if we're entertaining.  Neither of us bake much either.  Loop will occasionally make banana or zucchini bread, and every once in a while a fruit pie.  There's a reason I'm not fat, and it ain't my self control.  If we had junk in the house I'd eat it.

Did your metabolism slow down? I remember you posting about the crazy amount of calories you consume a day and how you still couldn't gain weight.

[Sum Dum Gai]

My metabolism is still pretty high, but I don't tempt fate by eating crazy amounts of junk either.  I still eat quite a few calories for a skinny guy, but they aren't totally empty calories.

[swamp]

I hav,e a sweet tooth. I don't care if I never have another chip. I don't buy sweets. Because I will eat them. 

[Miss Tequila]

Dec 2, 2013 21:02:20 GMT -5 swamp said:

I hav,e a sweet tooth. I don't care if I never have another chip. I don't buy sweets. Because I will eat them. 

That's how I am wtih salty stuff...If I open a bag of tortillas I would eat the entire bag.  So I rarely bring them into the house. 

[Deleted]

I am an equal opportunity snacker! A serving size will usually do the trick...unless it's PMS time. Then I want double of both for as long as it takes to snuff out my homicidal rage. 

<< checks cupboards for Halloween candy >>

[Miss Tequila]

Dec 2, 2013 20:54:40 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

My metabolism is still pretty high, but I don't tempt fate by eating crazy amounts of junk either.  I still eat quite a few calories for a skinny guy, but they aren't totally empty calories.

Gotcha.  My husband eats about 4,000 calories a day but he is a health nut so he rarely eats empty calories.  He has willpower like I have never seen before. 

[msventoux]

I'll take both please, but lean more heavily towards salty.  Chocolate is good but I can often take it or leave it.  My absolute favorites are salt & vinegar chips and really salty pretzels.  Last year I cut out most junk food and was just eating fresh veggies and fruits.  I lost weight but have gained most of it back since introducing some of the junk again and not exercising like I was. 

[weltschmerz]

Dec 2, 2013 19:42:19 GMT -5 @missmargarita said:

Fresh fruit is NOT a snack or a meal.. it is a garnish.. that is it!  What is wrong with you people...  

I'm a fruit junkie and have been known to go out in the middle of the night during a snow storm when I'm jonesing for fruit.
Not a big fan of candy or chocolate or cookies. Even when I was a little kid, I'd turn up my nose at sweets. A stranger couldn't lure me into his windowless van with promises of candy.

[marvholly]

I tend to rotate between sweet (generally dark chocolate)and salty (pretzels, chips, nachos, cheesitz)).

Too much of either, for me, is scale dependent and the older I get the WAAAY faster I reach my stop point.

[NancysSummerSip]

Dec 2, 2013 19:42:19 GMT -5 @missmargarita said:

Fresh fruit is NOT a snack or a meal.. it is a garnish with my bottle of booze... that is it!  What is wrong with you people...  

Fixed and clarified.

I'm both sweet and salty, though for chocolate, I tend to the 78% and higher range, which is bittersweet. A little of that goes a long way. I have controlled HBP, so salt is limited. When I do use it, I make the most of it, using expensive fleur de sel and other large-grain salt, so that again, a little goes a long way. I add it at the end of the cooking process, for the most part, not the beginning (the exception would be cooking water for something like pasta), so it doesn't all go away.

[Formerly SK]

I think I can be classified as a food addict - I wrestle every day with self-control over what I eat, no matter what type of food it is.  Sugar is worse for me than salt.  If I eat sugar, the 2-day detox I have to go through (until my cravings for more subside) just sucks.  Salt isn't as big of a draw, chemically speaking.

I just finished an EXCELLENT book about the processed food industry:  Salt, Sugar, Fat. 

[Cookies Galore]

Dec 3, 2013 8:30:25 GMT -5 @wrongsideof30 said:

I'm another saltaholic. I don't care for chips or pretzels, but I do have a gross habit of making soup broth in the evening (from salty bouillon) to drink from a soup mug.

I also eat so many salted tomatoes in the summer that I wake up the next morning and my hands feel swollen.

I have very low blood pressure and I refuse to give up salt. I couldn't care less if I ever eat another piece of chocolate.

I don't think the bouillon's are affecting my grocery budget.

Mmmm salted tomatoes....
My blood pressure is on the low side as well. I precribe myself chips and salsa!

[tskeeter]

Dec 2, 2013 18:52:11 GMT -5 Opti said:

Inspired by the 'would you save money if you didn't buy sweets' thread
I'm curious what posters think is enough of either and too much of either.
Do you measure that by items bought or by percent of grocery spending?


So the questions are:
1) Sweet or Salt tooth?
2) What's enough for you in your weekly groceries?
3) What do you think is too much per week?
(Feel free to answer for both sweets and salty snacks)

I don't get it.  Are you suggesting that my 40 pounds of peanut brittle (both sweet and salty, the best of both worlds) is enough, or too much?

[marvholly]

I don't mix sweet & salty. Don't eat peanut butter cups or chocolate dipped pretzels. Only give into a single craving (sweet or salty) at a time.

[sesfw]

When DH had his heart attack the Dr said no more than 1500mg of sodium per day.  I'm very careful of what I buy at the store.  So far we haven't missed the high sodium.

Most of the candies have zero sodium but milk chocolate is high in sodium.  We love dark chocolate and have that around all the time, Dove dark.

Our sweets come from fruits and popsicles.  We'll have a small piece of dessert when served at someone's home and don't have anything at home.

His heart attack scared us into ditching the sodium and losing weight.

[weltschmerz]

My doctor told me to eat more salt, especially during the summer heat waves, when I keep passing out.