How do you cut back on sodium?

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kareinlib
kareinlib Posts: 98
in Food and Nutrition
I've been way over on my sodium counts and even when I haven't been, I'd really rather be even lower than my daily allowance. I'm having a lot of trouble with it - what are some ways that you guys cut back on the sodium?

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  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
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    I make my own food. That's the main aspect of it.

    If eating out someplace that has nutritional info online, check the sodium amounts and get the lowest plus plan for it by drinking plenty of water.
    If they don't have info, try to be smart about choices. Avoid broths, Asian sauces, and other things typically high in sodium.

    Eat potassium rich foods and drink plenty of water everyday to equalize the sodium you're getting.

    But it always comes back to avoiding pre-made/pre-packaged foods as much as possible and just making your own.
  • 2hobbit1
    2hobbit1 Posts: 820 Member
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    Most packaged. processed, box meals are very high in sodium -check out the labels. Also lunch meats, hotdogs etc are very high. Chain restaurants also load up on the salt in their foods.
    So you need to read labels and chose low salt versions of the foods you like. It take a lot of attention as you shop - look at how high the salt is in most frozen dinners.
    The other way to control the salt is to control the cooking - the more meals you cook from scratch the lower you can get your sodium levels.
  • AsellusReborn
    AsellusReborn Posts: 1,112 Member
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    The biggest culprits I've found for sodium in day to day living are pre-boxed and pre-canned foods - tv dinners, soups, meal-in-box stuff, pasta sauce, frozen pizzas, etc. To a more limited extent beef is higher in sodium than say fresh chicken but the real culprits for most people are pre-made foods. Sauces in packets, like grill rubs, taco mix, marinades, etc, are super high in sodium too as is pre-made chicken/beef broth and boillion cubes (or however you spell that - drawing a blank).


    If you mostly switch to eating whole foods - whole fruits, whole veggies, lean meats, etc - it cuts down a lot. It's not going to be perfect and if you eat at a restaurant it's just close to impossible to control. But going over occasionally isn't a big deal although I'd avoid the scale afterwards.


    Edit: Oh yeah, pre-cooked meats too - salt is huge in lunchmeats, sausages, etc. Frozen meats too, because they tend to freeze chicken breasts in broth. Fresh chicken breasts and even those pre-roasted chickens are a lot lower in sodium.

    A second edit: One other big source of sodium I've found is cottage cheese, but as much as I am not a salt person I will totally admit that low sodium cottage cheese is not yummy :(


    And yet another edit because this has been somthing I've watched for the past few months: If you do treat foods like potato chips, etc, the baked stuff is higher in sodium to make up for less taste because they took the yummy fat out. So lower sodium chips are going to be the not-reduced fat non-baked versions. A better alternative is air-popped popcorn - you can control exactly what kind of toppings you put on so can control the sodium much better.
  • kareinlib
    kareinlib Posts: 98
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    Alright, yeah, I will pay a lot more attention to processed foods then. Thanks!!
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
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    Just a quick look at your diary and I can tell you where to look the last few days:
    1. Turkey dogs
    2. Subway sandwiches
    3. Chili's
  • molly_grue
    molly_grue Posts: 215 Member
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    I eat waaaay less packaged foods
  • AsellusReborn
    AsellusReborn Posts: 1,112 Member
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    It's something to think about, because unless you have medical indications your body tends to flush it out pretty easily but it will increase temporary water retention so if you go high on your sodium count for the day you can see your scale number flux upwards. But if you don't have a medical need to watch it a lot of people don't.

    I have no heart issues personally but I don't like overloading on it anyway. Once in a while isn't a big deal for me though.
  • Sharyn913
    Sharyn913 Posts: 777 Member
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    When my sodium gets high, I substitute a meal for "juice" (I have a juicer) and make a 12-16oz cup of 100% veggie/fruit juice!
  • myfitnessval
    myfitnessval Posts: 687 Member
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    i have to go ahead and ditto a lot of the responses. i had the same issue, it wasnt until i lowered my processed food intake that it finally became manageable. try making most of your own food because takeout and frozen meals are dripping in sodium its disgusting lol. also things that are usually sodium high, some cheeses, most breads/tortillas, and NEVER add salt to anything, use spices for flavor not salt.
  • BetterCrazyThanLazy
    BetterCrazyThanLazy Posts: 336
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    I make my own food. That's the main aspect of it.

    THIS
  • mbajrami
    mbajrami Posts: 636 Member
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    I second everyone else with the prepackaged/processed foods.
  • myfitnessval
    myfitnessval Posts: 687 Member
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    also ive read a few places that increasing your potassium intake can help flush out a lot of the sodium, that and constantly drinking your h2o.
  • diver71_au
    diver71_au Posts: 424 Member
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    Sodium used to be my problem but I cut out a lot of the processed takeaway type foods and its now under control .....sugar is not however and I would swap my sugar for your sodium any day.
  • kats3boys
    kats3boys Posts: 61
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    Don't eat anything that requires a can opener or a microwave.
  • MyM0wM0w
    MyM0wM0w Posts: 2,008 Member
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    Anything processed or packaged is likely to be high in sodium. Restaurant items are almost ALWAYS high in sodium.
  • dsjohndrow
    dsjohndrow Posts: 1,820 Member
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    It's tough unless you make it yourself. It's in soup, baked good whether or not they are whole grain, cheese, processed meats and cold cuts, canned goods, diet meals and it's over the top at restaurants.

    A few things can help. Rinse your caned food if you can. IE: beans, corn etc. Read the labels on cheese. I find the Swiss to be the better one. You win with fresh fruits and vegetables, lean cuts of meat, but watch out for chicken and turkey. The organic ones are MUCH lower in sodium. And there is low fat dairy, but again, read the label.
  • CrimsonDiva7
    CrimsonDiva7 Posts: 171 Member
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    This is my biggest problem area. Its hard to eliminate all processed food and cook all meals myself.
  • bllowry
    bllowry Posts: 239 Member
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    Eat veggies? Save the peelings/stems/ scraps and once you have a full gallon size bag in the freezer, add to 8 quarts of water and make veggie broth; add herbs, pepper and spices as you like, but no salt. Use as a base for gravies and soups. Either can or freeze it. If you are alone/small family just wait until you have a quart bag and use two gallons of water and then freeze the cooled broth in ice cube tray and then store in large freezer bags; 4-6 cubes is about a cup, depending on the size of your trays. Buy ingredients, rather than meals. Use arrowroot instead of cornstarch to make a slurry for gravy (also good for celiac sufferers). Make your own salad dressings using dried herbs, flavoured vinegars and olive oil. Watch cheese intake as some hard cheeses (parm in particular) are very high in salt. Make yeast based quick breads as baking soda is very high in salt, as is Bisquick and most dry baking mixes. If you cook from scratch you you can often use half of what the recipe calls for by adding a herb or spice so the recipe doesn't taste 'f'lat'. I've done these things and both my hubby and I are off the BP pills that we've taken for years and years.
  • Amberonamission
    Amberonamission Posts: 836 Member
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    Soups and lunch meat get me every time. Canned tuna too.

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