having a hard time reducing sodium

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jjmeyers2010
jjmeyers2010 Posts: 34 Member
in Food and Nutrition
does anyone else have to reduce sodium in their diet? I honestly USED TO think that all I had to do was remove the salt shaker and all would be good there....and thats just NOT THE CASE at all......... there is sodium in almost everything you eat it seems and I am having a really hard time hitting sodium under 2000 which is what is recommened for me because I have heart disease and congestive heart failure. Then not to mention I am trying to focus on sugars and carbs because I have been diagnosed with prediabetes... and then the usual fat and calories as I am trying to eat healthy and lose weight. feeling frustrated again.

Can anyone recommend foods that are naturally low in sodium? recipes low in carbs and sodium? suggestions at all?
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Replies

  • rachgleeson
    rachgleeson Posts: 83 Member
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    I really hope you get some help here JJ, just remember though not all fats are bad. So you dont need to keep your fat intake too low. Its hard enough trying to lose weight never mind having to watch sodium and carbs and sugar etc.
  • Grinb
    Grinb Posts: 123 Member
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    Really the best way is to cook everything from scratch most processed foods have a LOAD of sodium, and drink lots and lots and lots of water to help flush it out if eating processed foods lol
  • onyxgirl17
    onyxgirl17 Posts: 1,721 Member
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    Limit your processed foods.
  • bodiva88
    bodiva88 Posts: 308 Member
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    fruits and veggies (don't you get tired of hearing that) fresh or frozen are usually low in sodium. And avoid processed foods. Making from scratch really makes a huge difference. And when you are eating out, as for them to not add salt. Then you can control what you are putting on (and even if they don't "add" salt, there's probably salt in their prep that you'll be ingesting.)
  • 276NoMore
    276NoMore Posts: 115 Member
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    if you google the foods you eat, add the description "low-sodium" (or something like that) in the search box, for instance, many cans of soup now are sold low-sodium (usu. highlighted with a blue band on the product's label).
  • strawberru314
    strawberru314 Posts: 26 Member
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    Try looking into the dash diet. It has a lot of good ways to reduce sodium. It basically goes back to eating fruits and vegetables.
  • brainfreeze72
    brainfreeze72 Posts: 180 Member
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    Read labels. I've learned that reduced fat and/or calories often means higher sodium, six of one, half a dozen of the other. Personally I'd rather have the extra calories because I can walk them off if I get too many. Processed foods, canned vegetables, etc have loads of sodium. I try to buy lower sodium varieties when I can't use fresh but fresher, as close to all natural as you can get is USUALLY best. If you use beans in your meals try buying the dry bags and preparing them yourself. I do that when I make my vegetarian chili. Salt is used frequently as a preservative so it's hard to get away from if you're buying frozen meals or short cut types of things like jarred sauces, gravies, ketchup, barbeque sauce and canned vegetables.
  • CalJur
    CalJur Posts: 627 Member
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    Read labels carefully. Try to avoid processed and fast foods as much as possible. Eat more home cooked meals such as fresh vegetables. Try to plan your menu for the day in advance by pre-entering food so you can see what is high in sodium and balance it out so it is 2500 or below for the day.
  • MissJanet55
    MissJanet55 Posts: 457 Member
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    What everyone else said - cook from scratch. I just read an article about where sodium comes from. Generally, people get a quarter of their daily sodium from adding salt, and another quarter is naturally occurring in foods. The rest - half - comes from eating processed foods.

    The article went on to describe the amount of sodium in foods in terms of salt shaker shakes - a small bag of potato chips has sodium equivalent to 40 shakes from a salt shaker! I'm always amazed how companies can make food appetizing with so much sodium, I know if it was food I made at home it would be inedible. Generally, they balance it with sugars.

    Watch out for restaurant food as well.
  • Mads1997
    Mads1997 Posts: 1,494 Member
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    Limit your processed foods.

    This^^^ eat more fruit, veges and lean meat
  • hausofnichele
    hausofnichele Posts: 531 Member
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    Eat Paleo or clean or primal or whatever you want to call it. I have the same issues as you and when I am being good and eating super clean, I actually found myself having trouble with too LITTLE sodium! Imagine that! Never thought that would happen.

    Stay away from processed foods!! You're basically going to have to eat lots of meats and healthy fats with veggies (keep those carbs and sugars from natural sources as much as possible) and treat fruit like it's a dessert - limit it.

    Also, 2500 is too much sodium per day. 1500 is a better target for everyone - especially those with heart worries. Seems impossible but it really isn't once you get into the swing of cooking the right foods. I've become a huge fan of pre-cooking meals and re-heating the next day or making meals and freezing them. It's a lot of work but it gets easier and is very rewarding.
  • mjrkearney
    mjrkearney Posts: 408 Member
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    Holy fudgesicles what is going on with soup? You can get most of your daily sodium from one can of "low sodium" soup because it's the cheapest semi-natural preservative. Your best bet is going to be fresh, frozen, and homemade but you still need to watch the sodium on those things, too. Somehow my frozen sweet peas had more sodium than my risotto and it never occurred to me to check my veggies.
  • NaturallyOlivia
    NaturallyOlivia Posts: 496 Member
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    Limit your processed foods.
    ^^ this
  • xsmilexforxmex
    xsmilexforxmex Posts: 1,216 Member
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    Seems like everyone is giving pretty good advice. I have trouble with it to, I dont cook at all so everything I eat is processed... I've learned to look at the label and buy low sodium products (even canned vegetables have a lot!) If you can, get fresh fruits and veggies.. A lot of the weight watchers labeled items tend to be lower than some oters but not all so look at different versions of the same product if you can. Good luck!
  • IsMollyReallyHungry
    IsMollyReallyHungry Posts: 15,350 Member
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    Watch out for restaurant food as well.
    Most restaurant food is just as high in sodium as fast foods for sure so this is a true statement. The less you eat out, processed foods the better and cheese is high in sodium also but can be worked in if you cook and prepare 80% of your food.

    I know when I was watching sodium I learned a lot and it was amazing how much sodium was in most foods unless you cooked them yourself. I know I even watch how much wild rice I eat now.

    Sometimes it gets overwhelming to watch too many things at once. If you eat low sodium that will automatically take your sugars and carbs down and if carbs and sugar is from fruits and veggies that is a good thing since no one gets diabetes from fruits and veggies.:wink:
  • kate_krall
    kate_krall Posts: 1
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    :wink: i have to reduce my caloric, fat, & sodium intake. doc put me on The Dash Diet (dietary approaches to stop hypertension), since i'm now in stage 3 kidney disease (mild, thank goodness!) & have high bp, low thyroid, crohn's disease & a couple of minor other concerns. i went online to Amazon.com & purchased a few books on this diet & have been studying them ever since. also, there's a dash recipe web site, www.dashrecipes.com - i have found this very helpful. and, with using fitnesspal for tracking all that i need to track, this keeps me on track (pun)! i am now aiming towards my goal to get healthier (& happier)!! hope this helps.
  • Tina2Cats
    Tina2Cats Posts: 493 Member
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    Soft drinks are high in sodium.
  • hausofnichele
    hausofnichele Posts: 531 Member
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    Seems like everyone is giving pretty good advice. I have trouble with it to, I dont cook at all so everything I eat is processed... I've learned to look at the label and buy low sodium products (even canned vegetables have a lot!) If you can, get fresh fruits and veggies.. A lot of the weight watchers labeled items tend to be lower than some oters but not all so look at different versions of the same product if you can. Good luck!

    If you *have* to eat canned veggies, try rinsing them in water before you heat them up. That will get rid of a lot of added sodium.
  • offthedeependay
    offthedeependay Posts: 435 Member
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    anything that is processed has tons of sodium,,
  • IsMollyReallyHungry
    IsMollyReallyHungry Posts: 15,350 Member
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    Holy fudgesicles what is going on with soup? You can get most of your daily sodium from one can of "low sodium" soup because it's the cheapest semi-natural preservative. Your best bet is going to be fresh, frozen, and homemade but you still need to watch the sodium on those things, too. Somehow my frozen sweet peas had more sodium than my risotto and it never occurred to me to check my veggies.
    I agree and I make a huge soup and freeze the soup. it taste better and really low in sodium even if you use frozen veggies which are much lower in sodium than low soduim soup. Keep in mind when items say low sodium it translate to low sodium compared to the regular version of that item. It does not mean it is a low sodium item.

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