how to avoid/limit sodium

One of the biggest things for sodium is processed foods like those chicken fingers you were talking about. Try cooking for yourself more and eating less processed food, and you'll end up with lower sodium.

Other tips:
- Always buy "no salt added" canned foods when possible. When not possible, buy "low sodium" or "reduced sodium" and rinse the crap out of them under running water to reduce sodium content.

- If you're going to have something you clearly know is high in sodium, try to make sure the rest of your day is low in sodium so things balance out. For instance, if you're craving salty fries or salty chips, eat them and enjoy a treat, but eat naturally low sodium foods throughout the rest of the day like fresh fruits and vegetables.

CONGRATULATIONS! Your journey on MFP has already inspired you to start checking the labels of foods! This is an amazing thing as if you're anything like me, I used to ignore everything except calories because I just didn't want to know the truth!

Some things I've changed to assist with sodium intake since I retain water like a freaking camel:

1) I make my own spaghetti and pizza sauce now because my life would not be complete without a pasta and/or pizza meal at least once per week.

2) As another poster mentioned, I buy "no salt added" or "low sodium" canned foods when making turkey chili (cut the sodium from 2800mg per serving to a much more manageable 500mg per serving), pasta sauces, etc.

Good luck!

I'm also trying to reduce my sodium - prepackaged food is rife with it!! My new best friend is my George Foreman grill - makes everything fast and easy. It sucks that the lower calorie frozen stuff is so packed with it (I'm guessing they use the salt for flavour because they've taken out fat...) but I suppose we are learning to prepare healthy food for ourselves if we refuse to buy the stuff.

It's already been said, but the trick is reducing the number of processed foods that you eat. Eat more fresh fruits and vegetables and food you cook yourself without adding salt.

Scott

All the above AND DRINK YOUR WATER! It will help flush it out. Keep in mind, we do need sodium to survive..it is an electrolyte that is necessary for our heart to work properly but too much is easily ingested. Good luck with your journey!!

I agree with everything everyone is saying. Buy "no" to "low" sodium and cook for yourself.

When cooking homemade mexican - season the meat yourself with chili powder, cilantro, cayenne pepper and cumin, then add in chopped red onion and chili peppers if you like more heat. I find that helps reduce the sodium instead of using the premade seaonsing packets which are PACKED with 1500 mg of sodium per package or about 550 mg per serving.

Haven't tried making homemade pizza or pasta sauce before may have to try that sometime.

Quick clarification re: frozen foods. Yes, a lot of the ones that are meals or meats can be high in sodium but your frozen veggies are actually going to be a better choice than canned. Also, a lot of times frozen veggies (and fruits) are cheaper than fresh depending on the brand. Just didn't want you to totally discount everything frozen...

As for everything else, take some time in the grocery store. If you're like me, a couple of prepared side dishes are necessary for my sanity but if you're going to get something like say rice pilaf, check all the brands and get the one with the lowest sodium.

Be careful of anything marked reduced or low sodium - they might be lower than the original version but they could still be higher than another brand. Use those nutritional labels to your advantage!

Good luck...

Haven't tried making homemade pizza or pasta sauce before may have to try that sometime.

It's kind of time consuming (it takes about 2.5 hours to boil tomatoes and get everything cut up and reduced enough).

Here's how I do it, but I'm still experimenting to see if I can get it how I like it:

16 roma tomatoes or combination of types - boiled, skins removed, deseeded and pureed
4 roma tomatoes or combination of types - boiled, skins removed, deseeded and diced
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp minced garlic (more or less, depending on your love of garlic)
1 carrot, diced
1 large pepper, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup mushrooms, diced
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4 cup Burgundy wine, optional
1 bay leaf
2 stalks celery
2 tablespoons tomato paste, no sodium added (hunt's brand)

1. In a large pot, melt the butter and oil in a pan and add garlic, onions, peppers, carrots, mushrooms. Saute until translucent, about 5 minutes.
2. Add in pureed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, italian seasoning, basil, wine, and stir.
3. Place celery and bay leaf in pot, bring to boil and then reduce to simmer for two hours or until desired consistency.
4. Add tomato paste and simmer for a bit longer, depending on desired consistency.

This has about 225 calories per fairly large serving (maybe more than a cup), depending on if you use wine or not. You will need to play around with the spices and so forth - I don't really measure anything. It has 107mg of sodium, compared to 440mg for half the serving size of Ragu Old World Style pasta sauce.

EDIT: I forgot to mention in the recipe that you should take the bay leaf and celery stalks out of the sauce before adding the tomato paste!

Haven't tried making homemade pizza or pasta sauce before may have to try that sometime.

It's kind of time consuming (it takes about 2.5 hours to boil tomatoes and get everything cut up and reduced enough).

Here's how I do it...

Nice. Will have to give it a try. Also, you can substitute grape juice for the wine and you get close to the same flavour. (That's what I do since I gave up the hooch.)

OOOOO! Thanks for the suggestion!