people that watch your sodium

[Pluto 2]

my doctor says i eat too much sodium and she is right.
besides fresh fruits and vegetables what do you eat? i dont add any salt to food but my sodium intake is way too high. a 8 ounce glass of nonfat milk has 5 percent of your recommended sodium intake for the day. so what do you eat to reamin under or around the recommended sodium intake?

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I would not even know where to begin. That is something I do not watch and I am sure my daily sodium is crazy.

Basically if I wanted to watch my sodium, I would have to create a daily food journal and measure everything.

Eventually you can make up a cheat sheet until you get the levels memorized.

Not a bad idea really. I really do need a food journal, esp. for my dd. We are trying to eat healthier.

 

[Magpie]

my doctor says i eat too much sodium and she is right.
besides fresh fruits and vegetables what do you eat? i dont add any salt to food but my sodium intake is way too high. a 8 ounce glass of nonfat milk has 5 percent of your recommended sodium intake for the day. so what do you eat to reamin under or around the recommended sodium intake?

Pretty much fresh fruits and veggies! Plus, a lot of grilled meat, seasoned with herbs (you can get salt-free spice rubs). Unsalted nuts, like pecans or peanuts in the shell, are quite nice.

You should be careful with cheese - they can be high in sodium, so read the package. Ditto for your bread - make sure to read the nutritional information before you buy! Or just cut it out almost entirely (we get maybe one or two loaves a month and just leave them in the freezer). Get low sodium margarine.

Eggs, scrambled with fresh herbs, for breakfast... Peanut butter on toast occasionally - but make sure to buy the "nothing but peanuts" type of peanut butter, with no added salt.

Jicama, if you can find it at your health food store, is a very yummy root veggie that tastes like a cross between an apple and a potato. It can be sliced and fried up. Or shredded and cooked with onions. Or chopped and tossed raw on a salad. Salad dressings can be bought "low-sodium" or you can make your own by mixing a little oil, chopped garlic, lemon juice and mustard (yum!).

Basically, fresh food with no added salt works well. You'll probably lose weight, if you eat like this.

My mother in law takes diuretics to help reduce her sodium levels. Drinking more water by itself - while always a good idea - doesn't actually help to "flush out the sodium" in your body. That's a myth.

Try hitting the library or bookstore and picking up some "low-sodium" or "heart-healthy" cookbooks. And then just experiment!

 

[AustinTink]

Processed foods- out
canned foods- out
frozen foods- out
fast food- out
restaurants- be very careful

If you eat food as close as possible to it's "whole" form with limited processing, you'll be fine. I do this everyday. It sucks, but that's life.

 

[minniecarousel]

I needed to cook low-sodium for my Mom. I read EVERY label. She loved mac n' cheese, so I bought lower-sodium cheese and added no salt when cooking the pasta. I bought the boxed low-sodium soups from Trader Joe's for her. She loved bacon, so I even bought lower sodium bacon, for a special treat.

It was an eye-opener when I actually started reading the labels - spaghetti sauce is hard to find in low sodium. I would buy the "no salt added" canned tomatoes & tomato sauce and add fresh basil & garlic.

And yes, eating more fesh veggies and fruit were a must. So - read the labels on canned & jarred foods and keep it as low as you can.

 

[HM]

Great topic. I've been told to watch mine a bit as well. This is an eye-opener.

 

[dawson5]

It's hard. My husband has been limited to 2000mg a day (I think, have to dig it out). Things he thought were safe (caesar salad ) aren't.

Not putting salt on things is a no-brainer. Reading the labels on things is key. You have to watch what you trade off for though. They make a salt-free ketchup (he prefers this to regular ketchup) but it is higher in potassium. This is bad because of one of the medications he is on, he needs to limit his potassium also.

I find that making things from scratch is key. Frozen vegetables are way better than canned, but fresh is best. Frozen peas are sneaky though. The doctor's asst told us if it came from a box or a can, it probably wasn't good for him. Basically anything processed.

Spaghetti sauce is high. Try telling my husband that he can only have 1/4 c. of sauce, no cheese and half a slice of garlic bread. It's easier just not to make it.

I did think I was doing great, making a pork roast and slicing it for sandwiches for him. Then I read that they "injected a sodium solution" into the pork. So when I thought he was under for the day, he was actually over because of the meat. Chicken & pork are big on this, beef I don't see it as much (if at all).

Have you sat down with a dietician? My neighbor is encouraging us to do this, I have no problem with it. Getting my husband to do it is another story. He needs to take ownership of it, if he doesn't then it's just me being an ogre telling him that he can't have any of the good things.

Also, look at your breads and peanut butter. They make a salt free peanut butter, not the tastiest of things. Aunt Millies makes a bread, whole grain I think it is, has the lowest amount of salt. I want to say their potato bread is low also.

All I can say is do it while you can before you have to. He is on four different pills and should be for the rest of his life. All this is because of a poor diet that was high in fats and salt. This was a choice he made willingly. This runs in his family and his own father passed away at 67.

 

[Magpie]

Also, look at your breads and peanut butter. They make a salt free peanut butter, not the tastiest of things. Aunt Millies makes a bread, whole grain I think it is, has the lowest amount of salt. I want to say their potato bread is low also.

Hey, we love this stuff! My kids won't eat any other kind of peanut butter now.

It's all in what you're used to.

I will say, once the sodium had been out of our daily diet for awhile, we stopped missing it so much. I picked up a frozen dinner the other day because I was short on time and just feeding myself. I found it inedible - it tasted so salty!

BTW - I was reading an old book (1950s?) on how to do your own freezing, and the author said that freezing reduces the flavor of any salt in the food, so you basically have to double the salt in any recipe that you're planning to freeze. I guess that explains why so many processed and frozen foods are so high in sodium!

 

[wendy46001]

Processed foods- out
canned foods- out
frozen foods- out
fast food- out
restaurants- be very careful

If you eat food as close as possible to it's "whole" form with limited processing, you'll be fine. I do this everyday. It sucks, but that's life.

try to do the above, also in addition when i cheat i'm supposed to drink 100oz of water (which is impossible considering i have the bladder of a toddler)

 

[scrapquitler]

my doctor says i eat too much sodium and she is right.
besides fresh fruits and vegetables what do you eat? i dont add any salt to food but my sodium intake is way too high. a 8 ounce glass of nonfat milk has 5 percent of your recommended sodium intake for the day. so what do you eat to reamin under or around the recommended sodium intake?

The easiest way to decrease your sodium intake is to eliminate most processed foods (snack items, frozen dinners, baked goods, canned soups, canned sauces and veggies, fast food) as much as possible. And when you do use those things, always buy the low sodium version of it if available.

When my Dad was watching his sodium due to high blood pressure, the doctor told him to use sea salt rather than regular table salt becuase it has much lower sodium, and that if you are going to use salt, add it when cooking rather than at the table.

 

[SAHDad]

Processed foods- out
canned foods- out
frozen foods- out
fast food- out
restaurants- be very careful

If you eat food as close as possible to it's "whole" form with limited processing, you'll be fine. I do this everyday. It sucks, but that's life.

Frozen really depends on what it is - a quick check of the freezer showed that the broccoli, green beans and green peppers had only the vegetable listed as an ingredient (and the sodium levels confirm this). Lima beans had salt added, as did the mixed vegetables. The mixed veggies, however, had something like 20mg of sodium per 2/3 cup serving, and I think the lima beans were 40 mg per serving.

Now, my bags of frozen "junk foods" - I don't think about them.

It basically boils down to: read the labels, buy fresh (or certain frozen), and cook from scratch when possible.

 

[palmtreegirl]

I eat a low sodium diet and started exercising(running) to get my blood pressure under control, it was 150/100 and now it's better then it was in high school, last reading was 107/71. My mom, grandma, great gram...all had high blood pressure from their mid 30's on, but I wasn't going to give up without trying first.

I try not to cut things out completely except for soup, even low sodium versions are terrible for you. Honestly. I wouldn't even like the taste anymore, I use to be a salt junky and now I can't stand salty foods.

I try and buy lower sodium pasta sauce, Publix has there own that's only 320mg per 1/2 cup, not too bad for sauce and I don't even use that much. There's also some brands that offer "heart smart" versions about the same level, I add green peppers for flavor. There are lower sodium cheeses out there too.

For butter I use Smart Balance Whipped, it has 30 mg per tbsp and it's good. It's getting easier, I'm starting to notice more and more lower sodium option out there. Stay away from those frozen meal, even lean Cuisine and Healthy Choice, they're loaded with sodium, not healthy at all.

I love the entire Mrs Dash line for cooking, I use the Chipotle when we make tacos and crunchy instead of soft shells. There are lots of Mrs Dash flavors available and they're all great.

Best of all I feel so much better on a daily basis now that I'm eating better & exercising, plus an added benefit I've lost over 20 pounds. I have so much energy and I feel so much younger, I'm going to be 40 in December but I feel like I should be turning 30, tops.

 

[AustinTink]

Frozen really depends on what it is - a quick check of the freezer showed that the broccoli, green beans and green peppers had only the vegetable listed as an ingredient (and the sodium levels confirm this). Lima beans had salt added, as did the mixed vegetables. The mixed veggies, however, had something like 20mg of sodium per 2/3 cup serving, and I think the lima beans were 40 mg per serving.

Now, my bags of frozen "junk foods" - I don't think about them.

It basically boils down to: read the labels, buy fresh (or certain frozen), and cook from scratch when possible.

I was referring more to the frozen dinners, snacks, junk foods, etc. I never thought I would miss a frozen Marie Callender's lunch, But, you always want what you can't have!

 

[mamo-4-wdw]

Try this website http://www.lowsodiumcooking.com/free/index.htm

 

[LisaR]

I had a real sodium awakening about 18 months ago.

I decided to keep track of our calories, fat, etc using sparkpeople.

For dinner the first night, I made a big salad with croutons and bottled salad dressing plus a pot of "homemade" soup. My homemade soup used canned tomatoes, canned beans and boxed veggie broth.

One serving of soup plus one serving of salad was 2,000 mg of sodium! And let me assure you that we never ate just one serving of anything in our lives. OMG! I almost fell over when I saw that.

I was sure it was a fluke but day after day I came to realize that we were consuming huge quantities of sodium.

We have made dramatic changes. We started canning much of our own food items that we use daily. I don't buy anything pre-packaged except a few items for our hurricane supply kit and those are all low sodium.

We do use salt at the table but I spent one week measuring out a daily supply of salt for everyone and putting it into individual salt shakers. I wanted to make sure we weren't overusing. Each day, we all had salt leftover so I was comfortable with everyone salting at the table.

 

[clutter]

I think a lot of it depends on where you are now and where you want to go.

I 'watch' sodium, in the sense that I'm pretty aware of what I'm taking in. (She says as she finished up her Chipotle for lunch. )

The point being that you need to reduce your sodium, but is it something you have to do immediately, or something that you should do? If it's more of a 'should', and you eat/cook with a lot of processed foods, drop those first.

I'm chuckling at my Chipotle, but I've reduced our sodium intake at home pretty well. I've mostly given up chip-type snacks, sodas (have you see the sodium content on some!?), and anything processed. The non-perimiter-of-the-store foods I use are plain rice (never Liptons or Rice a Roni), lower sodium broths, lower-sodium soy sauce, lower-sodium pasta sauce and boxed pasta. (Ben & Jerry's is on the outer wall of my store, so I consider that a perimiter product!) If something will have any kind of flavor, I generally add it myself. That frees me up to not worry too much about things like cheese (we don't do deli meat) and to eat out some. But eating out is NOT McDonalds. Our fast foods tend to be local ethnic restaurants, not drive throughs.

So if your current habits are to eat things like Hamburger Helper, processed soups, canned veggies, sodas, frozen meals or sides, that would be a BIG first step.

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

Google the DASH diet. My doctor clued me into this when my blood pressure was too high. There is an awful lot of information about it online plus there is a really good book that I bought as well.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/09...11189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=097634081X

The mayo clinic has a huge list of DASH diet friendly recipes. I use them and the recipes found in the book to make my food choices.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/dash-diet-recipes/re00089

 

[tvguy]

Processed foods- out
canned foods- out
frozen foods- out
.

Okay, you sent me scrambling to my freezer and cupboard, because we eat lots of frozen and canned veggies.

I have frozen Schwans green beans and C & W edamame, the label says they have zero milligrams of sodium.

I have canned Great Value corn, beets, and peas all zero milligrams of sodium.

How is avoiding them going to help lower my salt intake?

I have high blood pressure, so have been searching for salt in my food for the past 7 years after getting the lower your salt intake lecture from my doctor. We don't salt when we cook, we don't have a salt shaker on the table.
I have unsalted peanuts and unsalted almonds for snacks. I only drink Diet Rite soda, with zero calories and zero milligrams of sodium.
Of course, the first two Blood pressure medicines my doctor gave me actually raised by blood pressure by 25%, so maybe I just have a weird genetic made up.

 

[arminnie]

Okay, you sent me scrambling to my freezer and cupboard, because we eat lots of frozen and canned veggies.

I have frozen Schwans green beans and C & W edamame, the label says they have zero milligrams of sodium.

I have canned Great Value corn, beets, and peas all zero milligrams of sodium.

How is avoiding them going to help lower my salt intake?

I have high blood pressure, so have been searching for salt in my food for the past 7 years after getting the lower your salt intake lecture from my doctor. We don't salt when we cook, we don't have a salt shaker on the table.
I have unsalted peanuts and unsalted almonds for snacks. I only drink Diet Rite soda, with zero calories and zero milligrams of sodium.
Of course, the first two Blood pressure medicines my doctor gave me actually raised by blood pressure by 25%, so maybe I just have a weird genetic made up.

Not all blood pressure problems are related to salt. A large % of people are not salt sensitive.

Be careful about eliminating all sodium. My dad (who lived till almost 90) went through boxes of salt. The problem that hospitalized him twice with major complications: low sodium.

I have never added salt while cooking. Nor sure why - probably being lazy. But I do like salt on eggs,tomatoes, and fresh corn on the cob.

I never eat food out of a box which eliminates a lot of salt. I avoid processed foods because they taste awful not because of the salt.

 

[rie'smom]

For both of my pregnancies I was on a sodium restricted diet-blah.
A few things that I remenber:

Onions are loaded with sodium as are diet drinks.

These are ok:
Mrs. Dash
Shredded wheat

I read every single label. The good thing was my sweet husband went on the diet with me. That made it much easier.