Low Sodium thread! (immune system, cold, plan, food)

[Herbrocks]

Found LINDSAY brand lower sodium black olives, about half the sodium of regular ones!

Also, for those in HEB country, HEB is starting to offer lower sodium house brand canned soups

[Herbrocks]

Here's some suggestions on how to lower sodium in a very salty snack... HOT WINGS!

Start with the wing portions, try to get fresh, never frozen. Much poultry has sodium solution injected or sprayed on, esp frozen items. Either way, rinse well and pat dry.

You can season them if you like, garlic/onion powder, paprika, pepper, whatever as long as you avoid salt or mixes that contain salt. I have a salt-free brisket seasoning by FIESTA that I like on chicken too. You could also pre-marinade with a mix of flavored vinegar, sugar and oil, or any combo of flavors, as long as you avoid ingredients with salt.

I like wings deep fried (just the chicken, no batter or breading), but you could cut fat by baking. Finish under the broiler for crispness.

If you like red hot wing sauce, toss the cooked wings while warm. Almost all commercial brands are very salty, here you will need to make your own. Google a few recipes and omit salt or salty ingredients. They will still come out good, you won't miss the salt as much because of the spicy heat.

To cut the salt on dressings, you will also need to make your own. Blue cheese is one of the saltier ones, ranch is better if you like it. A quick sodium cutter is to use a dry ranch packet with homemade mayo and slightly less than a cup of milk. This saves 100s of mgs of sodium, and it still tastes about the same. You can cut even more by making the whole dressing from scratch.

Carrot sticks are fine, but limit/omit celery. It's one of the saltiest vegetables.

Lots of other dipping options. LOSO soy sauce, sugar and plain or flavored rice vinegar makes a lower sodium alternative to teriyaki. Vinegar, molasses and onion powder give similar results with almost no sodium. Be creative, just count your mgs.

There you go! If you are on a sodium restricted diet, you will need to calculate the exact levels of sodium from your ingredients to see how it fits into your day, but everybody can benefit from the missing salt.

[Siddique]

depression and anxiety medications can lower sodium. in the meantime have yourself a pickle every day with lunch and cut down on the free water you drink which will help raise the sodium level in your blood.

[bellalunatic]

Originally Posted by Herbrocks

There are some "salt substitutes" that can be useful at the table or in cooking. Postassium chloride, sold under several names including NU-SALT, has no sodium and tastes vaugely like a salt, some people like it a lot. It has a stronger taste than salt, you should use very little until you find a balance to your tastes. I sometimes use it with popcorn, eggs or soups, but it does have a strange taste that takes getting used to.

There are also several brands of "lite salt", prety much half regular salt and half posassium chloride, or other fillers. I don't find this useful myself, but it's out there. If you wanted, you could prob mix it yourself for less money.

In the spice aisle at the grocery, there are many spice/herb blends with no/low sodium, the best known is MRS DASH, which has many flavors and can be very useful. There are also many small/regional brands out there too, I am always keeping an eye out for new ones. Once you have tried enough to know your tastes, you might try mixing your own.

Be aware that MANY spices and spice blends have added salt included, including chilli powder, lemon pepper, most "grinder" jar kinds and more. Always check the label (ACL!)

You can get some salt free blends of standard seasonings from Texas's FIESTA SPICES and others. I like the salt-free chicken fajita seasoning.

Individual peppers, herbs and spices add a lot of flavor to certain dishes. Try a many as you can! If you are lucky enough to have a market with bulk, you can weigh out small amounts to try and pay way less than buying large jars. Most herbs/spices contain no sodium, but some, like celery, do. ACL!

Vinegars are also your friend! Some good to have on hand are basalmic, cider, rice, malt... there are so many flavors availible and most have no/little sodium (CTL!). Besides cooking uses, they can be great spritzed on many foods.

Lemon, lime and some other juices also add a burst of flavors without salt.

These are some of my most used substitutes, perhaps others have some to share?

Be careful with that NUSALT stuff. That stuff is super SCARY especially if you are diabetic or have kidney disease!

Don't use it unless you talk to your doctor about it first. PLEASE!

I take potassium chloride through a prescription from my doc who is a kidney specialist. I don't have kidney disease but because of the highly controlled PSMD I am on with him, I need to have it. I get my blood levels checked alternating weeks with urinalysis. I am under serious medical control here.

The PSMD i am on only provides 1000mg of sodium a day.(Which is terribly low)
A typical low salt diet according to my doc. (who just gave an hour and a half lecture on Potassium and salt intake last week) is 2500-3000 mg per day.

Sounds like some of you are having a hard time aiming for only 2000mg a day, don't be so hard on yourselves.

[i_am_hydrogen]

This recipe is enough to serve one person for 5 days.

Beef Stew
1 package of frozen mixed veggie (i.e. corn, green beans, carrots...)
2 medium potatoes cut up
2 pounds of beef stew meat, cubed (usually is packaged that way)
1 onion (if desired - obviously left out of mine stew)
2 cups of V8 Juice (low sodium)
Pepper
3 dashes of Worchester Sauce

Mix it all together in the slow cooker (add a little flour if you want it thicker) and cook for approx 8 hours.
Eat over egg noodles

If you want dumplings-
When the stew in fully cooked, pour it into a large skillet and put it on the stove and bring the stew to a boil taking to make sure it doesn't burn.
Make the dumplings:
2 cups of Bisquick
2/3 Cup of milk
stir together and add dried dillweed if desired

Reduce the heat on the boiling stew and drop in spoonfuls of dumplings into boiling stew.
Cook uncovered for 10 minutes
Cover and cook another 10 more minutes

[Escort Rider]

First, the disclaimer: I stopped using salt out of salt shakers over 20 years ago, and yes, I am aware that is only a first step and that I almost certainly still consume "too much" salt.

My "other aspect" was alluded to briefly by someone in this thread, and that is the fact that some people are apparently sodium sensitive blood pressure wise and some are not. I am too lazy to google this right now, but does anybody know what the latest thinking is as to what the rough percentage is (of sensitive/non-sensitive people)?

There are three reasons I have not made efforts (beyond discontinuing use of salt shakers) to reduce my sodium intake. The first is that my blood pressure is still normal, even though I am 66. The second is that I loose sodium through persperation when I exercise at very high intensities two or three times a week, so I figure I need some replacement, although I don't know exactly how much. The third is that I eat a good amount of fresh fruit, which means that my potassium intake is high. I have read that the sodium/potassium balance may be more important that the amount of sodium intake per se.

I am not trying to say that the thrust of this thread is mistaken, because it is not, and I think it's great how reducing dietary sodium has worked well for so many of you. I'm just saying that it may not automatically work for everyone, and that for some (such as myself) it may not be as critical anyway (for the reasons given). Good thread, certainly!

[RayinAK]

Low salt tuna (look at the labels before you buy). I was looking for low-salt canned tuna at the store, and found some that had around 8% and higher, 6%, etc., and only one that had 1%. The winner was:

1% total sodium, or 35 mg per serving (just about 2 servings per can)
Bumble Bee
Very Low Sodium Solid White Albacore (in water)

One may have to pay more for such products, but they are out there. By the way, I don't work for this company nor am I trying to advertise this product. In fact, the other cans I looked at are from the same company I just happened to find the right one, and bought 25 cans of it.

A second high sodium product is ham. When you read the labels notice how much salt these things have, and choose the one with the least amount of sodium. So far i have found so around 18% sodium, but most contain from 28 to 35%.

[bellalunatic]

Originally Posted by i_am_hydrogen

This recipe is enough to serve one person for 5 days.

Beef Stew
1 package of frozen mixed veggie (i.e. corn, green beans, carrots...)
2 medium potatoes cut up
2 pounds of beef stew meat, cubed (usually is packaged that way)
1 onion (if desired - obviously left out of mine stew)
2 cups of V8 Juice (low sodium)
Pepper
3 dashes of Worchester Sauce

Mix it all together in the slow cooker (add a little flour if you want it thicker) and cook for approx 8 hours.
Eat over egg noodles

If you want dumplings-
When the stew in fully cooked, pour it into a large skillet and put it on the stove and bring the stew to a boil taking to make sure it doesn't burn.
Make the dumplings:
2 cups of Bisquick
2/3 Cup of milk
stir together and add dried dillweed if desired

Reduce the heat on the boiling stew and drop in spoonfuls of dumplings into boiling stew.
Cook uncovered for 10 minutes
Cover and cook another 10 more minutes

You all may want to skip the dumplings. Bisquick mix is not low on the sodium list. According to the GM nutritional info. just 1/3 cup of the mix has 410mg of sodium. (the above recipe calls for 2 cups!) Not to mention the absurd amount of partially hydrogenated soybean and/or cottonseed oil....

[Herbrocks]

HEB stores now have store brand no salt tortilla chips, they are very good, about the closest to regular I have tried. They also are the same price as the regular ones, which is nice

[tickyul]

Originally Posted by tortoise

If the "taste compromise" is acceptable . . dilute soda beverages 50% with water, and boil processed meats to reduce sodium.

Boar's Head Lower Sodium Meats and Cheeses

What.....boil processed meat.....yuck.