Low Sodium
angieplusone
Posts: 2 Member
I have just started my journey to watching my sodium. Holy Cow! I thought a salad from chickfila would be ok. The sodium in it is 2200 without any dressing. Anyone else trying to fight the sodium consumption and how are you doing it? I work 2 jobs and finding the time to consistently meal prep is a challenge and then when I do and log it, still lots of sodium. Help!
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Replies
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It's definitely a myth that salads are the best choice in a restaurant. Many have as many or more calories and sodium than other menu items.
At your example of Chick-Fil-A, a grilled chicken sandwich and waffle fries would have fewer calories and less sodium than that Cobb salad you are referring to. In fact, the Cobb salad is the highest calorie item on their menu. For restaurants that post their nutritional information, check them ahead of time to make sure what you select fits into your goals.
As far as the sodium...do you have a medical reason for having to reduce sodium? If it's just a preference, or a personal goal, that's fine, but it's not necessary to lose weight, and not so important unless you have a medical condition.
You say the sodium is high even for the meals you cook at home? Can you give an example? What types of ingredients are causing the sodium to be high in these meals? Maybe you can make some easy substitutions.3 -
Pretty much anything from any restaurant is going to be on the higher side for sodium. Processed, shelf stable foods are also high in sodium as a preservative. Cooking at home using whole foods and minimally processed foods is really the only way to go about it.
What are you making at home that is a lot of sodium? And what does "lots of sodium" exactly mean to you and do you have a reason medically to really fuss about it? Keep in mind that too much sodium can be a problem, particularly if you have pre-existing medical conditions that are exacerbated by excess sodium, but so can too little as sodium is an essential electrolyte for your body.3 -
Sodium is your electrolyte. You know, the thing that keeps your kidneys alive. Low sodium diet for the general public is mostly a product of bad science. Excess water retention is pretty obvious when you can't put on your shoes. Or, you have had recent heart surgery. Or, if a medical doctor who has actually examined you has ordered a low sodium diet, go right ahead. But, if you have been obtaining Internet medical diagnosis, get to your doctor and find out for sure.3
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I second people asking if you have a medical reason to worry about sodium. Most people do because most people don't have a healthy blood pressure, but if you don't, then there's nothing inherently wrong with salt. I am prescribed 6-10g of salt in pill form every day.
But yeah, if you do have a medical reason to reduce salt, pretty much all restaurant food will be problematic, unless it is advertised specifically as low sodium. The amount of salt used in most restaurant food is insane, and fast food even moreso.2 -
angieplusone wrote: »I thought a salad from chickfila would be ok. The sodium in it is 2200 without any dressing.
When you get salads from chick fil a, you can ask for cold grilled chicken. It's not coated or fried. They have a warm grilled chicken, but I think they add stuff to it. I always skip the crouton like toppings like the Crispy Bell Peppers just to cut down on unnecessary calories / processed stuff. Also, they have side salads now which don't have chicken, but I like them because they pack them pretty full of veggies.
Hope this helps. On the website it says the Cobb Salad w/ Grilled Filet (Cold) is 1380 mg sodium, which is still a lot... but maybe that would work if you split it in half and bring your own dressing?2 -
One of the goals of DASH diets is low sodium, so you could look for DASH diet recipes. I have high blood pressure and after 2 weeks of sodium moderation (now averaging about 1500mg/day vs Am Heart Asso 2300mg/day guideline), my BP is down 15+ points...on both top and bottom numbers! I am avoiding processed foods and preparing more at home to better control my sodium. I pour over nutrition labels and try to make wise choices...per the diet, eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Good luck.3
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The benefits of restricting sodium are still under study. Reducing sodium definitely reduces your PB slightly and can reduce swelling in lower extremities. It does seem that the benefits are real, but they seem pretty small. So, why do doctors always recommend it? I think it's because it's one of the few easy things you can do to reduce cardiovascular risk (along with maintaining a healthy weight, getting regular exercise, minimizing alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use, and other well-known measures).
I have chosen to do it because I have mild hypertension. Also, I feel noticeably worse the day after a particularly salty meal. And, it can cause my weight to spike. Also, salt can mask other subtle flavors, so I generally don't like foods to have too much of it. In general, I don't like very salty foods (at least not anymore!
Now, by reduced sodium, I mean I shoot to stay under 3000mg/day. Some people really like salty food and can go way over that. I do think that if you eat very high salt the heart-disease risks get higher.1 -
The low sodium industry is predicated on some unsupported dietary guidelines decades ago by the American Heart Association. With billions at stake there is no turning back now. Just be sensible since the concerns you have expressed are important only if you have had recent heart surgery or a history of bad heart problems. Otherwise, pointless and possibly dangerous.1
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@angieplusone I started reducing my salt years ago. I was using a salt shaker for everything and started stopping in stages. Near the end, I could taste the salt in the butter on my corn. I started adding veggies to everything to train my brain not to miss the salt; Veggie omelets, Fried potatoes with onions, Baked potatoes with bacon bits, Mashed potatoes with extra butter, ect. There seems to be enough sodium in the foods these days it is easy to get enough sodium without adding to. I now make homemade "no salted" butter. I don't even miss the salt any more. A few chips or some chicken will satisfy any craving for it.1
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I know you pasted a while ago, but you could check out FlavorGods seasonings. They have many different seasonings with low sodium in many of the flavors.1
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I know a few people who have to do low sodium for health reasons; there are a lot of good spice blends out there! Mrs dash has multi packs of spice blends and Penzeys also has a lot of good spice blends for cooking at home. A lot of fast food or processed foods have a lot of salt to preserve them or make them more palatable. Hot sauce, pickles, cheese, cured meat, and tortillas were all things that I’ve heard were surprisingly high in sodium. Salad dressing can be really salty so using oil and vinegar might be a good substitute and you can control the added salt if you need to1
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I have Meniere's disease (ringing in ears, dizziness, stomach upset). My ENT recommended that I cut back on my sodium intake. It is hard to do!!! But I salt foods for my family about half of what I did before. They salt at the table. Drink water!!! Drink half your weight in ounces every single day.
Coffee, tea, soft drinks do not count. Water. It really does help.
Also, buy fresh or frozen vegetables. They have no salt whereas canned veggies always have salt:).
Cook a chicken breast for sandwiches instead deli meat.1 -
I have Meniere's disease (ringing in ears, dizziness, stomach upset). My ENT recommended that I cut back on my sodium intake. It is hard to do!!! But I salt foods for my family about half of what I did before. They salt at the table. Drink water!!! Drink half your weight in ounces every single day.
Coffee, tea, soft drinks do not count. Water. It really does help.
Also, buy fresh or frozen vegetables. They have no salt whereas canned veggies always have salt:).
Cook a chicken breast for sandwiches instead deli meat.
To the bolded - Coffee, tea and soft drinks definitely count. Why wouldn't they? Also, canned vegetables don't always have salt. There are many that don't have salt added. Read the labels.4 -
I somehow missed all these responses. I've never used this program for the community and have learned that I need it. I am battling high blood pressure. I do not like the bp meds I'm on and that is why I started watching my sodium. I let it beat me down trying to stay low sodium and the Dr said to just do the weight watchers program and I would succeed. I seem to be hungry all the time and so I have been focusing more on adding protein. I know I eat way too many carbs and do not cook whole foods enough. I don't drink pop. I am a water drinker so I know its the foods I'm choosing.1
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I do have a medical reason for monitoring my sodium intake, high blood pressure. Up until about a month ago I thought I was doing pretty good cutting back on salt. Then I talked with the registered dietitian at the cardiac rehab facility where I was working to recover from open heart surgery. I was really surprised by how much salt I was ingesting and where I came from. Bread was near the top of the list. Canned vegetables, unless marked No Salt Added. Condiments of all kinds. The condiments and bread were what got me. I love spicy food and while I watched the sodium in my many varieties of hot sauce I failed to notice the serving size. Who puts a single teaspoon of hot sauce in a bowl of soup! My adult son, who also loves spicy food and has to monitor his sodium for the same reason, found a line of delicious hot sauce that is about the lowest in sodium I have seen. It's the Buckee's brand! At first glance it looks to be high in sodium till you look at the serving size, 1 ounce (6 teaspoons). Watch the serving size, especially with regard to condiments, sauces and dressings.1
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I recently had a heart attack (2nd one) brought on by complications from Covid. My blood pressure was over 200, and the EMT stated I was in the stroke area. After I left the hospital, I threw out all the salt in the house and any seasoning that contained a lot of salt. My wife hasn't had sugar in the home for 25 years. Fortunately, I work out of my house and cook meals daily, with very little to no processed or fast food. It's a lot easier than I thought it would be. Since the beginning of July 2022, when I was hospitalized, I have lost 28 pounds and counting. I was at 228 and am now at 200, trying to get to 180. My blood pressure is still higher than healthy, and I will see my cardiologist later in the month to review what I'm doing. I will also attend a cardiac rehab program—my salt intake averages between 800 and 1000 mg a day.1
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Focus on consuming foods rich in potassium, magnesium and calcium which is where the focus should be, get regular exercise and a little daily meditation helps too.0
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I cook at home. Microwave. I simply do not add salt. It is often claimed that you will no longer taste the lack of salt after 3 weeks or so. That is half true. In my case, the 3 was correct, but the weeks were years. I don't know if I no longer taste the lack of salt or whether it is more a case of not remembering how the same food tastes with added salt. No matter, I don't use it. The only added salt I have is in canned sardines and canned tomatoes, and that is because that is the way the stuff is sold, not because I add it. As a result, my salt intake is really very low.0
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angieplusone wrote: »I somehow missed all these responses. I've never used this program for the community and have learned that I need it. I am battling high blood pressure. I do not like the bp meds I'm on and that is why I started watching my sodium. I let it beat me down trying to stay low sodium and the Dr said to just do the weight watchers program and I would succeed. I seem to be hungry all the time and so I have been focusing more on adding protein. I know I eat way too many carbs and do not cook whole foods enough. I don't drink pop. I am a water drinker so I know its the foods I'm choosing.
Simply losing weight can be enough for many people to reduce their blood pressure. There are diet and sodium tips in this article from the Mayo Clinic as well.
10 ways to control high blood pressure without medication
1. Lose extra pounds and watch your waistline
Blood pressure often increases as weight increases. Being overweight also can cause disrupted breathing while you sleep (sleep apnea), which further raises blood pressure.
Weight loss is one of the most effective lifestyle changes for controlling blood pressure. If you're overweight or have obesity, losing even a small amount of weight can help reduce blood pressure. In general, blood pressure might go down by about 1 millimeter of mercury (mm Hg) with each kilogram (about 2.2 pounds) of weight lost.
Read more: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-pressure/in-depth/high-blood-pressure/art-200469741 -
angieplusone wrote: »I somehow missed all these responses. I've never used this program for the community and have learned that I need it. I am battling high blood pressure. I do not like the bp meds I'm on and that is why I started watching my sodium. I let it beat me down trying to stay low sodium and the Dr said to just do the weight watchers program and I would succeed. I seem to be hungry all the time and so I have been focusing more on adding protein. I know I eat way too many carbs and do not cook whole foods enough. I don't drink pop. I am a water drinker so I know its the foods I'm choosing.
How much weight do you want to lose and what's your weekly weight loss goal?
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Meal prepping is ubiquitous but not needed. Simply buy bags of frozen vegetables, or make it extra easy and buy frozen vegetable blends, put them in the microwave, don't add salt. It is significantly faster than meal prepping or fast food and it is significantly cheaper than fast food and quite likely even cheaper than supposedly fresh food. It is also almost guaranteed to be more healthful than the "fresh" stuff. All it takes to know that is to take a cold hard look at the often sorry condition of "fresh" foods in the grocery store.angieplusone wrote: »I have just started my journey to watching my sodium. Holy Cow! I thought a salad from chickfila would be ok. The sodium in it is 2200 without any dressing. Anyone else trying to fight the sodium consumption and how are you doing it? I work 2 jobs and finding the time to consistently meal prep is a challenge and then when I do and log it, still lots of sodium. Help!
You'll end up with a very low sodium intake, no actual work involved and a diet that is about as healthful as it gets. The reason meal preparation is complicated is merely because people are trying to square the circle by creating elaborate recipes to imitate meals they know without unhealthful ingredients. Reality is, that will never fully work, that is the reality of reality. Once you accept that, life becomes really simple and easy.
Also, consider this: meals don't have to be delicious: that (potentially) entices you to overeat. Meals should just not be tasting bad, because you will not want to eat them.
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angieplusone wrote: »I somehow missed all these responses. I've never used this program for the community and have learned that I need it. I am battling high blood pressure. I do not like the bp meds I'm on and that is why I started watching my sodium. I let it beat me down trying to stay low sodium and the Dr said to just do the weight watchers program and I would succeed. I seem to be hungry all the time and so I have been focusing more on adding protein. I know I eat way too many carbs and do not cook whole foods enough. I don't drink pop. I am a water drinker so I know its the foods I'm choosing.
I'm hypertensive and changing my diet did pretty much next to nothing for my blood pressure. The two biggest things for me were getting in regular, daily exercise and losing weight. I still have to take meds as my hypertension is largely hereditary, but it's much better controlled when I'm exercising regularly and maintaining a healthy weight. Anytime I get lax on my exercise my BP creeps up.2 -
That is my experience as well. That said, I have to confess it was not as easy as is often claimed. I was led to believe that it would take three weeks. That was only half true: the three was correct but the weeks were years. That is a long time. But since I no longer miss it, it is also no longer a problem. All it took was a bit of perseverance.JulieNFitPal wrote: »I don't even miss the salt any more.
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Unless you are one of the rare people who are unfortunate enough to suffer undesirable effects, please take the meds. Do not forget that high blood pressure is a major cause of major health problems, including but far from limited to life-changing and/or life-ending strokes. So, the choice is not between no meds and meds. The choice is between the (often only perceived) unpleasantness of having to take meds and crippling and terrifying disease. In my opinion, that is an easy choice to make.angieplusone wrote: »I somehow missed all these responses. I've never used this program for the community and have learned that I need it. I am battling high blood pressure. I do not like the bp meds I'm on and that is why I started watching my sodium. I let it beat me down trying to stay low sodium and the Dr said to just do the weight watchers program and I would succeed. I seem to be hungry all the time and so I have been focusing more on adding protein. I know I eat way too many carbs and do not cook whole foods enough. I don't drink pop. I am a water drinker so I know its the foods I'm choosing.
Reducing your salt intake may mitigate your blood pressure problem, but is unlikely to solve it. That said, it is a good initiative. I compare it to exercise: you are unlikely to see immediate noticeable effects, but it will reduce your lifetime probability of numerous conditions.
Weight loss is almost certainly the best thing you can do. It is a very simple process but it can also be a very hard process.
Hungry all the time: that was and is my problem as well. However, since I reduced (not eliminated) my carb intake in the form of rice, bread, lentils, beans (except for lupini and soybeans) and starchy vegetables, that problem –while remaining– has become tolerable and I am slowly getting used to that situation making it less problematic than at the time I was experiencing pain, nausea and vomiting to a degree that made me long for euthanasia. In short: it was a choice between holding on to foods I loved and a life of misery or abstaining from those foods and a satisfying life with some tolerable discomfort. I prefer the latter.
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That's out there, and it's always interesting to hear what people think when it comes to cooking, cheers.BartBVanBockstaele wrote: »
Meal prepping is ubiquitous but not needed. Simply buy bags of frozen vegetables, or make it extra easy and buy frozen vegetable blends, put them in the microwave, don't add salt. It is significantly faster than meal prepping or fast food and it is significantly cheaper than fast food and quite likely even cheaper than supposedly fresh food. It is also almost guaranteed to be more healthful than the "fresh" stuff. All it takes to know that is to take a cold hard look at the often sorry condition of "fresh" foods in the grocery store.angieplusone wrote: »I have just started my journey to watching my sodium. Holy Cow! I thought a salad from chickfila would be ok. The sodium in it is 2200 without any dressing. Anyone else trying to fight the sodium consumption and how are you doing it? I work 2 jobs and finding the time to consistently meal prep is a challenge and then when I do and log it, still lots of sodium. Help!
You'll end up with a very low sodium intake, no actual work involved and a diet that is about as healthful as it gets. The reason meal preparation is complicated is merely because people are trying to square the circle by creating elaborate recipes to imitate meals they know without unhealthful ingredients. Reality is, that will never fully work, that is the reality of reality. Once you accept that, life becomes really simple and easy.
Also, consider this: meals don't have to be delicious: that (potentially) entices you to overeat. Meals should just not be tasting bad, because you will not want to eat them.1
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