Help with sodium

A lot of "low fat" listed items increase sugar or salt to make up for the taste.

I agree with what was said above....cut back on processed foods!! Those are loaded with sodium. If you use canned vegetables, I always drain and rinse them before cooking. That takes away some of the sodium.

Cooking from scratch helps a lot since you can control what you put in. Reading labels will scare the hell out of you (it does me at least). Look for low/no salt foods; going with full fat usually helps since companies don't add so much sodium to full fat products. Pasta and rice typically have no sodium listed. If you eat cheese, check up on what you can get at the grocery deli counter (fresh cheese tends to have less sodium).

Here's a website that might help you find name brands: http://www.lowsaltfoods.com/default.htm

Aside from limiting canned and processed foods and cooking more fresh food, there are also many "Lower Sodium" alternatives of a lot of prepackaged foods. You should also invest in some good spices to enhance the flavor of your food without packing on the salt!

If you have a day where you take in a lot of sodium...just drink an extra glass or two of water

Due to severe kidney problems my sodium intake has to be low low low, This mean no tinned soup or anything with added salt. Even margarine and butter and most condiments have a lot of salt. I found the hardest thing for me was not being allowed cheese as this is very high in sodium. I saw a dietician and basically I have to cook everything from scratch. No bacon no cheese and basically just white fish not smoked and chicken. It is hard work but I have found my whole family now love the meals I cook completely fresh.

As everyone else mentioned stay away from processed foods and cook your own meals. Some of the biggest heaviest salted foods:

Frozen Meals (Even the "healthy" frozen meals have over 30%-50% of your daily sodium needs!)

Canned Soup and Canned Vegetables (Always eat fresh veggies or frozen steam fresh instead.)

FAST FOOD (It is disgusting how much sodium is in a Big Mac and Medium Fries.)

Condiments (Soy Sauce, salad dressing, ketch up, bbq sauce, pickles.)

Cut the processed foods. Only shop the perimeter of the store. Make your own seasonings. Skip the fast food and cook at home. Works like a charm.

I really need to know ways to cut my sodium intake down! Does anyone have any advice?

Start by not adding table salt to anything.

A little table salt here and there hardly adds anything to your daily intake.

Ditto on just about all of the above, especially condiments, processed foods, and fast foods. I was looking at the Chili's nutritional info menu today focusing on the sodium column and it made me ill. The VAST majority of items are greater than 50% daily RDA of sodium, and I'm talking normal-sized single items. When you start adding dressings, sides, sauces, and combos, it goes through the roof. I lost count at 2 dozen entrees (again no sides) that are more than 100% daily RDA. Funny enough, the bottomless chips (no salsa) have some of the lowest sodium on the menu. I had those and the Caribbean Chicken salad.
I eat a lot of fresh produce and frozen bag veggies, especially stir-fry mixes.
I buy mostly fresh, non-processed meats. I got so tired of obscene sodium numbers on cold cuts (25% DV/serving), that I started making my own substitutes for turkey (breast), ham (pork loin), and roast beef (london broil).
For packaged cheeses, I switched from wrapped singles to more expensive "deli" packs; bigger slices yet half as much sodium.
For bread, I shop for lower sodium brands. I tried corn tortillas for a while because they notorious low in sodium, but I got tired of that taste/texture. I prefer flour torillas but the only low sodiums one I could find locally (Tumaro's?) I can't find any more.
Watch out for baked goods. Even "healthier" items tend to have high sodium. It's not even a taste thing, it's unfortunate part of the science of baking.

If I exceed calories or fat, I can always exercise more to earn some wiggle room. I wish I could do the same for sodium! I tend to keep my potassium intake high to help counter the sodium. V-8 juice is an excellent choice but ONLY the low-sodium version! :happy: