Cutting back on Sodium--Need help!
junip1977
Posts: 111 Member
Ok so I have never had to watch my sodium levels before. However, I see now how important it is to watch your sodium in regards to living a healthier life style and losing weight. My problem is this. I don't mind cooking, in fact I am not that big into pre packaged stuff except for things like bread, crackers and things like spaghetti sauce, etc. I don't know how to make those things myself. This may sound strange to others but in lieu of giving up these items all together, what do others do that are watching sodium? I still can't believe how much sodium certain things have, it is mind boggling. Thanks!!
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Replies
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I'm trying to keep my sodium under 1500mg now, here are some suggestions:
Use spices instead of salt, or low sodium sauces like the Cucina Antica or Newmans Salsa I listed below to flavor your foods. You can make Taco seasoning by just using Garlic Powder and Ground Chili.
65 Sodium: Newman's Own - All Natural-Salsa- Chunky Mild 16 oz, 2 Tbsp - this is the lowest sodium salsa I have found, and I think it taste just like regular salsa
220 Sodium: Sara Lee - 45 Calories & Delightful, Wheat Bread, 2 Slices (45g) - 90 calories for 2 slices
210 Sodium: La Tortilla Factory - Smart and Delicious Low Carb High Fiber Whole Wheat Small, 1 tortilla
50 Sodium: Skinny Pop Popcorn - Popcorn, 4 cups
200 Sodium: 8oz Chicken Breast Skinless, Boneless
80 Sodium: Jiff Natural Creamy Peanut Butter 2 tbsp
240 Sodium: Cucina Antica Tomato Basil Sauce 1/2 cup
113 Sodium: 6 oz 93% Ground Beef
103 Sodium: 6.5oz Ribeye Steak
Pretty much all Fruits and Veggies are good
245 Sodium Custom Italian Dish I made:
1/4 cup Private Selection Cavatappi Pasta Wheat
1/4 cup Kroger Frozen Mirepoix Cajun Style Blend (Onions, Celery & Bell Peppers)
1/4 cup Cucina Antica Tomato Basil Sauce 1/2 cup
6 oz 93% Ground Beef
350 Calories / 19 Carbs / 13 Fat / 39 Protein / 245 Sodium / 3 Sugar
If you double the sauce to 1/2 cup your sodium is still 365 for a pretty substantial meal.0 -
depends on your calories for sodium. For example, 3000 calorie diet it is recommended that you consume 3000 mg sodium, 2000 calorie diet, 2000 mg sodium and so on. Do you drink diet sodas? Cutting them out can make a big difference on sodium also.0
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Bread, cereal, crackers, etc are tough because they're typically high in sodium. You just have to either do research online or take the time to read all the labels in the store. And don't just trust things that say "low sodium" or "reduced sodium" because they still might be higher than another brand. If you do some research online, still be careful and check the labels before you buy as the informaiton you find could be older and how they make the bread could have changed recently.
Spaghetti sauce can be pretty easy to make. Get some no sodium added diced tomatoes (there will still be sodium because tomatoes naturally contain it). Saute some onion, garlic, bell peppers, mushrooms, spinach, toss in the diced tomatoes, some italian herbs, a little black pepper, maybe some cooked meat, toss with pasta and BAM - dinner's done.
P.s. Haven't tried it myself but I understand that ezekial bread is quite tasty and easy to make.0 -
depends on your calories for sodium. For example, 3000 calorie diet it is recommended that you consume 3000 mg sodium, 2000 calorie diet, 2000 mg sodium and so on. Do you drink diet sodas? Cutting them out can make a big difference on sodium also.
A 12 ounce can of diet Pepsi has 35 mg of sodium in it. Unless you're drinking a two liter bottle a day I don't see cutting out diet Pepsi having a huge impact on your sodium intake.0 -
Read labels. Some jarred pasta sauces have less sodium than others. Some bread has less sodium than others. You can find many more reduced sodium or no salt added foods these days. There is a good low-sodium cookbook put out by Prevention Magazine called The Salt Solution Cookbook that has some good, low-sodium, high potassium recipes.0
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Obviously cutting out or reducing prepackaged foods is the best way to go. A "clean" diet is the best way to really reduce your sodium as you are consuming mostly unprocessed foods.
Sauces and dressings are killer. The only sauce I still use is a buffalo sauce. I make my own mayo and salad dressings as they are super easy to make yourself! There tons of recipes and such online to show you how to make your own.
As someone else said, spice up dishes with spices. Don't use spice blends (like taco seasoning) as they are loaded with sodium. Taco seasoning is super easy to make yourself as is seasonings like chili, etc. Use different spices to give flavour to dishes instead of salt. If you do want to add salt to something try to go for things like sea salt, etc which can give you more minerals/vitamins than regular table salt.
Try to avoid canned veggies and soups. Super easy to make your own soups! Pasta sauce is another really easy one to make. I make one by quicly boiling fresh tomatoes. Take them out of the boiling water than put into ice water. Peel the skins (or leave on if you prefer). I than add them to a pot with a bit of water, spices, and than blend (add stuff into a blender if you don't have an immersion blender). Than I add some very finely chopped (or sometimes I use a food processor) green peppers, onions, garlic, very very finely chopped carrots and sometimes some other veggies (great way to use up extra veggies that might go bad). I make a huge batch and than put the sauce into little bags and freeze for future use.
Things like breads and buns are super easy to make as well even if you don't have a breadmaker. I also make my own crackers as well sometimes.
If you have a free day now and again spend it cooking so you have a lot of stuff prepared and ready that is homemade and low in sodium so you don't have to buy the canned, processed, bottled, sodium filled stuff.
Otherwise, read your labels. Look at different brands and pay attention to portion sizes. I found one brand of ketchup that said low sodium on it... however comparing the portion sizes showed that it has the same amount of sodium as regular ketchup that is much cheaper.0 -
depends on your calories for sodium. For example, 3000 calorie diet it is recommended that you consume 3000 mg sodium, 2000 calorie diet, 2000 mg sodium and so on. Do you drink diet sodas? Cutting them out can make a big difference on sodium also.
A 12 ounce can of diet Pepsi has 35 mg of sodium in it. Unless you're drinking a two liter bottle a day I don't see cutting out diet Pepsi having a huge impact on your sodium intake.
This.. I'm not sure why so many people think pop is loaded with sodium. There is more sodium in a chicken breast than there is in a can of pop.0 -
sauce is easy to make
Tomatoes, garlic, basil, peppers and onions and preferred salt free spices in a pot.. Viola spaghetti sauce.. Basic recipe of course.. I put squash, cheese and mushrooms and zucchini and a varity of other things into mine.
I buy bread.. but I get organic whole grain bread.. seems to be lower in sodium then the counter parts. Make your own chips by slicing potatoes or veggies thin, spraying with a touch of oil and baking until crispy. Then spice them up with whatever you want.
You can buy low salt versions of almost every cracker out there. Just be diligent in checking labels and reading ingredients.0 -
The simplest thing to do is to eliminate the rest of the pre-packaged processed foods & watch the amounts of condiments you use. Read labels - before you buy.0
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stop buying process, problem solved. Yup, not as handy, and you do have to figure out how to cook things you like without the sodium you are used to. It takes time. Once you cut out the processed items you will find your levels may drop too low. That is not particularly helpful for a few reasons.0
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Stay away from most fast food restaurants, sit down chain restaurants (these can actually be much worse than fast food), canned soup (even the "organic low sodium" versions still have a lot) and most heavily processed packaged meals and you should be OK.0
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For lowering sodium:
When you're cooking use sea salt or kosher salt. They both have less sodium per volume than regular table salt.
Less deli meats.
lose the canned veggies - the steam in bag ones (unseasoned) are easier to prepare anyway.
Avoid chain restaurants like the plague (e.g. 99 restaurant chicken parm has 4500mg per serving)
Read Labels. For example, I make a chicken and salsa in the crock pot. I use Newman's salsa because it has less sodium than most other commercial brands.0 -
This site helps me find alternatives to the pre-packaged (re: naughty) foods that I don't want to eliminate: http://www.lowsaltfoods.com/default.htm
I changed my sandwich cheese to Swiss, make pasta sauce from scratch, and either found a lower sodium alternative to what I want or do without. Most of the time, I can do without potato chips, but some days I gotta have some so I found Lay's 25% less sodium chips (160mg/50g). Salad dressing is new - President's Choice lemon poppyseed is 65 mg/1 T and Compliment's Balance Caesar is 95mg/1 T.
If you're serious about cutting down on sodium, you've gotta really pay attention to nutrition labels. Also, I'd say that if you don't have a medical problem with sodium/under doctor's orders to cut back, don't worry about it. I will say it's annoying as hell to be eating with friends and watching them enjoy tasty foods and I can't have certain parts due to sodium restriction. :grumble: :laugh:0 -
I agree that spices are a great help! A website I've recently found and like is http://lowsodiumcooking.com. You may find some nice recipes, etc, there. They also have a newsletter if you wish to sign up (I haven't yet so can't tell you if it's good, bad or indifferent).
Best of luck in taking this positive step!0 -
I just checked my sodium intake & it is never close to the limit. I do not eat processed foods.
I do add a bit of sea salt to cooking & also use condiments sometimes but I am sure it is not enough to put me over. I never need to give a thought to the sodium requirement.0 -
Great information and ideas Thanks a lot !0
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I aim to keep my sodium under 1500, but in all honesty, I'm lucky if I keep it below the upper limit of 2300...and there are days that it's well above. Unless you prepare everything from scratch, it's probably the toughest battle. One thing you can do (aside from choosing the lower sodium option in the store) is to log your day in advance and look for places you can make changes. That may mean half a serving of deli meat on your sandwich, less mustard, choosing something different for one of your meals if you have a couple of higher sodium meals planned. For instance, a couple of days ago I had a high-sodium sandwich for lunch, so I chose pasta and no-salt tomatoes for dinner instead of the frozen pizza I was going to have.
We live in a prepackaged world, unfortunately. You can keep your sodium down most days, though.0 -
Make sure you buy fresh chicken breasts and tenders. The ones sold flash frozen are injected with a salt solution and incredibly full of sodium!
Cheese can have a ton of sodium too - especially cottage cheese of all things! Prairie farms makes one with sea salt and is 50% less sodium and tastes just like the other stuff.
Spaghetti sauce is terribly high in sodium too. Even the heart smart stuff.0 -
Jarred pasta sauces do typically have a lot of sodium but if it's a tomato based sauce it's also going to have a lot of potassium. It's the balance of potassium and sodium in your system that matters most.
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/sodium-potassium-balance/0 -
Ok so I have never had to watch my sodium levels before. However, I see now how important it is to watch your sodium in regards to living a healthier life style and losing weight. My problem is this. I don't mind cooking, in fact I am not that big into pre packaged stuff except for things like bread, crackers and things like spaghetti sauce, etc. I don't know how to make those things myself. This may sound strange to others but in lieu of giving up these items all together, what do others do that are watching sodium? I still can't believe how much sodium certain things have, it is mind boggling. Thanks!!
I like the ease of jarred pasta sauce as well. The one I found (at both Whole Foods and EarthFare) that had the lowest sodium and still tasted reallyt good was by Eden Foods. Their Organic Spaghetti Sauce, No Salt Added. A half cup serving has only 70 cals, 2.5 g fat (0 sat, 0 trans), 0 cholesterol, 33 mg potassium, 9 g carbs (4 g. sugars, 5 dietary fiber), 2 g of protein and (you'll love this) only 10 mg sodium per serving. Good luck!
P.s. ThyCa also puts out a Low Iodine cookbook you can download for free with a ton of recipes. Since it's low iodine, there are also a lot of low sodium recipes.0
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