Looking for a LOW SODIUM diet example!

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

try looking at the dash diet

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.

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: