Any tips for cutting back on sodium?

NicoleB82mfp
NicoleB82mfp Posts: 3 Member
edited July 2016 in Food and Nutrition
My blood pressure is a little high, so my doctor wants me to cut back on sodium.I am counting calories and trying to drink a lot of water.Already seeing improvement in weightloss, just need to get blood pressure down. Any tips or good low sodium snack ideas?

Replies

  • teetertatertango
    teetertatertango Posts: 229 Member
    The best way for me to keep my sodium down is by making my own foods at home. Even then, I have to watch it...it's maddening how much sodium bread and lunch meat have. Homemade pizza with pepperoni and canned veggies like olives & mushrooms is bad news. Canned soup is outrageous. (These are all things I like to eat). Take a look at your higher sodium go-tos and see if there is a way to tweak them to cut the sodium. For me, meat I roast myself vs. lunch meat, potato or squash as a base instead of bread, homemade soups with spices for flavor instead of excessive salt, etc. are ways to help

    Unsalted nuts are a decent snack if you like the taste. Raw fruits and veggies are always a good choice (though even some veggies have more sodium than you might think). Some packaged snack/protein/granola/fiber bars are not as bad as I would expect but you have to check the label because they change ingredients all the time.
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    Check out the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) "diet" (it is not really a diet). It is easy to follow, restricts sodium, and is very very healthy. Plus you can still lose weight on it. The DASH diet was originally developed as an eating style to help lower blood pressure.

    Bottom line: You need to eat mostly vegetables and fruits. However, there are alot of good ways to do this.
  • cabwj
    cabwj Posts: 843 Member
    Making fresh food at home has been what helps me manage my sodium. I found frozen entrees and canned soup to be the worst offenders. Now I make casseroles to portion out and freeze instead of the frozen entrees and homemade soups starting with low sodium broth. There are a number of tasty Mrs. Dash flavors now.

    For snacking, fruit, berries, and veggies are all good. I make a veggie dip using Greek yogurt and fresh herbs. Rice cakes are low in sodium if you don't mind them.
  • Annamarie3404
    Annamarie3404 Posts: 319 Member
    No processed meats, no fast food, no tv dinners, no canned foods unless you rinse that slimy stuff out of it, limit your salad dressing or make it yourself so you'll know how much salt you put into it, throw out all the salt in your house, learn to flavor with new spices, limit cheese and colas too.

    To reduce your salt, you will really need to cook your own meals because you can control how much salt you put into it. Also, drink a LOT of water if you do eat something salty.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    more whole foods, less processed foods, less eating out...not just fast food either...most restaurant food is a sodium bomb.

    You'll need to cook a lot at home from scratch. Note that generally salting your own prepared food isn't usually the big issue...it's all of the processed food goods.
  • brighteststitcher
    brighteststitcher Posts: 62 Member
    the easiest way to cut out sodium is to cut out all processed foods. I sounds like I have stock in whole30 but I wholeheartedly recommend it for cutting a lot of crappy foods from your diet and start making them all from scratch. You'll find it difficult to get a lot of sodium.
  • pomegranatecloud
    pomegranatecloud Posts: 812 Member
    If you make your meals from scratch, it's really easy to control the amount of sodium.
  • MelaniaTrump
    MelaniaTrump Posts: 2,694 Member
    edited July 2016
    Google: Healthy snacks Dash Diet
    http://www.dashdietoregon.org/make/snacks
    A serving of almonds or mozzarella cheese sticks are my favorites
    For dinner ideas google: Dash Diet Recipes
    http://thedashdiet.net/
  • greatatboats
    greatatboats Posts: 28 Member
    It's honestly a lot of label reading. Ideally yes, it'd be best to make everything from scratch but I don't know how realistic it is for you - it's honestly not in the cards for me. Some of the things that surprised me the most when I started looking was how much sodium was in pasta sauce, shrimp, cheese, deli meat, and Miracle Whip. A lot of times when you read labels you'll find an option that's at least a little lower than the rest - I figure if I can build a lot of those little change together, it'll pay off :)
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  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    Sauces, soups and stews with your slow cooker. Home made salad dressings. Learn to make them low/no salt. I use garlic, onion, pepper and herbs to zest my sauces.

    Unsalted nuts, sunflower seeds and butter.

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