Trouble staying under 1500 sodium

lucful

I have health issues where my sodium needs to be low. Most of the time I get close or barely go over my goal numbers in sodium by cooking a lot and trying to stay away from certain foods, especially the packaged ones. Problem is it is so frustrating that everything has to much sodium added...just ticks me off. Guess 'm ranting, thanks for reading :grumble:

aufond

I typically manage to stay well within range on sodium levels, and I think it's because I avoid processed foods (i.e., anything I don't make myself). Store-bought bread is one food that I may lean upon, but surprise surprise -- they put tons of sodium in that stuff! Also, any soups or stocks you buy off the shelf is loaded with sodium. As a matter of fact, just about anything you buy off the shelves that's been prepared has a high level of sodium (including breakfast cereals!).

I sympathize with your rant, I don't understand why the food industry insists on slipping so much sodium into our diets. I think it's because they're trying to make a bigger impression on our palates with their products. But if they all just dialed it down, we'd all be happy tasting good food whose flavors hasn't been distorted by unnatural amounts of sodium.

nmdreamer

I'm with you on that. I have to watch my sodium level as well. So i stay away from prepackaged foods. But it does make it harder choosing foods to eat

arabianhorselover

I typically manage to stay well within range on sodium levels, and I think it's because I avoid processed foods (i.e., anything I don't make myself). Store-bought bread is one food that I may lean upon, but surprise surprise -- they put tons of sodium in that stuff! Also, any soups or stocks you buy off the shelf is loaded with sodium. As a matter of fact, just about anything you buy off the shelves that's been prepared has a high level of sodium (including breakfast cereals!).

I sympathize with your rant, I don't understand why the food industry insists on slipping so much sodium into our diets. I think it's because they're trying to make a bigger impression on our palates with their products. But if they all just dialed it down, we'd all be happy tasting good food whose flavors hasn't been distorted by unnatural amounts of sodium.

Salt is cheap; that's why.

ohiotubagal

Yup...I have the same issue. I feel your frustration! A couple of tricks that I use:

-Dilute salad dressings with rice vinegar, milk or water to make them stretch farther; or use olive oil and balsamic vinegar

-English muffins seem to be lower in sodium than bread (Thomas brand is the best I've found so far)

-Hunt's makes no salt added diced tomatoes and tomato sauce

-Buy dried beans and lentils instead of canned versions. I make a big batch and freeze most of it so I can use it a little at a time.

-Mrs. Dash seasonings - no sodium and they come in many different flavors (tomato/basil, spicy, original, etc.)

-We grow a summer herb garden. Herbs grow well in containers if you don't have a yard.

-If I want to indulge in a super-salty dish, like Chinese food, I just eat half of it


Even with all these, I still struggle. Salty stuff just takes good! I got really stressed out a couple of weeks ago at the grocery store, reading labels. I had to finally decide there is just some things I won't buy, and if I want them I will make them myself.

martinel2099

I need to start getting a handle on my sodium levels thanks for the information.

lynn1982

So don't eat packaged foods...

Branstin

I have gotten better with my sodium level because I drink water like crazy to balance it out.

AllieMarie2244

I have health issues where my sodium needs to be low. Most of the time I get close or barely go over my goal numbers in sodium by cooking a lot and trying to stay away from certain foods, especially the packaged ones. Problem is it is so frustrating that everything has to much sodium added...just ticks me off. Guess 'm ranting, thanks for reading :grumble:

my dad also has to watch his sodium (if he gets too much he becomes dizzy, ears ringing, incoherent its awful)

there is low sodium everything now can veggies and can cream of whateever is now low sodium and chicken stock etc
or you can do what my mom did and scratch make EVERYTHING
she would make him his own bbq sauce even
basically its clean eating, meats fresh veggies and fruit etc
nothing processed, no fast food, no dinners out (restaurants have the worst sodium levels)

if we make something like enchiladas he would have a small portion and then mostly rice to fill him up
we'd also get low sodium tortillas and general corn tortillas I think are low in sodium
cheese is super high in it as well as lunch meats
Also you begin to notice how much salt people use in cooking shows... its ridiculous
a "pinch" of salt is used over and over = way too much sodium
or how they salt the water to boil noodles is ridiculous and makes the pasta itself absurdly high in sodium

hope that all helps

seltzermint555

Yup...I have the same issue. I feel your frustration! A couple of tricks that I use:

-Dilute salad dressings with rice vinegar, milk or water to make them stretch farther; or use olive oil and balsamic vinegar

-English muffins seem to be lower in sodium than bread (Thomas brand is the best I've found so far)

-Hunt's makes no salt added diced tomatoes and tomato sauce

-Buy dried beans and lentils instead of canned versions. I make a big batch and freeze most of it so I can use it a little at a time.

-Mrs. Dash seasonings - no sodium and they come in many different flavors (tomato/basil, spicy, original, etc.)

-We grow a summer herb garden. Herbs grow well in containers if you don't have a yard.

-If I want to indulge in a super-salty dish, like Chinese food, I just eat half of it


Even with all these, I still struggle. Salty stuff just takes good! I got really stressed out a couple of weeks ago at the grocery store, reading labels. I had to finally decide there is just some things I won't buy, and if I want them I will make them myself.

I love all of this advice, especially the part about Hunt's no salt added...we LOVE their tomato sauce, jazzed up with spices, garlic and a tiny bit of wine it's amazing for soups, pasta or homemade pizza.

I am regularly under on sodium by a lot, partly because my husband changed his diet to reverse rising blood pressure (hereditary). It gets easier with time! Probably the BIGGEST thing for me was switching to fresh or frozen veggies instead of canned. That cuts a TON of sodium.

I also find that if I have something high in sodium like a restaurant meal, tortillas, cheese, etc...it is easily "compensated for" by not having anything else high in sodium that day. Moderation is key!

BigTireFlipper

I have gotten better with my sodium level because I drink water like crazy to balance it out.

Not sure what you mean here. Water doesn't "balance it out". If you notice, the sodium macro doesn't increase if you exercise, it stays the same. It's a line that's drawn in the sand. As a person with high BP and on meds to control it I've discussed this both at length with my Doc and done lots of reading up on the subject. The #1 best thing to do is to not consume more sodium then the doc recommends. Drinking water helps your body deal with flushing it out, and in some cases increasing your potassium intake can assist too, but neither are substitutes for simply limiting your intake.

The only folks that need to worry about sodium levels are those that are training/competing in endurance sports or in extremely hot climates. I'm going to guesstimate that 90% of the people on here won't ever have an issue with too little salt. I do a lot of my workouts in the Texas heat and my sodium macro routinely floats between 900-1300mg. No hyponatremia for me.

ceegee15

Wonder Bread Classic seems to have the lowest sodium at 140mg for 2 pieces and still tastes great. Some egg substitutes are deadly when it comes to the sodium amount in the product. To make this short, I try to avoid eating out or anything that I was able to eat at the age of 20 and reading product labels is a must.

BigTireFlipper

I have health issues where my sodium needs to be low. Most of the time I get close or barely go over my goal numbers in sodium by cooking a lot and trying to stay away from certain foods, especially the packaged ones. Problem is it is so frustrating that everything has to much sodium added...just ticks me off. Guess 'm ranting, thanks for reading :grumble:

I hear you and agree 100%. The amount of sodium that gets used in our foods is simply staggering. The only way I can keep my numbers low is to do most of my own meal prep. I've found "acceptable" substitutes for my asian food addictions but never a perfect substitute. Lunch meats are pretty much a no show these days too. I do like my smoker pit though. Nothing like a piece of mesquite smoked pulled pork tossed on a hard fried egg and a thomas english muffin to rock a breakfast.

Branstin

I have gotten better with my sodium level because I drink water like crazy to balance it out.

Not sure what you mean here. Water doesn't "balance it out". If you notice, the sodium macro doesn't increase if you exercise, it stays the same. It's a line that's drawn in the sand. As a person with high BP and on meds to control it I've discussed this both at length with my Doc and done lots of reading up on the subject. The #1 best thing to do is to not consume more sodium then the doc recommends. Drinking water helps your body deal with flushing it out, and in some cases increasing your potassium intake can assist too, but neither are substitutes for simply limiting your intake.

The only folks that need to worry about sodium levels are those that are training/competing in endurance sports or in extremely hot climates. I'm going to guesstimate that 90% of the people on here won't ever have an issue with too little salt. I do a lot of my workouts in the Texas heat and my sodium macro routinely floats between 900-1300mg. No hyponatremia for me.

I am not sure where the misunderstanding is here. Water "balance it out" for me. I also have HBP and intake a lot of sodium every day. I don’t recall stating the sodium level changes due to exercise. The sodium level changes based on the foods consumed. Sodium holds water weight. Drinking water balances out that sodium and my weight goes down. In my case, I drink 64oz. of water a day and do not worry about the sodium because I have no intentions of limiting my sodium intake any more than I already have done. My doctor does have any problems with it.

LoosingMyLast15

So don't eat packaged foods...

it's not always as simple as that. i watch my sodium levels because too much makes my feet swell. i'm a firm believer in making my own foods instead of pre packaged stuff however you still have to watch certain things. salad dressings for one loaded with sodium so i use olive oil and red wine vinegar. hubby makes his pasta sauce using crushed tomatoes you'd be surprised how much sodium is in a 28 oz can. since he uses 2 cans for his sauce i buy no salt version and he adds it in. canned beans (navy, pinto, great northern) all have sodium in it. yes dry beans are way better and cheaper. those seasoning packets are LOADED with salt i never ever ever buy these things. almost everything has some amount of sodium in it not just packaged.

AllieMarie2244

So don't eat packaged foods...

it's not always as simple as that. i watch my sodium levels because too much makes my feet swell. i'm a firm believer in making my own foods instead of pre packaged stuff however you still have to watch certain things. salad dressings for one loaded with sodium so i use olive oil and red wine vinegar. hubby makes his pasta sauce using crushed tomatoes you'd be surprised how much sodium is in a 28 oz can. since he uses 2 cans for his sauce i buy no salt version and he adds it in. canned beans (navy, pinto, great northern) all have sodium in it. yes dry beans are way better and cheaper. those seasoning packets are LOADED with salt i never ever ever buy these things. almost everything has some amount of sodium in it not just packaged.

Salad dressing you could use oil and vinegar... thats what my dad uses
i hate that but you know... pick and choose your salt battles I guess

or
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/balsamic-vinegar-and-olive-oil-dressing/
just dont put in salt

arabianhorselover

I have health issues where my sodium needs to be low. Most of the time I get close or barely go over my goal numbers in sodium by cooking a lot and trying to stay away from certain foods, especially the packaged ones. Problem is it is so frustrating that everything has to much sodium added...just ticks me off. Guess 'm ranting, thanks for reading :grumble:

my dad also has to watch his sodium (if he gets too much he becomes dizzy, ears ringing, incoherent its awful)

there is low sodium everything now can veggies and can cream of whateever is now low sodium and chicken stock etc
or you can do what my mom did and scratch make EVERYTHING
she would make him his own bbq sauce even
basically its clean eating, meats fresh veggies and fruit etc
nothing processed, no fast food, no dinners out (restaurants have the worst sodium levels)

if we make something like enchiladas he would have a small portion and then mostly rice to fill him up
we'd also get low sodium tortillas and general corn tortillas I think are low in sodium
cheese is super high in it as well as lunch meats
Also you begin to notice how much salt people use in cooking shows... its ridiculous
a "pinch" of salt is used over and over = way too much sodium
or how they salt the water to boil noodles is ridiculous and makes the pasta itself absurdly high in sodium

hope that all helps

The problem is that the no salt added products generally cost a lot more.

arabianhorselover

Yup...I have the same issue. I feel your frustration! A couple of tricks that I use:

-Dilute salad dressings with rice vinegar, milk or water to make them stretch farther; or use olive oil and balsamic vinegar

-English muffins seem to be lower in sodium than bread (Thomas brand is the best I've found so far)

-Hunt's makes no salt added diced tomatoes and tomato sauce

-Buy dried beans and lentils instead of canned versions. I make a big batch and freeze most of it so I can use it a little at a time.

-Mrs. Dash seasonings - no sodium and they come in many different flavors (tomato/basil, spicy, original, etc.)

-We grow a summer herb garden. Herbs grow well in containers if you don't have a yard.

-If I want to indulge in a super-salty dish, like Chinese food, I just eat half of it


Even with all these, I still struggle. Salty stuff just takes good! I got really stressed out a couple of weeks ago at the grocery store, reading labels. I had to finally decide there is just some things I won't buy, and if I want them I will make them myself.

I love all of this advice, especially the part about Hunt's no salt added...we LOVE their tomato sauce, jazzed up with spices, garlic and a tiny bit of wine it's amazing for soups, pasta or homemade pizza.

I am regularly under on sodium by a lot, partly because my husband changed his diet to reverse rising blood pressure (hereditary). It gets easier with time! Probably the BIGGEST thing for me was switching to fresh or frozen veggies instead of canned. That cuts a TON of sodium.

I also find that if I have something high in sodium like a restaurant meal, tortillas, cheese, etc...it is easily "compensated for" by not having anything else high in sodium that day. Moderation is key!

Frozen vegetables are SO MUCH better anyway!

Braincatcher

I feel you. I've been on 2000 mg sodium and my BP is still through the roof, so I'm dropping to 1500. Gaaah!! Don't know how I'm going to do it! One meal at a time, I suppose.

BigTireFlipper

I am not sure where the misunderstanding is here. Water "balance it out" for me. I also have HBP and intake a lot of sodium every day. I don’t recall stating the sodium level changes due to exercise. The sodium level changes based on the foods consumed. Sodium holds water weight. Drinking water balances out that sodium and my weight goes down. In my case, I drink 64oz. of water a day and do not worry about the sodium because I have no intentions of limiting my sodium intake any more than I already have done. My doctor does have any problems with it.

That's the oversight. Water is only helping you flush the sodium out, not balancing it. I think that if you ask your doctor for clarification he'll explain that Yes you should be drinking plenty of water because if you don't then the sodium is retained in your body. He'll most likely also tell you that No, water doesn't balance it out at all and that you should be monitoring your intake to the levels he's outlined for you, not trying to balance it out with water.

As with anything posted on an internet forum, a person should always follow what their doctor specifies for their individual needs. I can't give anyone medical advice here, but I will share what I know and encourage them to discuss it more with their doc. :flowerforyou:

lynn1982

So don't eat packaged foods...

it's not always as simple as that. i watch my sodium levels because too much makes my feet swell. i'm a firm believer in making my own foods instead of pre packaged stuff however you still have to watch certain things. salad dressings for one loaded with sodium so i use olive oil and red wine vinegar. hubby makes his pasta sauce using crushed tomatoes you'd be surprised how much sodium is in a 28 oz can. since he uses 2 cans for his sauce i buy no salt version and he adds it in. canned beans (navy, pinto, great northern) all have sodium in it. yes dry beans are way better and cheaper. those seasoning packets are LOADED with salt i never ever ever buy these things. almost everything has some amount of sodium in it not just packaged.

Nope, you're still talking about packaged foods. Canned crushed tomatoes, canned beans, and bottled salad dressings are packaged. There's no salt added to fresh tomatoes, dried beans or oil and vinegar...So yes, it is that simple. I have low blood pressure and need to take salt tablets to raise my bp. Because I make everything from scratch, I find it difficult to consume over 1500mg of sodium per day.