LESS SALT!

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jessmsu81
jessmsu81 Posts: 23
in Food and Nutrition
I want to lower my sodium intake, but am finding that even though I am eating the healthiest I have in a long time, my sodium levels are still up. I don't eat frozen, packaged dinners anymore - which helps a great deal. But I do - for convenience - still eat veggie burgers, canned soups, low sodium canned beans, etc. and I rarely sprinkle salt on foods!

I know I probably need to start making more things from scratch - but until I find more time to do so... any tips or secrets out there!?!?

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  • Eyvette1
    Eyvette1 Posts: 76 Member
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    You need to stay away from the processed foods. I know they are convienient but they will hurt you. I cook all my meals on Sundays now so I always have home cooked lunches with NO salt in them.
  • AllDayMzAmberJ
    AllDayMzAmberJ Posts: 46 Member
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    I am actually very interested in seeing what things people suggest. I am in the same boat as you!
  • shannonbennett
    shannonbennett Posts: 10
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    bump.
  • MrsSmith2010
    MrsSmith2010 Posts: 225 Member
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    *BUMP* I'd like to know about this too.

    I've really cut down on frozen dinners but sodium is in everything. As far as sprinkling (which I still do) my grandma told me about sodium free salt. It's a little more expensive and tastes different by itself but when flavoring food, it does the trick!!
  • anubis609
    anubis609 Posts: 3,966 Member
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    The thing with those convenience foods, is that they still pack a lot of sodium into them. Take a look at the sodium content on the nutritional labels. You'll notice that even the "low sodium" foods, still have hundreds of mg of sodium. The reason behind that is that in the packaging process, salt is added mainly as a preservative so the shelf life of the food lasts longer.

    There are ways of lowering those kinds of food by diluting them in water, then adding no-salt seasoning to taste. You could even rinse off deli meat to get rid of excess sodium, though whatever's left wouldn't exactly be measurable. Foods like plain oatmeal are considerably low in sodium, like around 10 to 20mg.

    You can read this article to give you a better idea of helping lower your sodium.

    http://www.livestrong.com/article/362885-examples-of-low-sodium-foods/
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,239 Member
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    Yes the canned soup, bean, and all the rest are convenient, but no matter what the vast majority of them have a lot of sodium so I repeat what has been said, make your own food. Bean are not hard to cook from dry beans, and making your own broth with little or no salt in it isn't that hard either. You can alway make a bunch of broth and then freeze it.

    My suggestion would be look at your food diary and see where the higher sodium foods/meals are and consider how you can change them. I know when I was starting to try to eat low sodium I was really disappointed how much sodium even low sodium stuff had.
  • hippiechel
    hippiechel Posts: 170 Member
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    if you don't have a lot of time to cook and don't mind eating repetitive meals, i suggest cooking a HUGE portion at one go that you can use for many meals. currently i am cutting back on sugar, sodium is the next to go!
  • abyt42
    abyt42 Posts: 1,358 Member
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    I'm finding myself cooking base foods (like a bunch of pinto beans), then using them to make other foods (like chile verde or chili...or refried beans). But I like to cook (and I like to use my crockpot!)

    Until recently, my sodium's been in a fairly good range. The last week and half, not so good.....
  • oceanrose78
    oceanrose78 Posts: 133 Member
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    Crockpots are great! I routinely make a big serving of soup on Sunday. We freeze it into portions and use it for lunches through the week. It's really not time consuming at all. For those weeks when I know I'm going to be really busy I pull out both of my crockpots (confession: I actually have 3..) and I do a roast in one, and soup in the other. I then have a few dinners, and soup for lunches. You also save a ton of money, homemade soup is practically free.

    One of the things though, with cutting out sodium is getting used to the taste of foods without it. Learn about herbs and what you like, flavor should be more than salt but we are trained to expect that salty flavor when we eat.

    As for what to put in the soups, use your imagination! I typically put in all my leftover veggies. I like beef stew with barley, and I love chicken and brown rice soup as well. It just takes experimenting :).
  • toots99
    toots99 Posts: 3,794 Member
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    If you have ot use canned beans, you can rinse them off and supposedly that helps rid them of some of the sodium.
  • asm12707
    asm12707 Posts: 63
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    i use Morton lite salt when i cook, and as far as beans i cook a big pot, and then store it in containers in the freezer. when they defrost they taste fresh, like if you just cooked them.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,239 Member
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    i use Morton lite salt when i cook, and as far as beans i cook a big pot, and then store it in containers in the freezer. when they defrost they taste fresh, like if you just cooked them.

    I am going to have to try that. I find they are good in the fridge for about 4 days, but if they freeze well I could start making larger batches and make a few different styles of beans rather than eating the same type all week. Thanks for bringing that up.
  • asm12707
    asm12707 Posts: 63
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    i use Morton lite salt when i cook, and as far as beans i cook a big pot, and then store it in containers in the freezer. when they defrost they taste fresh, like if you just cooked them.

    I am going to have to try that. I find they are good in the fridge for about 4 days, but if they freeze well I could start making larger batches and make a few different styles of beans rather than eating the same type all week. Thanks for bringing that up.

    you should try it, i saw my mother in law do it and now i do it all the time. No more canned beans!

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