The sodium STRUGGLE is so real!!!

littlered662
littlered662 Posts: 10 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Oh the struggle is so real when it comes to a low sodium, low fat diet. It seems if they take out fat they add sodium. If the take out sodium they add fat or some other nastiness that belongs no where near a body, let alone inside of one. I am getting it down but GEEZZZZZ!!

Replies

  • littlered662
    littlered662 Posts: 10 Member
    Oh yes agreed with all of that, thank you. And yes whole unprocessed food has become my best friend!! Yes, I completely understand the absolute necessity of sodium to the diet and the dangers of not getting enough. The nastiness that I spoke of is in all the processed things that label themselves as "healthy". I guess I am just surprised at how nieve I was to the over indulgence we (I and my family) have been when it comes to sodium. I guess I was just sharing the sad moment that I had with how time I will now spend preparing everything from scratch 😂😢.
  • sollyn23l2
    sollyn23l2 Posts: 1,755 Member
    It's not nearly as daunting as it seems. You get used to doing more cooking, and finding ways of doing it simply, and once you've gotten into it, it just becomes part of your daily routine.
  • lgfrie
    lgfrie Posts: 1,449 Member
    I'm on a low sodium diet for high BP. 1500 mg / day which is around 2/3 tap. A lot harder than the typical 2400 they talk about, but that's what my Dr said to do. I assume your Dr told you to reduce sodium. You'd be surprised how easily your brain adjusts to low sodium if you're patient and stick to it. Nowadays any processed food tastes incredibly salty to me, not that I don't like it lol but things like soy sauce, processed meats, snack foods, etc., taste like salt sticks to me. There are a LOT of foods that have no or very little sodium - fruits, vegetables, unprocessed meat like a steak, lots of stuff. If it grows on land, swims, or walks, you're basically good to go. Learn to love whole foods and you will be all set!
  • MargaretYakoda
    MargaretYakoda Posts: 2,994 Member
    Low sodium is great once you get used to it.
    For one thing, after a while all fast foods taste like a salt lick with cheese and tomato. This does curb the impulse to run to McD’s

    Some useful things:

    An instantpot. A dehydrator for dehydrating the onions and tomatoes and other veggies you then add to stews and other items for a pop of flavor. A garlic roaster.
    Kikoman makes a decent low sodium soy sauce.
    Amy’s (or maybe it’s Annie’s? I get them mixed up) makes a great canned half sodium refried beans.
    Happy Pho brand makes an instant pho that is delicious and very low sodium. Replace ramen easily. Amazon has it. Three flavors, ginger, garlic, and mushroom.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,217 Member
    edited September 2021
    If a person is following a low fat diet and is worried about their high sodium intake you can pretty much assume their consuming a diet with lots of processed low fat foods. A diet that's high in processed carbs isn't exactly the healthiest diet on the planet. If you switch to a whole food diet and include fats that again are more whole and natural we won't have a sodium problem at all. Then Doctors will actually have to address hypertension properly as opposed to telling their patients to consume less salt.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    If you are not sure where the sodium is coming from in your diet, if you open your diary, we can probably help you out with that (if youve been logging accurately).

    this is one of those things that I just dont have a problem with (and I might be the only one in my entire family, but I'm also probably by far the healthiest person in my entire family). My sodium levels (aside from a random high level day occasionally) on my MFP charts are always WAY below the daily number and even in my bloodwork (done just monday) is lower than it 'should' be. not concernedly so, though. So, the bloodwork confirms the logging (the database itself is filled with inaccurate entries, so I dont go by that alone, I let my bloodwork confirm anything like that. ) There are very few things i make that I purposely ADD salt to. I just tend to use other seasonings and herbs. But I've always cooked like that. Which is why the nurse always does a double take at my blood pressure and asks me if i feel okay. My doctor knows I feel just fine LOL

    Common items with high 'hidden' sodium

    dining out
    lunchmeat/deli meats/beef jerkey/ meat stick 'things'
    Sausages (of any kind), bacon, pork (pretty sure pork tends to be higher sodium but you may want to verify that)
    (most) condiments of any kind
    cheese/cheese like substances (cheese whiz/nacho cheese dip/queso/etc)
    frozen meals/frozen snacks (hot pockets, pizza rolls, other frozen snacks)
    canned veggies/soups/canned items in general
    many (if not most) prepared/convenience foods
    snack foods in general (chips, pretzels, cookies, crackers, etc)
    Breads (this one actually surprised me not long ago- for some odd reason I was tracking sodium in my diary at the time and had a really high day- the culprit was some sort of bread I had that day! dont remember what kind, now. For me it doesn't matter, but for someone where it does matter, it can be an issue)

    Learn to look at/ read labels - per serving size (and if you eat more than one serving size calculate for that amount). Shop the 'outside' aisles in the store. There's not much I go to the inside aisles for (and if not for the fact I have a teenage son, it would be even less LOL). Learn to make as much from scratch as you can. An instapot or crock pot can be your best friend with many things, especially if you work outside the home. Truly though, I don't work and most of the dinners I make take less than a half hour. Most are pretty simple, just because I'm a fan of quick and easy ;) Also easier to log LOL

    your body needs fat, fat is not bad in and of itself. What i bet you find, though, is that if you cut out or significantly reduce the items in the list above (assuming some of them are the culprits in your sodium issue), that your fat intake goes down, since many of these items also contain fairly high amounts of (not necessarily good) fats.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,416 Member
    edited September 2021
    I have no advice but I just wanted to say, "I feel your pain!!!!!!!!!!" Waaaah.

    I've been doing low-ish sodium since April. I eat about 2200 calories a day and I'm really not able to stay that close to 1500mg sodium no matter how hard I try. 1800mg I can do most days, but 1500mg? I think I've hit that a handful of times in five months.


    I miss you, milk, easy meats, cheese, bread. :( Well, I didn't quit them, but it certainly limits my food choices.

    I've been a mostly whole foods eater for a long time and I don't buy canned or jarred stuff except spaghetti sauce, Ceasar dressing and condiments but breads and sandwiches were so easy and I miss the convenience.

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