Boiling canned goods reduce SODIUM?

deniseg31
deniseg31 Posts: 667 Member
edited November 11 in Food and Nutrition
Do any of you know if boiling canned goods (corn, cactus, other veggies) reduce the sodium originally contained in them? Let me know if you know. THANKS!

Replies

  • MaddoxsMommy
    MaddoxsMommy Posts: 51 Member
    No it doesn't.
  • deniseg31
    deniseg31 Posts: 667 Member
    Darn! Thanks.
  • paeli
    paeli Posts: 295 Member
    Not sure if this is a myth, but I hear if you rinse them well, you'll be lowering the sodium content a little. It's not too hard to find low sodium canned goods if you do a little label-reading.
  • deniseg31
    deniseg31 Posts: 667 Member
    Not sure if this is a myth, but I hear if you rinse them well, you'll be lowering the sodium content a little. It's not too hard to find low sodium canned goods if you do a little label-reading.

    I had heard this as well. A nutritionist that my mom used to go to once told her this but I can't seem to find anything online regarding the subject. The thing is that being Lent I was craving Cactus - yes cactus. However, I hate messing with the prickly raw ones so I got the canned ones. Ate them and the calories were very low but I just realized that the sodium is sky high. I did rinse them very well and I also boiled them for about 20 minutes before I even prepared them for dinner (garlic, onion, tomato, green peppers and a little bit of cumin & EVOO). Oh well. :ohwell: I've eaten them now so I guess I'll just need ot steer clear of them.

    Thank you. :flowerforyou:
  • alyson820
    alyson820 Posts: 448 Member
    nope. some water will evaporate, but the salt won't.
  • amccord2
    amccord2 Posts: 363 Member
    Do any of you know if boiling canned goods (corn, cactus, other veggies) reduce the sodium originally contained in them? Let me know if you know. THANKS!
    This is a link to an article that affirms rinsing vegetables reduces sodium: http://www.livestrong.com/article/284911-how-to-remove-sodium-from-canned-vegetables/
  • sgoldman328
    sgoldman328 Posts: 379 Member
    I've heard that rinsing canned beans, tuna, and veggies reduces the sodium, but I've never heard anythign about boiling.... I mean I'm sure scientifically there's probably some osmosis happening, but I don't know how significant it is.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    Boiling would most likely concentrate the salt.
  • dls06
    dls06 Posts: 6,774 Member
    If you rinse them and cook them in clean water it will reduce the sodium but by how much is hard to say. You could do this until you are finished what you have on hand but If you truly want low sodium I would by no salt and add a dash at the table.
  • azarang
    azarang Posts: 2
    Eden Organics makes a lot of no/low sodium canned goods. Check that out. Rinse once, then rinse again to get rid of about 40% of the sodium.
  • tripgrunt
    tripgrunt Posts: 14 Member
    @amccord2

    thank you for the link. i frequently go over my sodium, even when i buy low sodium products, rarely add salt to my food while eating, and i don't buy buy chips, etc so going over my sodium intake was very frustrating. the article was very helpful. knowing that draining & rinsing will remove the majority of sodium will make tracking my sodium less frustrating. i've also decided if it's naturally occuring (ie plain celery sticks, or fresh apples) i'm not going to count those sugars or sodium. again, thanks for the article.
  • Lesa_Sass
    Lesa_Sass Posts: 2,213 Member
    I agree with rinsing the product before cooking it to get rid of a lot of the sodium.
  • shmo1969
    shmo1969 Posts: 85 Member
    I have started buying frozen veggies because of the sodium content in canned. But if it must be canned, I agree with rinsing and boiling in fresh water. :)
  • SueD66
    SueD66 Posts: 405 Member
    i'm all for the frozen also if you can't get fresh. I work at a school and we are getting away from the canned goods as they are so high in sodium.
  • Elen_Sia
    Elen_Sia Posts: 638 Member
    Eden Organics makes a lot of no/low sodium canned goods. Check that out. Rinse once, then rinse again to get rid of about 40% of the sodium.

    I love Eden Organics. Have a stash of their black beans and red beans. :smile:
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
    Rinsing, yes. But only a small amount. Most of the sodium is going to have absorbed into the food item before you open the can, so rinsing is only going to get rid of whatever happens to be stuck on the outside.

    Boiling, no. You are bascially boiling whatever is in the pot right back into the item being cooked. So you're not leeching out any of the salt, you're just cooking it in it's own salt. When you boil foods whatever you add to the water cooks straight into the food, not the opposite way around. That's why people suggest boiling foods in broth or seasoned water to increase flavor in the finished meal.

    You'd have more luck with rinsing, then soaking the food item in room temp water for a few hours. Draining and rinsing and then soaking again. The soaking, without boiling, will help to release some of the sodium, but since you're never know how much rinsing or soaking really gets out, you could never really accurately record that food item.
  • wftiger
    wftiger Posts: 1,283 Member
    No, boiling does not.

    I'm not sure where I found this quote as I just saved it and not the source but likely from who it is quoting -- "In a Duke University study, 76% of the sodium was reduced when canned tuna was when rinsed for one minute. For canned vegetables, rinsing under water for one minute removed 41% of the sodium content."

    So not sure where above post info was gathered but doesn't match what I have found at respected sites. I now always rinse since studies show it reduces sodium considerably.
  • jfdittrich
    jfdittrich Posts: 2
    Ancient thread, but putting up this link for others that may stumble upon this topic in the future.

    Indeed a study was done at Duke University in 1983 on this subject & rinsing canned foods does lower sodium content significantly. So does heating beans in tap water: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6833685
  • antjoanes
    antjoanes Posts: 33 Member
    Try rinsing them very well, this should remove much of the rubbish attached to the tinned foods.
  • Fuzzipeg
    Fuzzipeg Posts: 2,301 Member
    Boiling canned goods only concentrates the sodium which was present. Rinsing well will help depending on the commodity.

    If you can, it is best to avoid canned goods like the plague.
  • green_owl
    green_owl Posts: 62 Member
    why don't you use fresh vegetables instead of canned stuff?
  • jlahorn
    jlahorn Posts: 377 Member
    why don't you use fresh vegetables instead of canned stuff?

    Have you ever tried cooking with fresh cactus?
  • antjoanes
    antjoanes Posts: 33 Member
    If its a choice of canned beans or a big mac then you're better off with the canned food :-)
  • MrsBingley
    MrsBingley Posts: 145
    If you drain the brine and boil them in plain water, yes, it will. The salt will move from the high concentration of the vegetable to the low concentration of the water. If you boil them in the brine, it will increase the concentration as the water evaporates

    Soaking the vegetables in plain water will have the same effect, it just takes a bit more time, but then again you won't be over cooking your vegetables.

    ETA: old thread, whoops
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