Looking for a LOW SODIUM diet example!

ambiedawnz

I have high blood pressure and take a low dose pill prescribed from my Dr.
BUT I don't want to have to take medication I have never had HBP problems before until I was pregnant with my 2nd son. They told me I had mild Pre eclampsia and that it would go away after delivery.
Well, it didn't and I was told to watch my sodium and that it could be hereditary since my father has HBP.

--- I am only 28 years old & currently weigh 158.4 lbs. (was around the 170's after delivering my son). I feel like I am way too young to have this problem!!! I know I have cravings for salt, and I have always grabbed the salt shaker at dinner and salted my veggies especially. I have switched to sea salt last year (idk if that helps) and have really tried to cut back on adding any salt - its SO HARD!
I really need some examples of a low sodium diet that would be easy for me to follow and not too expensive. What I'm looki g for is just some examples of an entire days log of food breakfast, lunch, dinner & snacks that is low sodium and under 1400 calories.
I usually have cheerios/Kix or oatmeal with skim milk for breakfast though, and I'd like to keep that pretty similar...
Any takers???

--EDITED to add I am 5'7.5" tall--

zyxst

1. Stop salting your food.

Sea salt isn't any better for you than table salt.

2, Sodium is in everything, yes, even if it says 0 on the nutrition label.

I'm not good at making up meals for people I don't know, sorry. Things like rice, pasta, real butter have little sodium in them.

cbrrabbit25

i try to eat less salt, but its difficult. you can look at my diary but today is a bad example since i had a lot of luch meat. usually im closer to my goal but processed meats make it very difficult.

Keiko385

I do low sodium and most days I am under well 1500, cut out the processed foods, fresh or frozen veggies, stay away from any of the the ones with sauces and you should do just fine.
My diary is open if you want to peek

kenazfehu

The more you start with fresh ingredients and prepare food yourself, the more control you have over sodium. It's the packaged pseudo-food items that will really sock it to your sodium level.

I don't track mine anymore because I was always well under the sodium allowance that MFP was giving me, less than half most days.

krickeyuu

You can look at my diary. for the last month or so, I try to keep at 1600mg (don't always make it but I am rarely over 2300mg). You can see that when I do go over, it is usually because I either ate: 1) fast food, 2) restaurant food, or 3) pre-packaged food. For cooking I use Mortons Lite Salt because it has 1/2 the sodium. Do not add salt at the table, only a little during cooking. Look for low-soduim options (if possible) in restaurants and packaged food. Eat a lot of raw fruits and veggies and drink plenty of water to flush the sodium from you body.

T1mH

Stay away from processed foods. Especially weight watcher or lean cuisine type of frozen meals. They may be low in calories but they are nearly always high in sodium.

Try more fresh foods, look for lower sodium versions of the processed food that you do buy.

You can add sodium as one of the things that MFP tracks for you, even have it show up on your food entries like fat, carbs, and proteins do. If you start watching it you will quickly get a feel for what things have more sodium in them than others.

lewcompton

I usually go for more substance with my breakfasts...
Breakfast: La Tortilla Factory mini tortilla (6") with 1/8 or less cup of refried beans (lowest sodium you can find or make your own) I find the Old El Paso is fairly low in sodium... egg, pico de gallo and avocado... 200 calories
Snack 1: apple or kiwi, 10 almonds... 150 calories
Lunch: Kirkland Sanwich thin, kirkland sandwich turkey, avocado, tomato add later to keep from making sandwich soggy, greek yogurt, spinach... 200 calories
Snack 2: Strawberries or cantaloupe, 10 almonds... 150 calories
Dinner: Sensible... typical example fajitas... La Tortilla Factory wrap (8") with sirloin, onion, garlic, bell pepper, cilantro, lime juice, pico de gallo, avocado, and greek yogurt... 300 calories
Snack 3: tropical smoothie (mango, pineapple, banana, vanilla almond milk) 200 calories
Total Calories for the day 1200... Sodium about 1800 mg... If you control the fabrication of your food and limit the food to the sodium that is in it... I usually stay under 2000 mg per day except if I really want something on occasion that is higher in sodium... I've gone from 138/94 to 123/82 and pulse rate from 86 to 68 and glucose of 104 to 93... No pre-diabetes, no pre-hypertension and I feel and move much easier now than before.

PayneAS

Can check out my diary. Although you may want to ignore the last 3 days as it was/is not only my husband's birthday but two of our friends. Go back to Thursday. LOL.

juliaamilee

sorry to say you cannot do anything for those genetics. I will probably be destined as well. My dad takes 6 different antihypertensives to control his.. So things you can do.. Cut out processed foods, loaded in salt, use other herbs to add flavor, vingear or lemon juice has a salty taste when used in moderation of course. Trial and error. But you will probably see your biggest cut out in processed foods.

monicalosesweight

Be sure to look at packages of frozen meats, some of them have more sodium in them compared to others. The other day I found organic chicken at Costco at 40 sodium for 4 ounces compared to some other brands they carried that were 150 sodium and up for the same quantity of chicken. They tend to salt meats quite a bit so you really need to pay attention. Also, the ones that come pre-marinated sometimes have huge quantities of sodium. You'll want to invest in spices with no salt so you can do your own marinades if you're cooking. The key part of the sodium hunt seems to be that if it's processed, it has tons of salt. Cook your own meats for lunches - you don't even want to bother with lunch meats...the majority are super high in sodium to the point of killing your diet. I only found two types in Boars Head that were under 100 sodium for 2 ounces of meat which was about 3 slices.

Monica

lisavirani

You can check out my diary, I believe its open to everyone. I try to stay under 1500mg and I eat 3 meals and 2 snacks. Sometimes I go over, but most of the time, I'm pretty good. The main thing you need to do is stay away from processed food. Processed foods seem to have LOADS of sodium in them. Good luck!

sma83

If you have to have something that is high in sodium try pairing it with foods that are high in potassium and fiber...they help combat the bad effects of sodium.

jenluvsushi

There are lots of examples above. I'd like to add that dairy has a lot of sodium. So does packaged bread. Cut it where you can . I buy sodium free bread a lot and even unsalted almond or peanut butter. Try to cut it here and there and it will help. Never salt your food. The more stuff you make yourself, the more control you have over your sodium. Read labels if you buy packaged food. Jerky, tuna fish, chips have tons of salt. When you make a recipe, try not adding any salt to it. I have been a bit high lately because I have been eating some packaged foods I normally don't. I'm still under 2500 most days but I normally run under 1800 mgs a day. It can be done.

RikkiDominey

They make this stuff called "lo-salt" it's like 60% less sodium than regular salt and I think it tastes the same. I too am highly addicted to salt and love anything covered in it! I drink a lot of water also to help out, all day every day.

Good luck!

lax75

I too always loved salt so I know how hard this is, but it can be done!

First, don't try to do it all at once - by lowering your sodium intake gradually you'll get used to it and it won't seem nearly as bad. Here's some things I do to keep my sodium intake down - pick a couple to start with, or do a little bit of each. There's no reason eating low sodium should be more expensive, I should think.

- set your diary to track sodium so you can see how much you're really consuming, and what foods are particularly a problem for you. (Just remember to measure and enter any added salt!)
- always read labels and take note of the serving sizes. Brands vary widely - for example, Progresso canned beans have a lot ore sodium than Full Circle ones, and you can reduce the level even more my rinsing them well. (Even better is to cook my own, but that doesn't always happen.)
- never add salt when cooking, including stuff like pasta. If you need to, add a little AFTER you taste it, but you'll likely add less that way
- stay away from processed foods, and remember that even things that are called "low" or "reduced" salt aren't necessarily LOW in salt - just lower than the usual recipe. But they're still better than the "original" versions as long as you don't just eat more!
- experiment with spices. For example, I don't use salt when I cook oatmeal, and that can result in pretty bland cereal, but once I add cinnamin and fruit I don't notice. I add basil and onions to zuchini and summer squash.
- whenever you can, get fresh/frozen foods veggies, and "no salt added" things like diced tomatoes, and taste before adding any yourself.
- limit baked goods, which contain more sodium than you'd think from the taste.
- limit cheese (this was really hard for me)
- Eating out is notoriously difficult when you're trying to restrict sodium, but it can be done - primarily by staying away from sauces and bread products.
- the Mayo Clinic and Heart Association websites have suggestions for recipes and menus, and I'm sure there are others.

Good luck - and try doing a search on MFP because I'm sure there are past discussions/suggestions on this.

withchaco

Plain Greek yogurt with fruits, honey (optional) and granola. Add walnuts and almonds if you like'em, but be sure to use unsalted ones.

ambiedawnz

Thank you all so much!

LesleeBeAlive

RAW fruits and veggies.

jhartram

I'm not exactly the poster child, but I've come a long way toward controlling my sodium (cheese is still my nemesis, though)... my diary is open, if you want to look... but the thing that helped me most was just reading labels. I'm able to use almost the same ingredients for my meals, generally, just lower sodium options. (An example is my dad's famous chili... I used low sodium beans and cut 460-something sodium out of each serving.)

My husband is on blood pressure meds, and his doctor was floored on our last visit because they suddenly started working when they'd barely been holding on up until that point. When I showed him printouts of my food diary, he said that was probably a huge part of what had helped.

mirasolabeille

I've had good luck swapping out salt or soy sauce in recipes for a dash of either Bragg's Liquid Aminos or pure tamari. For some reason those tastes trick my palate into thinking I've seasoned the dish far more heavily than I really have.

AnjaZ89

cook from scratch! That's what I do and my Sodium is way under 1000.
No prepackage food, take outs and fast food!

If you need to add salt to your food add low sodium soy sauce instead!

AZKristi

google the DASH Diet

CarmenSandiegoInVA

I eat a mostly clean diet. If you don't eat food that comes out of a box, and you don't salt the foods that you cook, you will find that you eat well under your daily sodium. Feel Free to add me as a friend. You can view my diary and see that I eat plenty and I, on most days, eat well under my sodium intake.

Healthydiner65

The mayo clinic website will give you help with low sodium meals

Greg3705

try looking at the dash diet

Daisy374

You can feel free to look at my diary...I try to stay around 1500 a day. It is hard, but it CAN be done! I read the labels on everything at the store before I buy it and compare items to find the one with the least amount of sodium. I cook a lot of my own stuff, especially stuff like soups and tomato sauces, that way I can control the amount of sodium. Health food stores also carry low sodium canned tomatoes. I also use frozen or fresh veggies in my recipes and soups rather than canned ones. Good luck! Hope you can get off your meds!

miracle4me

I also have to watch my blood pressure and so I switched to a healthy salt, Pink Himalayan that is loaded with good minerals. Himalayan Salt never raises my Blood pressure and I have severe water retention problems but never when I eat this Salt. Try it you may like it. Check out search engine on the health benefits.

I just remembered to add a warning, processed foods have high salt content even in low sugar food. I was shocked at the sodium content in soups, sauces, taco seasoning. I use a low carb tomato sauce and was shocked at the high sodium content. The thing I learned is read all labels for not just calories but sodium also.

FredDoyle

I also have to watch my blood pressure and so I switched to a healthy salt, Pink Himalayan that is loaded with good minerals. Himalayan Salt never raises my Blood pressure and I have severe water retention problems but never when I eat this Salt. Try it you may like it. Check out search engine on the health benefits.

That is still 98% sodium chloride, so like sea salt, you get a few more trace minerals but it is NO BETTER for someone trying to reduce sodium. The best way is to cook from fresh and buy no salt added products.

PetulantOne

My nemesis hot sauce. I like everything hot. I'm trying to look into making my own hot sauce. So hopefully that will help some. I don't have high blood pressure, but I swell up pretty good when I consume to much salt. :grumble:

Reading labels has also helped me become more aware of sodium levels. I couldn't believe how much was in cottage cheese. :ohwell:

anifani4

Others have said it all: read labels. cook without adding salt (you do get used to it), avoid processed/packaged foods. learn to use spices and herbs for flavor instead of salt. Try a product called "Nu-Salt" ... it's a salt substitute that uses potassium instead of sodium. But still, use it sparingly. My diary is open if you want to look. I don't have my setting showing sodium but I think you can see the full nutrition info by clicking on the 'show full report" button at the bottom of the page.

Just keep trying and you will learn as you go along.