Sodium free or less Ingredients

vivekg

I recently started to become a LOT more aware of my sodium intake for the day.

And I was wondering, are there any ways to make my food tasty WHILE not having not too much sodium from the spices I add to it?
Are there any ways to clone the taste of salt without adding any salt??

cindyhoney2

I am a cayanne pepper fanatic. I put it on almost everything, veggies, meat. It has 2 mg of sodium per tbsp. I also use garlic (fresh or powder) and pepper. I really don't add salt to anything but eggs and cantaloupe. Sea salt is supposed to be better for you than regular salt, maybe try that? Good luck!

7funnygirl7

I use the no salt Mrs, Dash table blend, lemon pepper & garlic/herb spices ~ Tasty, and no msg! I also use black pepper.

babycook

After a while you don't miss it. The need for it goes away and you don't crave it. In fact I can't stand salty things anymore. My mom replaced it with garlic powder. I didn't replace it with anything.

TexanThom

Try Nu Salt....Not bad.

aspen_matthews

The good news is that taste for salt is a learned taste, so just give it some time and you can learn to prefer lower sodium foods.

Sea salt is still salt. Gram for gram it has the same sodium as table salt.

Make sure you get things like garlic powder instead of garlic salt. There are tons of salt free spices/herbs/blends out there that add no sodium do your food.

Some people also use salt substitute, which is potassium chloride instead of sodium chloride, but I'd recommend making sure it's okay for you to use with your health provider first.

olee67

Ms. Dash anything is pretty good. I'm kind of impressed with how well it works in a pan or on the grill.

Tedebearduff

Make stuff spicy instead Cayenne and cumin are good they also increase your metabolism. I also use Ms.Dash not salt no MSG should be able to find them at any grocery store. Fresh or dried dill is also amazing on almost anything but that's my opinion

Elizabeth_C34

Fresh herbs, garlic, and onion are your friends. Pickup a garlic press and a small vegge chopper. You can cut without it, but a food chopper makes it easy to chop it up.

You can add a lot of wonderful flavor to food by using spices and herbs. I like to use fresh garlic and press it and sautee with some onion to season a pan before I cook food, especially a stir fry or something like that.

McCormick also makes a whole line of wonderful salt-free seasonings.

Also, you can season with salt at home and still end up using much less sodium than if you bought the same food at a restaurant or processed, so don't be afraid to use salt sparingly in your recipes either.

tigersword

Do you have a specific medical condition that requires you to reduce sodium intake? If not, don't worry about it, contrary to what the "salt is evil" crowd says, sodium does not cause any medical problems, beyond possible water retention.

Also, if sodium and potassium is in balance, it doesn't matter how much you consume at all.

tsh0ck

the tiger, beating me in with the truth once again.

vivekg

I have no medical condition but have a family history of hypertension and heart disease. Well now I'm more fit so I'm not so predisposed to them but I just wanna make this life change now while im young and wanna lose the weight by killing the unnecessary sodium out of my diet.

Edit - While it does not cause many problems, nowadays food companies are bringing out more and more sodium in their frozen foods and canned foods. And restaurants are wholeee different issue as they just load up the sodium (But I eat out now maybe once a month. So thats not much of an issue). As much as I dont wanna consume these foods and start going more organic, I'm a student and I barely have time to shop and its expensive to shop organic. Salt isnt evil but its also not that good for u. So if i can make the change now, I wont be so dependent on it in the future.

vivekg

Thanks everyone so much! Ive heard a lot about this Mrs Dash seasoning and I'm def gonna go out and get some now. And I love the cayenne pepper and garlic powder idea. I'm gonna try and slowly incorporate those things to cut the sodium out

Pebble321

Spices don't add salt - unless you are buying premixed packs that have added sodium. Avoid them and buy the single spices and add them in yourself.
I use a lot of spices like cummin, ground coriander, cayenne pepper, chilli flakes, smoked paprika, saffron.
Herb (fresh or dried) like basil, oregano, coriander etc are great.
Lemon and lime juice add a real hit of flavour too without salt.

But, as others have said, don't drop your sodium too low without medical advice - your body needs some to work effectively. Managine the amount is a great idea, and getting into good habits while you are young is a fantastic thing to do - I wish I had done that!
But, note that cutting sodium isn't going to make you "lose weight", not permanently anyway. It might mean that you retain a little less water when you hop on the scales but it isn't going to affect the amount of fat in your body which is presumably what you want to lose.

vivekg

I totally agree and I always stay in my 2500 mg zone of sodium while sometimes going a little up. Ive usually never been less. And being indian, u must have an idea how much spices we eat lol. We just load em on. I just want to now add a little less salt lol

Elizabeth_C34

I have no medical condition but have a family history of hypertension and heart disease. Well now I'm more fit so I'm not so predisposed to them but I just wanna make this life change now while im young and wanna lose the weight by killing the unnecessary sodium out of my diet.

Another thing you may wish to do then is to try to balance your sodium with potassium intake. There's been some recent research showing that a large sodium to potassium ratio is more indicative of higher risk of cardiovascular disease later in life than sodium intake alone, though that risk is much smaller in people who are not overweight. I try to get my sodium/potassium intake as close to 1 as I can, and I have noticed it helps quite a bit with bloating and weight fluctuations.

High potassium foods are beans, spinach, potatoes, bananas, and other starchy vegetables and fruits.

danasings

If you have a Costco membership, try the Kirkland No Salt Organic Seasoning Blend. It's fantastic! (Or have someone buy some for you. I put it on almost everything...it's soooo good!)

vivekg

I have no medical condition but have a family history of hypertension and heart disease. Well now I'm more fit so I'm not so predisposed to them but I just wanna make this life change now while im young and wanna lose the weight by killing the unnecessary sodium out of my diet.

Another thing you may wish to do then is to try to balance your sodium with potassium intake. There's been some recent research showing that a large sodium to potassium ratio is more indicative of higher risk of cardiovascular disease later in life than sodium intake alone, though that risk is much smaller in people who are not overweight. I try to get my sodium/potassium intake as close to 1 as I can, and I have noticed it helps quite a bit with bloating and weight fluctuations.

High potassium foods are beans, spinach, potatoes, bananas, and other starchy vegetables and fruits.

Oh i'll try and consume more pottasium then too. I think I'm almost to the 1 ratio because I do consume beans on a normal basis. Thanks for the info.

vivekg

If you have a Costco membership, try the Kirkland No Salt Organic Seasoning Blend. It's fantastic! (Or have someone buy some for you. I put it on almost everything...it's soooo good!)

Love Costco. Parents have a membership and we go there almost every week lol I'll look for that the next time. Thanks!

Elizabeth_C34

I have no medical condition but have a family history of hypertension and heart disease. Well now I'm more fit so I'm not so predisposed to them but I just wanna make this life change now while im young and wanna lose the weight by killing the unnecessary sodium out of my diet.

Another thing you may wish to do then is to try to balance your sodium with potassium intake. There's been some recent research showing that a large sodium to potassium ratio is more indicative of higher risk of cardiovascular disease later in life than sodium intake alone, though that risk is much smaller in people who are not overweight. I try to get my sodium/potassium intake as close to 1 as I can, and I have noticed it helps quite a bit with bloating and weight fluctuations.

High potassium foods are beans, spinach, potatoes, bananas, and other starchy vegetables and fruits.

Oh i'll try and consume more pottasium then too. I think I'm almost to the 1 ratio because I do consume beans on a normal basis. Thanks for the info.

Unfortunately, potassium isn't on most nutritional labels, but the USDA information in the MFP database (entries without a star next to the name) usually have potassium information included so you can track it.

vivekg

I have no medical condition but have a family history of hypertension and heart disease. Well now I'm more fit so I'm not so predisposed to them but I just wanna make this life change now while im young and wanna lose the weight by killing the unnecessary sodium out of my diet.

Another thing you may wish to do then is to try to balance your sodium with potassium intake. There's been some recent research showing that a large sodium to potassium ratio is more indicative of higher risk of cardiovascular disease later in life than sodium intake alone, though that risk is much smaller in people who are not overweight. I try to get my sodium/potassium intake as close to 1 as I can, and I have noticed it helps quite a bit with bloating and weight fluctuations.

High potassium foods are beans, spinach, potatoes, bananas, and other starchy vegetables and fruits.

Oh i'll try and consume more pottasium then too. I think I'm almost to the 1 ratio because I do consume beans on a normal basis. Thanks for the info.

Unfortunately, potassium isn't on most nutritional labels, but the USDA information in the MFP database (entries without a star next to the name) usually have potassium information included so you can track it.

Ya I've been a little oblivious to potassium (Even though I know its the most important electrolyte in our body and I'm a med student...go fig lol). Gonna keep my eyes on that now too!