Salt...Salt...Salt!!!!

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Stosha2319
Stosha2319 Posts: 22 Member
in Food and Nutrition
My biggest enemy is salt. I want to know how you go about staying under your limit with Sodium? Please send me any advice. I always buy things that say either "low sodium" or "no salt added", but I still find myself going over...ugh!!! Please help, thanks :)

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  • Cynsonya
    Cynsonya Posts: 668 Member
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    More whole foods, less processed foods. Less restaurant food.
    Processed and restaurant foods are notoriously high for sodium levels. That said, unless you have a medical reason to watch sodium it's not really fully necessary.
  • veggiecanner
    veggiecanner Posts: 137 Member
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    we cook everything from scratch. I eat about 500 mg a day. My doctor said it's ok. May need more during the summer.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    Pretty well any pre-processed foods have added salt. So it all adds up. You get to learn how to be your own great cook. I use onion, pepper and garlic chiefly to replace salt, and buy the freshest strong flavoured vegetables to add flavour to my food. I also cheat and use strong flavoured old cheeses, even if it has salt added.
  • ASKyle
    ASKyle Posts: 1,475 Member
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    If you don't have any medical conditions that salt would affect, you do not need to worry about going over your sodium goal. If you take in a ton you may see some bloating, but no other effects.

    That said- Avoid pre-packaged foods, make things from scratch yourself so that you can control the sodium.
  • MelaniaTrump
    MelaniaTrump Posts: 2,694 Member
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    Have a natural food with potassium.
    Ex: Bananas, green salad, beans, lentils, even a low sodium v8.
  • fishshark
    fishshark Posts: 1,886 Member
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    i cook from scratch everyday and go over my salt.. have u seen how little a serving is?! I had to REALLY adjust my palate and learn to like food less salty
  • Hope228
    Hope228 Posts: 340 Member
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    The struggle got real for me about 6 weeks ago when I was told my blood pressure was "Crazy high." I was told to stay at1,500 mg a day and wait a month. So I ended up being put on m,eds and I still am told to stay on a low sodium diet. It's not east but I am doing it. I admit that I miss eating some of the things I did before, lean cuisines, salad dressing and oh yeah, Pizza! I really miss Pizza.
  • ejbronte
    ejbronte Posts: 867 Member
    edited February 2016
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    Just to torture us all, here's a favorite little fairy tale of mine:

    pitt.edu/~dash/salt.html#rushes

    I have to watch my sodium; and my parents were also on sodium-reduced diets. Agreed that the best thing to do is to take cooking matters into your own hands. Spices and wine (and, if you're careful of sudden flambes, also rums and suchlike) make very good flavorings for your food, to substitute for salt.

    A business like Panera will let you order a meal online, and customize some of their choices - salads especially, and they show the nutritional changes as you play with the ingredients (they don't show potassium, which is a pity).

    I try to stay below 1,000 mg; there are days when I go over, but not over 1,200 unless things have gotten way out of hand. I also try to make sure the potassium level is significantly higher than the sodium level.

    Today, the diary reads 829 sodium to 1325 potassium. It's probably closer to 1,000, but I won't quibble...!

    Breakfast of oatmeal, honey, a little granola and a little packet of Smuckers peanut butter (no bread) gave me 105 mg of sodium.

    Lunch at Panera: fiddled steak and arugula sandwich reduced the sodium from about 900 to around 500 (mostly I cut out the sauces).

    Home made dinner of oat flour crepes (just ground oatmeal whipped with a mix of low sodium veggie stock and water: clumsy but mine-own!) wrapped around Green Giant steamer veggies: round it up to 120 mg.

    Treat of Weight Watchers peanut butter ice cream bar: 45 mg of sodium.
  • Stosha2319
    Stosha2319 Posts: 22 Member
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    I tend to retain water a lot and my dr says it's from having to much sodium in my diet. For the most part I stick to fresh foods, I stay away from processed foods as much as possible.
  • pomegranatecloud
    pomegranatecloud Posts: 812 Member
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    If you cook from scratch, it's very easy to control your sodium intake. Simply add less salt and watch out for ingredients such as broth (make your own or get low sodium), soy sauce, canned tomatoes and beans (get no salt added or low sodium), etc. I find a lot of recipes are too salty and usually reduce the salt called for by half.

    Look at what you're eating and figure out where the salt is coming from.
  • successgal1
    successgal1 Posts: 996 Member
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    Make you meals and don't add salt.

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