Welcome to Debate Club! Please be aware that this is a space for respectful debate, and that your ideas will be challenged here. Please remember to critique the argument, not the author.

Sodium! Please solve this years long debate

CeeBeeSlim
CeeBeeSlim Posts: 1,261 Member
Simply - does one reduce the sodium content in canned soup if one adds a lot of water?

I’m trying to have my dad eat less salt due to his high blood pressure but he loves canned soup - and he eats the whole can.

His claim: The fix is to just add a bunch of water - that will dilute the soup and therefore dilute the sodium - thereby reducing any harmful effects.

Me- the addition of water may indeed dilute the TASTE of the soup, but if the label says 800mg in a full can and you’re eating the whole can, you just ate 800mg of sodium - diluted or not.

If he used the water to stretch the number of servings and not the eat whole can, then I can see his point.

Am I missing something?
«1

Replies

  • SunnyBunBun79
    SunnyBunBun79 Posts: 2,228 Member
    edited February 2021
    Well..if he still ends up eating all the soup from the can, ( at one time) he still gets all the sodium..just extra pee as well. :D
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,879 Member
    Nope...still 800Mg sodium...extra water just adds more volume, which may be nice, but it doesn't reduce the amount of sodium in that can of soup.
  • goal06082021
    goal06082021 Posts: 2,130 Member
    Where does he think the sodium goes when he dilutes his soup?

    Do his favorite soup flavors come in a Reduced Sodium variety? I think Campbell's Low Sodium line has all the hits, but if he's one of those weirdos that likes cream of asparagus he might be SOL, not sure.
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,515 Member
    Learning that I was pre-hypertensive was one of the greatest motivators I ever had. Losing 20lbs into normal BMI and doing regular cardo basically cured it. It also helps to limit alcohol and salt.

    What's happening is that we oldies can't expel the sodium the way we used to, so it builds up in the body. If I eat a salty meal, I'll bump up in weight the next day. If I have a "pub night" with beer and salty food, I'll bump up more. The cardio helps keep the system limber and it also directly expels sodium in your sweat. Double bonus!

    As for soup flavor: I switched to buying low-sodium chicken broth instead of canned soup. I use it for a lot of things, but, if I want chicken soup, I add left-over chicken to it plus whatever other leftover rice, pasta, or vegetables are in the fridge or freezer. Heat it in the microwave or stove-top and eat it immediately. It is so much better than canned soup that it's almost comical. You can make it it minutes and get the salt level to whatever you want. Instead of a lot of salt, you can add red pepper flakes and/or lemon juice.

    Anyway, once you get used to low salt, you grow to prefer it.
  • CeeBeeSlim
    CeeBeeSlim Posts: 1,261 Member
    @Jthanmyfitnesspal Thanks for that suggestion. I’ll recommend that to him.

    @goal06082021 it’s strange. Horrible analogy but he somehow equates it to a situation like this - if someone drinks straight Clorox vs someone drinks Clorox mixed with water - that latter mixture - because it was diluted - decreases the bad effects. Both are bad but one is situation better than the other. He surmises then that the sodium becomes “weaker” or less bad for you?!

    I don’t know how to get through to him. He was so adamant I had to question myself!
  • goal06082021
    goal06082021 Posts: 2,130 Member
    I see where he's coming from, but he's still thinking magically. Water cannot do anything to sodium to magically turn it into a different substance. If the doc says he needs to keep his sodium under 1200mg per day (or whatever the limit is), it doesn't matter if he snorts a line of salt right off the table first thing in the morning or if he dilutes his soup out to four gallons and nurses that all day long, at the end of the day he's still brought the same amount of sodium into his body.
  • ythannah
    ythannah Posts: 4,366 Member
    edited February 2021
    CeeBeeSlim wrote: »

    Me- the addition of water may indeed dilute the TASTE of the soup, but if the label says 800mg in a full can and you’re eating the whole can, you just ate 800mg of sodium - diluted or not.

    Correct.

    Eta: If you like, I can have my sodium-restricted dad call your sodium-restricted dad and set him straight. However, he will also nag about sugar consumption, and probably a few other things. :D
  • CeeBeeSlim
    CeeBeeSlim Posts: 1,261 Member
    @ythannah Haha! My pops is sodium/sugar/saturated fat restricted.

    And still, he deep fries pork jowls.

    I’m barely surviving trying to pick my battles.

    😂😂 to keep from 😭😭
  • ythannah
    ythannah Posts: 4,366 Member
    CeeBeeSlim wrote: »
    @ythannah Haha! My pops is sodium/sugar/saturated fat restricted.

    Oh excellent! My dad will cheerfully rattle off a long list of the sugar content of various foods. He can probably do sat fat too.

    I am also sodium-restricted so it would be awesome for my dad to have a new victim audience. :D
  • Theo166
    Theo166 Posts: 2,564 Member
    Does a watered down soup last for two meals instead of just one, that might reduce his salt intake.

    I expect he thinks the extra water helps flush sodium, a common misconception.
    Since he really likes the soup, you might have more luck trying to increase his potassium intake.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,454 Member
    If you took 1 cup of milk and added water to it, there's STILL a cup of milk in it. You just added water and now have to drink more.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,400 Member
    If you want to absorb some of the salt in a dish (sometimes I put too much in by mistake) throw in a potato cut in big chunks. You can fish it out and eat it later, or cube it, add it to your soup, and just eat half now, with the other half saved for another meal.
  • 33gail33
    33gail33 Posts: 1,155 Member
    edited February 2021
    CeeBeeSlim wrote: »
    @ythannah Haha! My pops is sodium/sugar/saturated fat restricted.

    And still, he deep fries pork jowls.

    I’m barely surviving trying to pick my battles.

    😂😂 to keep from 😭😭

    My mom thinks she can eat all the sodium and saturated fat she wants because "I take pills for that". (She is on blood pressure and cholesterol meds.) She is 87 so at this point I just let her do what she wants.
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 12,945 Member
    CeeBeeSlim wrote: »
    Simply - does one reduce the sodium content in canned soup if one adds a lot of water?

    I’m trying to have my dad eat less salt due to his high blood pressure but he loves canned soup - and he eats the whole can.

    His claim: The fix is to just add a bunch of water - that will dilute the soup and therefore dilute the sodium - thereby reducing any harmful effects.

    Me- the addition of water may indeed dilute the TASTE of the soup, but if the label says 800mg in a full can and you’re eating the whole can, you just ate 800mg of sodium - diluted or not.

    If he used the water to stretch the number of servings and not the eat whole can, then I can see his point.

    Am I missing something?

    The only way this works is if he eats one can instead of two cans. If you double the volume of soup with the same amount of water, you have the same volume as two cans. You cut the sodium, fat, AND calories in half. It's not the dilution that reduces these; it's the fact that you don't have the second can.

    The good news is it's easy to make soup from scratch! You can control the salt content during cooking, and you can even make it VERY low salt and adjust at the table... carefully. Other benefits are that you can save money making your own soup, and you don't risk the plastic liner from the an leaching into your food.
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 12,945 Member
    CeeBeeSlim wrote: »
    @Jthanmyfitnesspal Thanks for that suggestion. I’ll recommend that to him.

    @goal06082021 it’s strange. Horrible analogy but he somehow equates it to a situation like this - if someone drinks straight Clorox vs someone drinks Clorox mixed with water - that latter mixture - because it was diluted - decreases the bad effects. Both are bad but one is situation better than the other. He surmises then that the sodium becomes “weaker” or less bad for you?!

    I don’t know how to get through to him. He was so adamant I had to question myself!

    Well, I add bleach to drinking water. Not much. Two drops per gallon. Not tap water; it already has about 1.0 mg/L of free available chlorine that was added at the drinking water treatment plant and keeps the water safe in the distribution system. On river trips, we have to treat our own water. I have a filter that takes out bacteria, protozoa, and cysts. It does not remove viruses, so we add a little bleach and then give it time to work. This can be an alternative to boiling if you have a boil water order (Sorry Texas). Just don't use too much because the amount they USED to recommend (ten drops per gallon) tastes awful. After the contact time, you can add ascorbic acid to remove the chlorine.

    But yes, if you were going to drink a quart of bleach in one day, it would be a bad idea. You couldn't dilute it to a safe level without killing yourself with hyponatremia. And the cure for hyponatremia? More salt :wink:
  • CeeBeeSlim
    CeeBeeSlim Posts: 1,261 Member
    @33gail33 Deep deep sigh! My dad as well. He takes pills for hbp and cholesterol - in addition to a bi-weekly injection for cholesterol!!

    I do wish - although I’m sure there’s some truth to it - that my dad’s doc hadn’t told him that his cholesterol was sooo high that it has to be partly due to genetics. That’s all my dad needed to hear - he inferred “see, it ain’t my fault - it’s in the family”. 🙄🙄

    My dad and mom are 77 and 81 respectively. I’m wondering at what point I also just release it all and let them do what they want. The good thing is that I’ve been so stressed having lived with them since last year due to covid - I lost 30 lbs!

    Sheesh!
  • 33gail33
    33gail33 Posts: 1,155 Member
    CeeBeeSlim wrote: »
    @33gail33 Deep deep sigh! My dad as well. He takes pills for hbp and cholesterol - in addition to a bi-weekly injection for cholesterol!!

    I do wish - although I’m sure there’s some truth to it - that my dad’s doc hadn’t told him that his cholesterol was sooo high that it has to be partly due to genetics. That’s all my dad needed to hear - he inferred “see, it ain’t my fault - it’s in the family”. 🙄🙄

    My dad and mom are 77 and 81 respectively. I’m wondering at what point I also just release it all and let them do what they want. The good thing is that I’ve been so stressed having lived with them since last year due to covid - I lost 30 lbs!

    Sheesh!

    Are we related? My mom insisted for years that her "asthma" ran in the family (rather than, you know, the actual cause being COPD from smoking for 50 years). What are you gonna do ....