aaarrrgggg....low sodium foods!

[minniecarousel]

I'm figuring the only way to keep my Mom out of the hospital with Congestive Heart Failure is to cook very low sodium. (or at least, the only way I have any control - CHF isn't all diet-driven.) I cannot believe the products with sodium! Spaghetti sauce - the lowest I could find was 330 mg of sodium per serving. Mom likes breads & biscuits - the baking mixes have 280 or 430 mgs. I thought I was safe with frozen chicken thighs/breasts - nope sodium there too!

I know - fresh fruits & veggies, fresh, non-cured meats are best. But does anyone have some good websites for recipes. I've googled "low sodium" but wondered if anyone has a favorite site, or some good tricks for flavors.

 

[LisaR]

I hear ya! I was looking through a low sodium cookbook this weekend and there was a recipe for a vegetable/bean soup. It used low sodium tomato juice and low sodium broth. It still had 880mg of sodium per 1.5 cup serving!

I personally think the hardest thing to follow, diet wise, is low sodium (and this is coming from someone that can't use eggs, dairy, soy, nuts or shellfish due to allergies). Sodium is in everything.

 

[Nie0214]

Even the "low sodium" items are high in sodium. I've been trying to cut as much of it as possible out of my diet because of fluid retention in the mornings (my hands / ankles swell up in the morning) but it's in everything!

 

[EthansMom]

We try to eat lower fat and lower sodium at our house.

The best thing to do is avoid "convenience foods"... Most foods that are packaged in boxes (like Rice a Roni, etc..) are high in fat and/or sodium.

I like using the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook because it lists the nutritional content of each of the items. I also cook predominantly from basic foods. I use purchased low-fat, low-sodium chicken broth and low-salt saltine crackers when a recipe calls for chicken broth or crackers/bread crumbs. In many recipes, when they call for salt, I add half the amount specified. I have a breadmachine and use it to make homemade pizza crust and specialty breads... far healthier and fresher than storebought. I highly recommend the BT&G Bread Machine Cookbook too!

For convenience food items, you can always self-freeze foods.

I hope this helps!

 

[HM]

Good luck with helping your mother.

You may find that you have to make a lot of things by hand now. You can make homemade spaghetti sauce and homemade biscuits and bread and control the amount of salt you add (or none at all). It will take more time, but you can also make ahead larger portions and freeze for later use.

 

[TinklednPants]

It's true. Most everything on the shelves is loaded with sodium.
But as far as spaghetti sauce goes......just make your own.
It's not like it's hard and will save you some $$$ to boot.

 

[java]

Spaghetti Sauce-while I make my own now due to salt my Mom - not a cook- uses this
http://www.francescorinaldi.com/products/prdetail.asp?p=5

It's francesco Rinaldi they call it no salt.(although there is a tiny bit in there)

Stay away from jars and cans.

Watch things like bread. Some have much higher salt contents than others.

Start using other herbs- to boost up your flavor- I use TONS of pepper now and rely on fresh rosemary, thyme ,margoram and sage to flavor my stuff.

My goal if I have to buy something in a jar is to find something with less than 10% of my sodium intake for the day.


Good luck and it's nice of you to help. It's a royal pain at first- but once you get used to it it's just as easy. Just a different way of cooking.

 

[krissy2803]

Oh how I feel your pain! We are on this diet too because of my DH's CHF. We were both convienence food people. What used to take a few minutes in the grocery store now takes FOREVER!
Reading labels was a real eye opener for us.
I found the Mrs. Dash website has great recipes (easy too) go check it out.
Cooking ahead and freezing has been a huge timesaver for me. We had to do a lot of trial and error cooking to get some things just right. Spahgetti sauce was a hard one. We ended up getting no salt added sauce,15 mgs(the little bity cans) and adding stuff at home to make it taste good.
Bread was a killer! The lowest we found was Mrs. Bairds 100% whole wheat. I don't even know if that's available country wide though. We also found these whole wheat pitas that make great sandwiches. About 90mgs in those.
Another thing we do is to bake a whole chicken or a roast and just shred the thing up. Separate the meat into small bags and freeze. It makes for faster preparation of various dishes. The chicken is also great for sandwiches.
It's been a real challenge, but with patience it can be done!

 

[minniecarousel]

Spaghetti Sauce
It's francesco Rinaldi they call it no salt.(although there is a tiny bit in there)

Thanks for this particular item. I make my own turkey meatballs, so no salt sauce would be nice. I buy chopped no salt added tomatoes in a can and I know I can add tons of garlic and other herbs. I never add any salt when I cook. DH & I add a sprinkle at the table, if we feel the need.

We have always bought those grocery store rotisserie chickens, but I'm realizing that there must be tons of salt in those!

Thanks for the ideas. I'll check out the Mrs. Dash website too.

 

[minkydog]

We've been a low sodium family for the past 5 years, ever since DH developed congestive heart failure. I thought I was going to lose my mind the first 6 weeks relearning how to cook. As someone else pointed out, what once took me a few minutes became a chore that filled over an hour for each meal. I got to where I didn't even want to cook anymore!

And then I came to my senses. I love my husband and by golly, I can learn to cook healthier meals for him. I started by tossing out all prepared foods, soup, and boxed goods. If you have Rice a Roni, Spagetti0s, Wheat Thins, Mac & Cheese, peanuts,gravey, Stuffing Mix or baked goods, you already know they are loaded with sodium. Send them all to your nearest homeless shelter.

Then you go to your favorite grocery store and take a notebook. Don't buy groceries this time,just take notes. Every grocery store of any size carries "no-salt" brands. Write down all the brands of the foods you might buy: canned beans, tomatoes, pickles, tuna, corn, chili. Beside each entry write down the sodium content. Then go to the freezer section and write down all the stuff you might buy there: pizza, lasagna, corn dogs, vegetables, desserts, waffles. Put the sodium content beside each of them.

I'm assuming he's on a 2000mg limit, so you're going to have to get creative. Baked goods are right out--the sodium content is too high for the food value received. Fresh vegs and fruits are your friend. Limit meats--they have a lot of natural sodium and we tend to add salt to meat to make it taste good. Garlic and onions impart a lot of flavor to anything. When you make pasta, no salt. We started using brown rice and jasmine rice because they both taste good without salt. Make your own soups with lower sodium broths--read labels, they are NOT all the same. Even things like whole turkey can vary in sodium content.

And THEN you can sit down and plan your menus for the week. I found it much easier to stick with the low sodium if I had a weekly plan. It kept me from grabbing the nearest can of Beanie Weenies.

I can make at least 5 delicious soups or stews with less than 200mg sodium per serving. I make spagetti sauce by using a can of no-salt crushed tomatoes and a teaspoon of Italian seasoning. I can make a crockpot full of delicious pinto beans or red bean & rice with about 200mg sodium per serving. And no fat!

Best of luck to you. I know it's not fun, but you can do this. I promise you. And once you get used to a less salty palate you'll be amazed at how good food can taste.

 

[whogirl'smom]

My dad has CHF so I'm always on the lookout for products to help my mom have an easier time cooking for him. We have found that tomato puree has very low sodium and works well to use half spaghetti sauce and half puree without sacrificing taste.

Look at some different grocery stores--I lucked up and found low sodium bread (25 mg for 2 slices) at Kroger's. It's the store brand and we've never found another brand this low. Also the health food store has sodium free baking powder so you can make biscuits. Campbell's has low sodium soups (like cream of mushroom) that you can use in casseroles--no they don't taste good, but it's the only way we've found to make certain things.

We also found sodium free bouillion that was a life saver for making gravies. Heinz has low-salt ketchup. Mrs. Dash marinades for the grill are great!
Also check frozen french fry packages; some of them are actually low in sodium (usually the store brands plain type, no extra crispy coating.

And just in case your mom wants to save her sodium for a small splurge of fast food, we found Little Caesar's pizza to have the least sodium.

http://www.fatcalories.com/

You can sort foods by sodium content on this website.

Good luck with this; itis hard to get used to cooking differently. My poor mother still writes down everything my dad eats every day and has for four years.

 

[mtemm]

I can't recommend Cooking Light highly enough. great magazine, great website. check for sodium on the recipes, but many are low sodium and most recipes in general that I have tried from there are great.

 

[LuvOrlando]

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[marthachick]

Mrs. Dash Table Blend is wonderful. When Dr. told me I had high blood pressure and that I needed to limit salt, I tried Mrs. Dash. OMGosh!!! It's addictive! Even my DSis who does not have to limit salt is loving that stuff! Try it ASAP.

 

[Randi]

My son had CHF & I have high blood pressure so we ate low sodium for years.

I recommend going to tasteofhome.com & click on healthy living magazine. Then do a search for low sodium receipes.

For baked items, there is a low sodium baking powder. I think by Featherwait. I found it at a health food store.

We also used light breads. They tended to have less sodium.

I never added salt in anything I made. I never did understand how chefs seem to think it brings out the flavor of foods. To me it masks the natural taste of foods since salt has such a distinctive taste.

The Mrs. Dash items are a mainstay in my pantry.

I think you'll find it's not so hard once you get into it. And your mom will feel better which will make you feel better too!