Lowering Sodium help

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sunn_lighter
sunn_lighter Posts: 7,893 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I just started today trying to lower my sodium to 1800 total for the day (1550 calorie goal). I had no extra salt and stayed within my macros, and still ended up 150 over.

The foods putting me over are egg whites, a string cheese, 2 slices of Mestemacher bread, red bell peppers, and tofu. I'm eating as clean as I know how (the rest of my calories are unprocessed foods, mostly veggies/fruits) and I'm not getting it low enough.

Any tips to lower my sodium intake further? Foods to substitute for those listed above?

Does anyone have an open food diary and follows a low sodium diet? Maybe I could take a look and figure out some substitutions too.

TIA!

Replies

  • jpaulie
    jpaulie Posts: 917 Member
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    why do you want to go down to 1550? Do you have a sodium sensitivity or did a doctor mention something? (or was it Dr Google :) )
  • melissamarah
    melissamarah Posts: 168 Member
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    Hi! I'm trying to stay under 1500 on sodium, too. My mother recently died of congestive heart failure, so I thought it's time to kick the salt to the curb. My diary is open, but I've just restarted.

    One trick is I stopped eating bread. Instead I use corn tortillas since they have about 5 mg each.
  • wmpottsjr
    wmpottsjr Posts: 42 Member
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    substitute swiss cheese for the string cheese. red bell peppers aren't that high. double check that. eliminate eggs period. choose another protein source. Eliminate bread from your diet and eat Wasa crackers (Walmart) instead. If you must eat bread eat tuscan bread. Tuscan bread is traditionally made without salt. It was a commonly made bread way back when salt was a premium item. Shop around for better tofu. It shouldn't be very high. My diary is open and I commonly eat 500 mg or less of sodium a day. hahahaha except today. I'm a heart patient and HAVE to eat low sodium. Your body only needs 300-500 mg/day unless you sweat a lot. Eat high potassium foods and buy French's Nosalt. It is pure potassium chloride.
  • wmpottsjr
    wmpottsjr Posts: 42 Member
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    click on the Hello Healthy View All section this site. A begginer guide to eating low sodium was recently posted, maybe two weeks ago. Anyway it is a good primer. Feel free to friend me. I have CHF as well and manage it quite well.
  • BWBTrish
    BWBTrish Posts: 2,817 Member
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    First of all do you have a (medical) reason to lower your salt and did you discuss it with your doctor.

    Secondly i have np with staying even under a 1000 a day
    My limit is 1500 and the day i go over are rare.

    I spread out the "salty" foods, like i dont eat cod which contain lot of salt with a taco or tortilla with contains also lot of salt.
    a pickle lol 5 or 10 gram straight away half the salt intake of the day.

    so yes it is getting use to it but i have np at all
    I cook with a lot of spices and herbs btw to replace salt.
    I haven used salt since 1st of October 2014
  • dclaudw
    dclaudw Posts: 1 Member
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    I applaud you for your low-salt efforts. You have to be diligent to win the sodium war. For example, many restaurants will list nutritional data but not adhere to it, as they may tell their chefs to add three shakes of the salt/pepper container. You always have to specify no salt even when ordering food that naturally does not have salt. Wmpottsjr is correct that bread is almost always salty, either because the cook likes the flavor or the recipe calls for baking soda. Wmpottsjr recommends crackers. My solution for sandwiches is generally to buy sweet bread, as that has the least salt; at Kroger, this is called Hawaiian Bread with 100mg/slice. Never buy bagels. If you need bread or bagels at a restaurant, just bring your own crackers or Hawaiian Bread. Cheese is also a difficult choice. For dairy, I buy Greek yogurt with at least 16g of protein per 5.3 oz; if less protein, you get cheap fillers such as sugar, "fruit", or gelatin instead. I have no idea whether my diary is open or not.
  • ForeverSunshine09
    ForeverSunshine09 Posts: 966 Member
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    I just move stuff around til I get under my goal. I am on a lower sodium diet from my nephrologist but, I can still eat up to 2000 mgs a day.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    @wmpottsjr , I bow to you. Great advice, and great salt reduction.
  • girlviernes
    girlviernes Posts: 2,402 Member
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    you can actually get too low on sodium. I wouldn't worry about an aggressively low sodium limit if you don't specifically know that it negatively effects your blood pressure. However, the more you cook the easier it is to control your salt. I like the no-salt organic seasoning from Costco.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    Lower sodium by eating less processed foods.
  • barryplumber
    barryplumber Posts: 401 Member
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    The doctor told me too stay under 1500mg of sodium as well. I love spices so i found Mrs Dash has a verity of spices that's no salt. Big sodium foods soups, sauces like soy sauce, deli meats, ham, cheese, bread and the list goes on. I found it really hard at first but as time went on i found foods with less and less salt. I don't use any salt when cooking, bake bread just use a1/4 tsp of salt just enough to activate the yeast.
  • Darrelkun
    Darrelkun Posts: 152 Member
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    I use AllWhites Egg Whites whenever I make things with eggs. 75mg of sodium for 3 Tbsp, but you also get 75 mg of Potassium. They can be found in local grocery stores.

    http://allwhiteseggwhites.com/products/

    My guess would be the string cheese or bread that is damaging your sodium counts. I wouldn't suggest giving up eggs since they offer nutrition and protein.
  • girlviernes
    girlviernes Posts: 2,402 Member
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    sunn_lighter wrote: »
    barryplumber wrote: »
    The doctor told me too stay under 1500mg of sodium as well. I love spices so i found Mrs Dash has a verity of spices that's no salt. Big sodium foods soups, sauces like soy sauce, deli meats, ham, cheese, bread and the list goes on. I found it really hard at first but as time went on i found foods with less and less salt. I don't use any salt when cooking, bake bread just use a1/4 tsp of salt just enough to activate the yeast.
    Baking bread! I used to bake bread quite a bit, that's a great idea. I didn't know you needed salt to help activate the yeast... I wonder if salt substitute would work?
    Darrelkun wrote: »
    I use AllWhites Egg Whites whenever I make things with eggs. 75mg of sodium for 3 Tbsp, but you also get 75 mg of Potassium. They can be found in local grocery stores.

    http://allwhiteseggwhites.com/products/

    My guess would be the string cheese or bread that is damaging your sodium counts. I wouldn't suggest giving up eggs since they offer nutrition and protein.

    I think you're right. I'm going to try to find whole grain alternatives that are lower in sodium but keep the egg whites.
    girlviernes wrote: »
    you can actually get too low on sodium. I wouldn't worry about an aggressively low sodium limit if you don't specifically know that it negatively effects your blood pressure. However, the more you cook the easier it is to control your salt. I like the no-salt organic seasoning from Costco.

    Yeah, I need to be on a lower sodium diet. But FYI, very few Americans are at risk of getting too low on sodium lol.

    it happened to both my grandfather and mother, with my grandfather the symptoms were very alarming. but I agree it is probably not a big concern if you have some processed food or eat out occasionally.

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