Umami - What Is It?

As I have written before, when eating a reduced sodium diet for heart failure it's helpful to think about incorporating others taste's into your foods. Believe it or not, salty is just one of many flavors our taste buds can detect. Our taste buds can perceive sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami.

I think that the other flavors are pretty self-explanatory, but many people are unfamiliar with umami.

So, what is Umami? Let's talk about it.

In my opinion umami is a pleasant savory taste. I would describe it as hearty and filling. It is common in Japanese food. Foods that register as umami contain an ingredient called glutamate. Most people equate umami with high-sodium products like soy sauce and Parmesan, but this (fifth taste) also occurs naturally in things like mushrooms and tomatoes.¹

What can I eat to experience the taste of umami?

Here is a short list of umami foods in case you want to try incorporating them into your diet as well. These may help make a heart failure friendly diet include more taste when cutting out salty or savory foods if you are watching your salt intake.

• Mushrooms have a lot of umami. I also really like mushrooms because there are so many kinds that you can cook with. There is a whole world of mushrooms out there! Also,they are pretty indestructible; they do not disintegrate easily. You can buy mushrooms fresh OR dried. The dried version can be rehydrated and then you can put the mushrooms and liquid in your next stew, rice dish, etc.
• Tomatoes are another versatile umami ingredient. There are multiple varieties and you can roast them, dehydrate them, bake them, blend, reduce them and more! Try tomato paste as an easy and quick way to add more tomato flavor to dishes.
• Worcestershire Sauce also has umami. This is a cousin to soy and fish sauce, but less sodium. For example, one Worcestershire sauce has 65 milligrams of sodium per teaspoon compared to salt, which has 2,300 milligrams of sodium per teaspoon. It's not a no salt ingredient, but it is a lower salt food item.
• Seaweed has a great deal of umami and can be used in soups, stews, stocks and is great with beans or even rice pilaf. It also can be used as a wrap for a travel snack. It can be a higher sodium food, unless you find the right brand. I have found that Emerald Cove and Eden have low sodium options. If you are using it in soups and stews keep in mind fluid intake if you have fluid restrictions.
• Green tea also has umami, although I must admit it's not a taste I personally love. Try it though! Green tea also contains a fair amount of caffeine, just as a heads up.
• Animal meat also has umami. Personally I have to watch my saturated fat so I've reduced the amount of meat I eat, and I've tried to eliminate red meat. However, bone broth and stocks are a great way to add umami flavor, within moderation. Many store bought brands have a lot of salt, so read the labels or consider making your own! Butchers typically sell bones at a greatly reduced price.

Explore umami in your heart failure diet

I encourage you to search and learn more about using foods with umami as a way to add new flavor into your diet, especially if you are restricting salt intake which may have added flavor to your foods before. I have found different websites that offer ingredient lists, and recipes to try. Make sure to talk to your doctor about any foods you need to restrict or stay away from before trying something new.

Have you heard of umami before? Do you like the flavor of the foods listed above, or is there one you'd like to incorporate into your diet? Share more with us in the comments section.