@33gail33 Deep deep sigh! My dad as well. He takes pills for hbp and cholesterol - in addition to a bi-weekly injection for cholesterol!!
I do wish - although I’m sure there’s some truth to it - that my dad’s doc hadn’t told him that his cholesterol was sooo high that it has to be partly due to genetics. That’s all my dad needed to hear - he inferred “see, it ain’t my fault - it’s in the family”. 🙄🙄
My dad and mom are 77 and 81 respectively. I’m wondering at what point I also just release it all and let them do what they want. The good thing is that I’ve been so stressed having lived with them since last year due to covid - I lost 30 lbs!
Sheesh!
Are we related? My mom insisted for years that her "asthma" ran in the family (rather than, you know, the actual cause being COPD from smoking for 50 years). What are you gonna do ....
Well my 81 year old father who is a) wickedly smart (he was a physicist) b) super anal about nutrition when it comes to sugar, sodium, vitamin content, etc is also c) an alcoholic. I think focusing on fairly inconsequential things helps him ignore the real problem.
Simply - does one reduce the sodium content in canned soup if one adds a lot of water?
I’m trying to have my dad eat less salt due to his high blood pressure but he loves canned soup - and he eats the whole can.
His claim: The fix is to just add a bunch of water - that will dilute the soup and therefore dilute the sodium - thereby reducing any harmful effects.
Me- the addition of water may indeed dilute the TASTE of the soup, but if the label says 800mg in a full can and you’re eating the whole can, you just ate 800mg of sodium - diluted or not.
If he used the water to stretch the number of servings and not the eat whole can, then I can see his point.
Am I missing something?
He sounds like he is making an excuse. The best way to offset sodium and potassium. I get potassium that I can add to food to help me make my daily recommended amount.
My spouse adds salt before he even tastes the food and it drives me crazy!
I wonder if this is a childhood habit thing. We always had salt and pepper on the table growing up, and I always used them both because our food was almost never seasoned while cooking. No spices, no herbs, no salt, no nothing. When I started learning how to cook, I seasoned while cooking, and then I found I didn't need to add anything because it already tasted right! Also, I learned that the spice jars weren't supposed to be covered in dust and just take up space in a cupboard for years and years without being used, while turning to brown plant-y ash.
The OP made me gag a little bit, because that sounds terrible. I don't generally think sodium is the enemy, but I wouldn't want to be getting it in diluted canned soup.
Not sure I saw it... But if you are adding more water, you are going to pee more and expel more sodium via your urine. So at some level it would help. Same as if you drink lots of water for example.
what i know is if i eat more salt My high blood pressure is crazy
I retain water in my tissues if I eat too much sodium and as I have lymphedema in my low extremities ,everything is a mess
the less sodium i eat ,the more the need to drink water and water I drink easily
The more sodium, I am not thirsty, I do not drink water, but as I also retain , again it a mess for my edema
For me the only working solution is less salt, more water
I found difficult for some food not to put salt, but there are plenty which you can solve with condiments
Like for example meat fruits vegetables even pasta , potatoes ,rice, do not require necessary a lot of salt
Homemade Soup is one dish that for me does not taste ok without salt, so I sometimes try to avoid although I like a lot, sometimes I can put more lemon, but that's it
Also everything canned or junk food or sauces , I try to avoid , use natural dishes , sauces made at home
Maybe this analogy will help get through to him. If you have an ounce of vodka in a glass and add an ounce of water. Do you not still have an ounce of vodka in there.
Works the same with sodiuim.
@mikhnpaitsmum Thank you, I tried that. What I think he wants to believe - so that he can continue eating his salt of course - is to reply with a “yes, I may still have that ounce of vodka in there - but because I added the water, I have therefore decreased the “bad” effects of the vodka.
What he doesn’t get is if the doc says you can’t have have more than x milligrams of sodium per day, having x milligrams of sodium plus water still means you had x milligrams of sodium. Argh!
I’m being successfully gaslit. Is diluted sodium better?!
Take the can of soup. Dilute it with water to twice it's volume. Put half of the diluted soup in a container and put it in the fridge. Heat up the other half of the diluted soup and eat that. Boom. Half the sodium. Eat the other half another day.
@Dante_80. It can’t be. I had some brain cells die arguing with my dad. But if we had the same oz of vodka but I added the water and you did not - I would get less drunk, (all other things being equal), no, and the alcohol would affect me less, no? My gosh - I’m tuning into my dad.
@mtararoot - right. He either have to share his soup, save his soup, or reduce his portion size somehow for it to work.
@Dante_80. It can’t be. I had some brain cells die arguing with my dad. But if we had the same oz of vodka but I added the water and you did not - I would get less drunk, (all other things being equal), no, and the alcohol would affect me less, no? My gosh - I’m tuning into my dad.
@mtararoot - right. He either have to share his soup, save his soup, or reduce his portion size somehow for it to work.
I think I've done that experiment . . . and I think I'd get just as drunk. I think I might have less of a hangover, mostly. N=1, though. 🤷♀️
@mikhnpaitsmum Thank you, I tried that. What I think he wants to believe - so that he can continue eating his salt of course - is to reply with a “yes, I may still have that ounce of vodka in there - but because I added the water, I have therefore decreased the “bad” effects of the vodka.
What he doesn’t get is if the doc says you can’t have have more than x milligrams of sodium per day, having x milligrams of sodium plus water still means you had x milligrams of sodium. Argh!
I’m being successfully gaslit. Is diluted sodium better?!
No, no, no. Alcohol, like sodium, isn't "cancelled out" by water. If the only impact of the alcohol or sodium that you're worried about is dehydration, then adding water will obviously make a difference. But your total alcohol (or sodium) consumption will still be relevant, even if you're fully hydrated.
If I add a ounce of water to every ounce of vodka that I drink, I still have to process all the alcohol. Same for sodium.
@Dante_80. It can’t be. I had some brain cells die arguing with my dad. But if we had the same oz of vodka but I added the water and you did not - I would get less drunk, (all other things being equal), no, and the alcohol would affect me less, no?
You'd actually still be drunk and get nocturnia as a bonus..
Ok, do the following. Split the soup in half, add enough water to get to his usual portion size, and tell him to not complain about taste because diluting the sodium was his idea. If he wants the other watered half...give it to him, he probably won't be able to eat it if he is already full from the first one.
So to fix this learn to make 7-8 soups that are very different and can them in Mason jars. I make soups for part of my weightloss cycle and I make them low sodium because it's cheaper and more satisfying than store bought. My dad who is 60's and loves salt+ sugar has no clue my soups are low sodium and eats them. I do egg drop soup, chicken noodle(I use gluten free noodles that add protein), cabbage soup, turkey and wild rice, 3 bean chilli and more. That's the work around that I personally found. You can also freeze them in 12 jar batches. Personally I do egg drop soup in a pot, cabbage soup in a crock pot and chicken noodle in a crock pot at the same time and freeze some but put some in the fridge. I also switched our home to dairy free and saw a reduction in sodium levels. I know that's not your question but my pops is a stubborn mule and I want him to see his granddaughter graduate Highschool.
When your liver, pancreas, and muscles are jam packed overloaded with fat and glycogen your body is overloaded with water.
Every gram of glycogen holds 4 grams of water. Your kidneys freak out and start saving salt. When they save salt they dump potassium, calcium, magnesium, and other cations.
It's a vicious cycle. Your body is overloaded with salt and water but your kidneys sense the opposite. It's similar to congestive heart failure. Just less dramatic.
If you go keto or even better do a long water fast your body will dump the glycogen and its water and salt bodyguards in about 36 hours.
Your kidneys start working properly again. When I eat keto and fast I need to eat about 5g per day of salt.
Replies
Aren't families great!
Bingo! Families - can’t live with ‘em, can’t...kill ‘em!😂😂
He sounds like he is making an excuse. The best way to offset sodium and potassium. I get potassium that I can add to food to help me make my daily recommended amount.
I wonder if this is a childhood habit thing. We always had salt and pepper on the table growing up, and I always used them both because our food was almost never seasoned while cooking. No spices, no herbs, no salt, no nothing. When I started learning how to cook, I seasoned while cooking, and then I found I didn't need to add anything because it already tasted right! Also, I learned that the spice jars weren't supposed to be covered in dust and just take up space in a cupboard for years and years without being used, while turning to brown plant-y ash.
The OP made me gag a little bit, because that sounds terrible. I don't generally think sodium is the enemy, but I wouldn't want to be getting it in diluted canned soup.
I retain water in my tissues if I eat too much sodium and as I have lymphedema in my low extremities ,everything is a mess
the less sodium i eat ,the more the need to drink water and water I drink easily
The more sodium, I am not thirsty, I do not drink water, but as I also retain , again it a mess for my edema
For me the only working solution is less salt, more water
I found difficult for some food not to put salt, but there are plenty which you can solve with condiments
Like for example meat fruits vegetables even pasta , potatoes ,rice, do not require necessary a lot of salt
Homemade Soup is one dish that for me does not taste ok without salt, so I sometimes try to avoid although I like a lot, sometimes I can put more lemon, but that's it
Also everything canned or junk food or sauces , I try to avoid , use natural dishes , sauces made at home
Works the same with sodiuim.
What he doesn’t get is if the doc says you can’t have have more than x milligrams of sodium per day, having x milligrams of sodium plus water still means you had x milligrams of sodium. Argh!
I’m being successfully gaslit. Is diluted sodium better?!
No. How can it be?
Take the can of soup. Dilute it with water to twice it's volume. Put half of the diluted soup in a container and put it in the fridge. Heat up the other half of the diluted soup and eat that. Boom. Half the sodium. Eat the other half another day.
@mtararoot - right. He either have to share his soup, save his soup, or reduce his portion size somehow for it to work.
I think I've done that experiment . . . and I think I'd get just as drunk. I think I might have less of a hangover, mostly. N=1, though. 🤷♀️
No, no, no. Alcohol, like sodium, isn't "cancelled out" by water. If the only impact of the alcohol or sodium that you're worried about is dehydration, then adding water will obviously make a difference. But your total alcohol (or sodium) consumption will still be relevant, even if you're fully hydrated.
If I add a ounce of water to every ounce of vodka that I drink, I still have to process all the alcohol. Same for sodium.
You'd actually still be drunk and get nocturnia as a bonus..
Ok, do the following. Split the soup in half, add enough water to get to his usual portion size, and tell him to not complain about taste because diluting the sodium was his idea. If he wants the other watered half...give it to him, he probably won't be able to eat it if he is already full from the first one.
When your liver, pancreas, and muscles are jam packed overloaded with fat and glycogen your body is overloaded with water.
Every gram of glycogen holds 4 grams of water. Your kidneys freak out and start saving salt. When they save salt they dump potassium, calcium, magnesium, and other cations.
It's a vicious cycle. Your body is overloaded with salt and water but your kidneys sense the opposite. It's similar to congestive heart failure. Just less dramatic.
If you go keto or even better do a long water fast your body will dump the glycogen and its water and salt bodyguards in about 36 hours.
Your kidneys start working properly again. When I eat keto and fast I need to eat about 5g per day of salt.