low sodium diet

Also use No Salt. It's not salt, but it'll do. I do keep my sodium below 1500 mg each day. I have onion for flavor and low-sodium salsa with breakfast. I have lunch from the junk variety at work (they have lately been trying to meet my wishes). I cook my dinner vegetables and meat stir-fry with no salt and add ginger for spiciness. One of the worst offenders is chicken. The cheap frozen stuff is injected with 10% saline solution. Natural chicken and turkey can be gotten anywhere, but it's priced dearly. Unless a restaurant proclaims natural chicken, they're serving the injected stuff. Speaking of restaurants, the value proposition of every dish is the sauce, which is hyper salty, hyper sugary, and oh so good. Take that on the side and use sparingly. No croutons with salads, no salad dressings with salad except balsamic vinegar. You can't get low-sodium bread that's edible, so keep your bread servings low. Limit your cheese, because that is also richly salted.

I also need to eat a lower sodium diet, although I don't make my 1500 mark every day. In addition to the things mentioned above, watch out for Asian foods, even when cooking yourself. The soy sauce is killer. Choose fresh or frozen veggies over canned. Read food labels. Sometimes you're better off with the full-fat, full-calorie version of a food. The low-fat ones often have too much extra sugar and salt to make up for the taste. Many spices and veggies add lots of flavor so you don't miss the salt as much. Ginger has been mentioned, but also use garlic, bell pepper, onion, shallot, fresh cilantro (coriander), parsley, basil, fresh-ground pepper, and herb mixes. When I bake, if the recipe calls for baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) then I do NOT add the extra tsp of salt the recipe uses. It's not necessary. Good luck! Start with small changes to see what you like, and to help you stick with it.

I never use salt, I just don't like it, but I do add plenty of black pepper and herbs when I cook. Our tastebuds quickly adapt to less salt once we start using less. The problem with sodium is that when we eat out we have no idea of how much sodium is in what we're eating.

For those using no salt-be very very careful if you have any kidney or heart disease. It contains potassium which you also have to watch.

I had to cut salt to lower blood pressure a few years ago (and probably always should as I tend to retain water a lot even when my blood pressure is fine. Anyway, what worked for me was the Dash diet. Some things that helped were spicier foods, lime squeezed on stuff (tastes a bit salty), and more cooking. Processed foods were just crazy. I can/could cook fresh and add a bit of salt for flavor much easier than eating the high sodium processed stuff without added salt.

Also on the low sodium bandwagon: been cooking saltless for a lot of years now, dating back to when I had to do so for my parents. I try to keep sodium below 1200 a day. Agreed on the spices and seasonings (though I happen to like the Dashes). Also yes to acids, and to cooking with wine.

And definitely become a close and careful label reader when shopping. You'll be surprised at how much sodium you've been taking in! Good luck!

#1 rule is: do not salt your food before tasting.

Buy as few convenience foods as possible. Even things like deli meats can have as much as 600 mg of sodium per 2 oz serving. If you like deli meat and have the budget for it, get Boars Head (their no sodium added turkey breast is only 55 mg per serving and they have a roast beef that is only 80 mg). Otherwise, buy meat and roast and slice it yourself for sandwiches. Same thing for meals. Buy individual ingredients and make them yourself.

Invest in a decent selection of individual herbs and spices. Most seasoning blends are made with salt and are really easy to duplicate.

Many, many seasonings can be mixed yourself without salt. I make my own taco seasoning mix (12 mg per packet as opposed to Old El Paso 1800 mg per packet). I also make my own sesame ginger stir fry sauce. There are recipes all over the internet for all kinds of these things.

Limit your use of condiments like soy, teriyaki, ketchup etc. If you are used to just shaking how much you want, measure.

Unless you are in the 2% of the population who have a known sensitivity, don't be afraid of MSG. It can heighten the flavor of many foods without the high sodium content (many low sodium soup bases and condiments are made with it). If you ARE sensitive, don't eat foods with naturally occurring MSG like tomatoes and tomato juice, grapes and grape juice, other fruit juices, potatoes, peas, or mushrooms.

I have cut down my sodium quite a bit over the years. I started doing it in college because of significant PMS bloating. I now do it because I do not like the taste of salty foods (except popcorn . . . needs lots of butter and salt).

Hi
After decades of salting the heck out of foods I went to no salt on anything. Now I do not miss it and salted foods taste way to salty where they used to taste Great.

You will get used to it.

Good Luck
Roger