Low Sodium

Glad to hear! They keep adding occasionally conflicting restrictions beyond sodium, so it’s an ongoing challenge, but definitely getting better at this!

I’m just seeing this thread now (or maybe I did before and didn’t comment) and have been low sodium for a few years now. I agree with the other posters, it can take a bit of time to adjust but the result is worth it. Lemon juice and herbs etc are very helpful. I buy low sodium whenever possible and scrutinize packaged goods to find the best choices possible.

I’ve been using this herb/spice mix for many years now (literally, pounds of it over 30+ years) and I use it on so many things, even salads:

WORTH A SHAKE MIX
5 teaspoon onion powder 1 ½ teaspoon thyme leaves crushed
2 ½ teaspoon garlic powder ½ teaspoon white pepper
2 ½ teaspoon paprika ¼ teaspoon celery seed
2 ½ teaspoon mustard powder

There is one recipe that I created that is no salt or fat added. Sprinkle or brush boneless/skinless chicken breasts with lemon juice, add garlic powder (not fresh), Worth a Shake mix, and crushed dried tarragon on top. I also use the Gilroy Garlic Garni for extra ooomph but your mileage may vary. Bake or broil til done, I eat it with homemade cranberry sauce (OK, it has a lot of sugar but life is a balance). You can use the chicken sliced on top of salads for a healthy lunch if you go easy on the toppings and dressings. The mix is also good on pork chops; I’ve never used it on seafood but I’m sure it’s good on anything you want to try.

I hope you’re doing well on the low-sodium diet and have adjusted as well.

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Thanks! It’s a journey, the palate takes a while to adjust but getting used to it! Never thought I’d be thankful for covid in any way, but with less eating out it’s definitely easier

I almost hate to mention it, but the chickpeas (if they’re canned) and the sardines have more than enough sodium already. A can of skinless, boneless sardines has 340mg sodium, and a half cup of chick peas has another 320mg.

Did your doctor give you a target number for sodium intake?

You need to get no-salt-added canned beans (rinsing ordinary canned beans does help) or cook your own. And most canned tomato products have salt added, so look for no-salt versions there if you can.

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Thanks, Evelyn…yeah, it’s been a learning process/long journey, etc… In addition to adjusting the palate it’s been a lot of education and breaking shopping/cooking habits too.

I haven’t posted here in awhile. I hope there is not something against necroing a thread, sorry if this is against the rules that I read but missed somehow. I know on some online communities this is a big no-no and you are supposed to start a new thread. Anyways hi again, waves. :slight_smile:

Anyways I am interested in a low sodium diet. Yet, I am bewildered that everything contains so much salt. Bread, tv dinners, frozen pizza, potato chips, lunch meat, sheesh. I don’t have much of a kitchen I am poor I am basically camping. I don’t know what to do.

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Start by reading the nutritional labels on everything - including fast food menus. Read, read, read. Obviously, choose the lower sodium items. I’ve had to do low sodium (not no sodium) for years - it’s not as tough as you think, or as expensive, as long as you read the labels. Go gradually. Canned goods are often full of sodium surprises, but it’s easy to get no-salt-added items like canned tomatoes or canned corn, or even Rotel tomatoes. Prepared frozen foods often are salt bombs, but naked frozen vegetables aren’t. Your spice jars are your friends, and yes, your palate gets used to less salt. I’ve never used “light salt” . And I’m speaking as a person who loved, loved, loved salt. Now if I taste something that’s really, really salty, it almost burns my mouth. Sad, but true. Lol.

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How about some homemade pasta.
Flour, eggs and a touch of olive oil or water (if you don’t have olive oil) (don’t add salt to the dough).
You can mix it by hand and knead it in a bowl or small counter top. Let it rest is cling film, then roll it out and cut it with a knife. Boil it to your liking (start out at 2 minutes and check often).
Depending on your budget, you can add olive oil or mushrooms or whatever you like.
If you have access to a food chopper or food processor, you can add spinach or jalapeno peppers or even habanero peppers to the mix.
One of my experiments was habanero pasta with mushrooms and olive oil. No salt was added, just some Italian Seasoning.

This was my Jalapeno Pasta – kind of a fail, as it wasn’t hot enough for me and my girlfriend, but it was still good.

Again… this could easily be made without added salt.

@SouperDog
Just wanted to add… I found this food chopper at Goodwill for a couple of bucks. No electricity required!! You could easily use something like this to chop up some spinach or jalapenos or whatever to add to your pasta dough.

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Welcome back!

If the recommendation comes from a health care provider, make sure to ask for resources they can provide, and maybe a consultation with a nutritionist if one is available. Maybe they can help with specifics and rationale. I think low sodium generally means less than 2000 grams.
You may have seen something like this one from UCSF already;

I really learned a lot at a conference I attended given by these folks,

but this link is to something old. There’s been a lot of research since 2012. I’m working with an 11 year old young man who surprises me with his mentions of nutritional information from food labels! Progress!

Also, if you are camping in an urban area especially, Food Banks can be great resources, at least where I am, and I’m finding more and more will accept and distribute fresh produce.

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I am cooking lower sodium foods starting today . :joy:

Tonight, sour cherry soup and curried white beans with coconut milk.
https://www.delicious.com.au/recipes/white-bean-coconut-curry/a1665b9e-fae1-4523-82f1-ac3625caa066

Another protein in addition to beans, to be determined.

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I’ve had to do that for a while. It gets easier. Not a whole lot easier :joy_cat: but … baby steps …

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I’ve been making lots of soup in my instant pot. I don’t have much of a kitchen. Some rich people have four induction top burners 3k watts and so forth. I am surprised how low sodium many canned vegetables are. I just assumed they would have copious amounts of salt.

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