Salt In Canned Foods

Question
Hi Tanya,

Can you tell me if there is any way to get the salt/sodium out of canned beans and peas? Frozen blackeye peas from the store and overnight soaked great northerns seem to take a little long to cook to get them soft in their own sauce like I like them. They seem already that way in the can, but the problem is the sodium.

Would rinsing the canned beans or letting them soak in water for a period somehow eliminate or reduce the salt? I thought even adding baking soda or something else might help. Salt seems to make my blood pressure go up too much.

Thanks.

MikeE.

Answer
Hi Mike,

Of course, soaking a canned food in water will remove some salt into the water - but along with the salt will go other nutrients. Since canned foods are poor in nutrients anyway comparing with fresh and frozen, it might not matter. Adding anything into the water will not help because of the osmotic properties of such solution. Roughly speaking, soda would keep the salt in the beans rather than helping to remove it.

Tanya Zilberter

1. Prev:heavy metals
2. Next:Carbohydrates, starches, resistant starch