Sodium!!!

[RuneDeer]

I'm trying to alter my eating habits, increasing protein, decreasing glycemic carbs, reading labels, etc. I'm horrified at the amount of sodium in most foods. A trip through the grocery store took much longer than normal, just trying to find a week's worth of relatively healthy, non-fattening, reasonably convenient food. Finally decided that if it had less than 500mg of sodium, I was ahead of the game. But still...

Anybody else on sodium restriction? How do you manage it?

Thanks,

[Babs]

I've been watching sodium for over 30 years. You can buy low sodiium soup, veggies, etc. You can also make your own, eliminating salt. No Salt is a good substitute. Try health food sections in grocery stores. You can buy unsalted crackers and rice cakes. You get used to it after a while.

[Justin Thyme]

Runedeer, the only way I know of to have a truly healthy diet is to buy fresh foods and completely prepare the meal yourself. Every thing that you buy that takes any of your preparation out, other than slaughtering the animal or harvesting the vegetables is going to have preservatives added to them and salt is one of oldest preservatives added to food.

[RuneDeer]

I'm thinking seriously about trying to make my own yogurt. Not because of sodium but because of those non-recyclable little #5 plastic containers they come in.

True about fresh vs. pre-packaged. I think our species has dodged the bullets for too long -- pre-packaged stuff has been our mainstay for, what, about 60 years now? That's 3 generations if you measure a generation as 20 years. Interesting how experts are starting to view us as having shorter expectancies than our grandparents did.

[LimitedRecourse]

A good variety of herbs will make salt obsolete.

(The kind you EAT...NOT the kind you SMOKE.)

[Justin Thyme]

Herbs are good for adding flavor but what herbs do you use to preserve food?

[LimitedRecourse]

I'm not sure that herbs will PRESERVE food....although anything soaked in a vinegar solution will last longer. Not a whole lot of options on that route, though. Freeze or do your OWN canning with little to no salt and you can get the results you want.

[LimitedRecourse]

Forgot...you can also SMOKE meat products and DRY vegetable/fruit WITHOUT using salt. Use basil, oregano, rosemary, sage, lemon verbana, dill and if you're adventurous, add some peppermint or applemint for a different flavor.

[Babs]

Marvell makes a great tomato sauce using fresh tomatoes, garlic, and spices. He can then use this for lasagne, spaghetti, or pizza. Either add meat or not. Freeze for later or enjoy now. Rice with various veggies or beans Carrots and celery have a little more sodium that other vegetables.Mrs. Dash has a sodium free herb mix in a shaker that is presentable. Popcorn sprayed with Pam and No Salt (potassium chloride) is low in sodium and fat. Hot sauce and peppers add some spice to a lot of food, as several forumites here will attest to!

[daworm]

Sodium is very dangerous. Salt, on the other hand, is delicious. I've never seen anyone blow up a toilet with salt.

[TNBear]

No, but I've heard of people blowing up their hearts due to excessive salt.