SalTrax Blog

It is summer; time to Barbeque! Most of us love to eat ribs. But did you know that BBQ Ribs have a lot of sodium? Just 2 pork ribs with BBQ sauce can have well over 1000 mg of sodium (10 SalTrax Points)! If you eat 4 ribs with sauce, you may be eating over 2,000 mg of sodium (20 SalTrax Points); almost an entire's day worth of sodium intake! If you eat a half rack of ribs - you may have eaten well over a day's worth of sodium in one entree!

So what makes the ribs so high in sodium? The rub seasoning that is sometimes used often contains salt -usually unmeasured. The sauce often contains high sodium items such as Worcestershire sauce, Catsup, Mustard and/or prepared BBQ sauce.

What do you do to lower sodium if you want to eat ribs?

In the grocery store:
* When buying prepared BBQ sauce, read labels carefully - noting sodium content per serving and also noting the serving size. Keep in mind: the more you use of the product, the more sodium you will be eating.
* Search for low-sodium alternatives: low-sodium Worcestershire sauce or BBQ sauce.
* Buy seasonings for a rub that are without added sodium.

In your home:
* When preparing to cook the ribs, don't use salt as a rub; instead rub the meat with True Lime for a dry rub or with a fresh cut lime.

In a restaurant, grocery or take-out:
* Buy prepared ribs, but ask for the sauce on the side so that you can control the amount of BBQ sauce you eat (measure out the portion and count up the mg of sodium or SalTrax Points you are eating).
* Ask for the nutrition information on the BBQ sauce.
* Rinse off the extra sauce and use a low-sodium BBQ sauce that you keep at home.

**Please e-mail me at srpark@SalTrax.com if you have any other clever suggestions to lower the sodium content in BBQ ribs. I'll be sure to include them in a blog.