While I don't have to limit my sodium intake for health reasons, I do so because I find that most foods are way oversalted. (I find most pizzas in particular is almost inedible.) I just don't like much salt at all.

One item that can give a lot of flavor with virtually no added salt is homemade chicken broth. I specify homemade, because commercial canned broth, even the lower-sodium varieties, are ridiculously salty, and I find them nasty. A few times a year I make up a humongous batch of chicken stock with NO SALT AT ALL, and can it (but you could freeze it in small quantities as well). If you let the broth simmer for hours and hours, it develops a full rich flavor without the need for salt.

Use the broth to add flavor to rice, roasts, and other dishes.

Another trick is to use low sodium soy sauce. The idea is that soy has such a strong flavor you only will use a little. Now, of course, if you have a heavy hand with the soy sauce, you've eliminated any advantage this trick has.

One other resource I have found quite helpful: several years ago there was a good cookbook called 'Craig Claiborne's Gourmet Diet'. His doctor placed him on a restricted sodium diet, so he developed a bunch of restricted sodium dishes. I have tried a few of them, and they do deliver a good amount of flavor with not too much sodium. Each recipe lists its sodium content. It's out of print, but was very popular about 20 years ago so there are lots of copies available for real cheap. Do a book search on addall.com or go to your local thrift store. (I do a lot of book shopping in secondhand stores, and I often see copies of this book, both in hardcover and in paperback.)

You can 'zing' the palate with items other than salt; explore peppers, ginger, garlic, and other zippy flavors.

Good luck! I know it can be tough to change, but limiting salt need not mean limiting flavor.

I hardly ever add salt to the foods that I cook.

Don't think I have a medical problems with sodium but my rule of thumb is "don't salt it twice." If I salt the food while cooking, I don't salt it at the table. The only foods I salt at the table are eggs and fresh tomatoes, which are not salted before they are brought to the table.

My late dH had high blood pressure so I adapted the low salt way years ago...I have gotten out of the habit a bit now...but I never add salt to salad dressings, and a pretty minimal amount to anything else.
That said I love a generous sprinkle of salt on a steak while it's grilling and I love cheese.
You can make bread with only 1 tsp salt per loaf and it's good....and you can make pan cakes without any salt...just vanilla and cinnamon and yeast rather than baking powder.
Nix the soy sauce altogether, uyse worchestershire for flavor. 1 tsp contains 65 grams of sodium, but what a lot of flavor it gives.
Adopt lemons...lemon juice does amazing things. I make chicken salad using only the salt which is in the little bit of mayo I use, a fair amount of sodium in the mayo but only use a little and lots of lemon.
Use hot sauce...there are all kinds out there that each add a big kick of flavor for the amount os sodium. Try a splash of hot sauce on eggs...or a bit of lemon.
I think people salt a lot out of habit. I won't forget the hugely obese man at one of the funeral lunches I made salting, heavily! his ham sandwich! All I could think of was you're next! Not nice but I was pretty well horrified!
Lemon, hot sauce, cinnamon, worchestershire and hot mustard, horseradish....things with big tastes will eliminate the need for salt.
Linda C

Linda, your memory of the fellow salting a ham sandwich really got to me. I swear I've seen people salting restaurant Chinese food after adding big doses of soy sauce. I can't imagine how that would taste. And I've had friends who do the three layers on their food, especially breakfasts -- first a nice white layer of salt, followed by a nice black layer of pepper, and finally finished off with a nice red layer of ketchup. Not salt related, but I've also got a friend who adds a packet of Equal to one of those small 6 oz. Yoplait sweetened yogurts. I guess there's no accounting for people's tastes!

I've found a good source for super low sodium soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, and Worcestershire sauce. And I've ordered several no salt added spice blends from various spice companies. But thanks for the ideas and encouragement.

Tomato puree, most brands have no added salt, Hunt's has 100 mg sodium per 1/4 cup... I use the no added salt to cut Ragu spaghetti sauce ( my only prepared 'food' ), which has 570 mg per 1/2 cup.. If I take a 1/2 cup of each, which gives you two more than ample 'servings', comes to 285 mg of sodium, if we eat it all... I'm assuming you know that if you add meat or have anything else that contains 'salt' the amount of sodium goes up but, for my hubby, as long as I keep the entire meal under 500 mg it fits nicely into his 'diet' ( he doesn't eat lunch, other than fruit ).

One dietician I talked with seemed to think if I limited all his meals to 500 mg, of sodium, each that would leave an additional 500 mg for snacks... Well if hubby gets more than 1200 mg a day his blood pressure goes up...

It's struggle, there's salt in everything... A lot of people say you're safe with frozen veggies... Well you'd better read the labels, besides the natural sodium in vegetables some 'manufactures' add salt... That little bit of added salt can really throw your 'diet' off... Even if you only eat fresh or no added salt veggies you have to keep track of the natural sodium in them... We don't eat them but one artichoke has 120 mg of sodium... One leaf of Swiss chard has 102 mg.... A 100 mg doesn't sound like much but if you don't keep track you end up over your limit...

Something as simple as homemade chicken stock, sure you don't add any salt but there's sodium in the chicken and veggies, that can put you over your limit... When you boil the chicken for hours where do you think that salt goes, into the stock... And the worse part is you have no way of knowing just how much sodium it contains, if may be fine or it may put you way over your limit for the day...

I've totally given up on prepared foods... If they take the fat out they add salt, if they take the salt out they add fat...

As for the low salt cooking websites... Well, if you really check the recipes you'd probably skip most of them... The ones I've checked out have ingredients that we just won't eat so if we leave them out you're sitting there with 1/4 cup of food for your main meal... Or the servings are so small you'd have to eat two or three serving, which would put you way over... Even some of the Heart Smart meals should be avoided... A booklet, I received from a doctor. had a recipe that served 4, said it only had 200 mg of sodium per serving, yet it called for 1 teaspoon of salt... That's 2132 mg of sodium, just for the salt... Now, by my calculator, if you divide that by 4 it comes to a lot more than 200 mg.

Ok, I've rambled long enough.

You can buy no sodium baking power at a health food store that works just as good as the real thing but cost twice as much... It comes in handy for sweets, that is IF you don't have to limit sugar as well..

Herb-Ox makes a passable no sodium beef bullion but the chicken is lacking something ( probably salt.. lol ), neither contains MSG so that's a plus... Sometimes, if his salt intake is low that day, I'll use one regular Herb-Ox bullion cube and one packet of the no salt stuff...

Rita

I picked up several containers of salt-free Spike seasoning at a health food shop in Canada last summer. It has a nice combo of herbs and helps increase the flavour of foods when you want to avoid or reduce salt.

SharonCb

Spike seasoning mixes
ÂBraggs Liquid Aminos
Âlemons, limes
Âcurry
ÂvinegarsÂall kinds (avoid the seasoned rice vinegarÂit has salt and sugar added)
Âdry wine in moderation for flavor in cooking
Âgarlic, onion, shallots, chives
ÂMrs Dash makes several no-salt seasoning mixes we like a lot
ÂTrader Joe has a few no-salt seasoning mixes I use
Âmustards
Âworcestershire sauce
Âhot sauces
Âginger
Âherbs in generalÂbasil, sage, rosemary, parsley, and the usual suspects
Âa small grating of parmesan cheese will add flavor without much sodium
Âcaramelizing and grilling add a flavor punch
Âtoasted sesame oil
Âcapers are salty but the flavor is intense so a little goes a ways

I keep all of the above on hand. I cooked (still do a bit) for my ex with congestive heart failure and high BP and got in the habit. I rarely salt (eggs and 'maters) and Alice is just plain phobic about salt.

Even "low sodium" prepared foods are too high for heart patients. Low sodium soy is still VERY high. You have to look for "no salt added" labeling which I see in some canned goods like tomatoes and corn. I don't buy much in the way of canned foods so I don't know about others. I make a good low sodium chili because I can use so many flavor enhancers.

And it takes getting used to. Soon anything with much salt in it tastes way too salty.

Some good advice here already. I only have to add 'Persevere'. Honestly, it really doesn't take long to get used to what you call 'blandness'. It took me about a week, and now I add salt to nothing at all. If salt is added, I really, really notice it! That blandness isn't bland at all - it's just not salty any more! Up until now, the only thing you've really tasted is the salt - your taste-buds are attuned to salt, and not much else. Give it time, and soon you'll be getting the REAL taste of food!

Meantime, keep well away from processed and packaged foods, frozen meals, take-aways etc. Even make your own bread. I can't comment from my own experience, but I do know from people who have travelled to America find the bread 'over there' is incredibly salty compared with what we get over here - make your own instead, using an absolute minimum of salt, or none at all. Use unsalted butter. Keep away from soft-drinks (carbonated colas and such - they have a lot of salt in them).

Start using more herbs. Fresh is best, but dried is better than nothing. Here's a couple of salt-substitute herb mixtures you could try. You don't need to follow the recipes exactly if you don't have all the ingredients:

Herbal Salt Substitute (1)
1/4 cup dried parsley
1/4 cup dried savory
1/4 cup dried savory
1/4 cup dried thyme
2 tablespoons dried marjoram

Grind all ingredients together.

Herbal Salt Substitute (2)
3 tablespoons dried basil
3 tablespoons dried marjoram
3 tablespoons dried parsley
3 tablespoons dried thyme
4 1/2 teaspoons dried chives
2 1/2 teaspoons dried paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons dried rosemary
2 1/2 teaspoons onion powder

Grind all ingredients together.

Meantime, check out this site:

I just wanted to chime in & wish you luck. Barnmom is right, soon anything with salt will taste way too salty.

My mother never cooked with salt. Anything canned was rinsed first, things like ham or baccala were soaked for days until all of the salt was gone. The only time I ever saw her use salt was when she'd buy chicken. She'd put it in the sink, "kosher" it with salt, then rinse every speck of salt away.

So, as a result, I never cooked with salt. It was always chicken broth, parmesean cheese, light soy sauce or roasted garlic. My husband was one that salted his salt. It took some getting used to, and I expanded my spice cabinet considerably but he never really missed the salt.
Hot sauce is a help but you've got to read the labels & watch the sodium in that as well. And we've found that a lot of "low sodium" stuff tastes much saltier than the regular so that might actually be helpful during the transition.

Good luck!

Nina

I rarely add salt after cooking (I usually don't add much to begin with.) Like others have mentioned use spices & spices blends that don't contain salt, shop the outer rows of the supermarket (that way you avoid most processed foods),and try & get fruits and veggies as fresh as possible (if there is a farmers market or an organic grocery store, try those.) By doing these, you'll have lots of flavor without the salt.

I know this is something I need to start thinking about, but I LOVE salt. I don't automatically salt things, but I definitely cook with it and add it if I think it's needed. I've justified this by thinking I'm relatively young (30's) and I have super low blood pressure-89/58. BUT that may not always be the case.

Ever since my little guy was old enough to climb up on the kitchen table, I've had to put the salt shaker away. I would walk in to find him shaking salt into his hand and eating it or flat out licking the salt shaker. He was probably 2 when this started. He loves salt. I guess I should start trying to reduce our sodium intake now before it becomes a problem. Thanks for bringing this up!

Tracey

My inlaws come over for sabbath dinner every Friday night, and my FIL is very sensitive to salt so I mentally do low-sodium. I don't use much prepared foods/condiments anyways so its not too hard.

The tricks I've heard of have been mentioned here already -

Vinegars (where is Lars?)
Penzeys has a nice salt-free section
Trader Joes has new broths in individual pouches, I think each one has 360mg.

Shambo- I just thought of somthing else last night while we were eating dinner. I have some condiments by Ojai Cook- their Lemonaisse & Lime-onaisse, that are very, very good. 1 tbs of the Lemonaisse has 110 mg of sodium but enough flavor to carry you through a whole portion of chicken salad (which is what I was making). Made with canola oil, no fillers, no high fructose or partially hydrogenated anything.

Again, good luck.

BTW- Tracey- if your little guy like salt, try handing him a sliver of parmesean cheese. My son always calls first dibs on the cheese chunks that slide out of the grater & he always comes running when he sees me take the wedge of cheese out of the fridge.

Nina

We really missed bread a lot because the only ones we could find we still too much sodium...I bought a bread machine,,you can find them cheap in thrift shops and eBay...mine is a Panasonic,,,,I follow the recipes in the booklet but I use a substitute salt I found on line....Also salt.....I use this just like regular salt in my bread and it turns out great...I use plain flour and cornmeal and add no sodium baking powder and baking soda..we now have pancakes, bread, hamburger buns, hot dog buns,,,,(I make sloppy joes) biscuits, cornbread, muffins...don't miss out on any breads...I make dumplings and cobblers....it is amazing how many things you can still have if you get the right ingredients..
I would just like to add one last thing,,,,watch out for turkey, chicken, even pork,,,if it says natural,,,especially..they do have a lot of salt..buy fresh meat that is packed by your butcher when you can..
Oh, and look for mayo in the Spanish food section,,the one with lime juice is great and half the amount of sodium for some reason than regular mayo....not all Mayo's are created equal either,,,same goes for mustard,,,read labels...make your own ice box pickles..easy....I'll stop now..LOL

Once a year, hubby and I do a "liver cleanse" and we just finished a 4 week plan. This is with my doctor's approval, so please check first. We only ate raw and/or slightly sauteed fresh vegetables, protein drinks, other supplements, etc. No extra salt or foods that were high in salt. My blood pressue is now normal and I have no asthma symptoms. I used to do a nebulizer treatment daily. Not now.

shambo,

I must caution you about using salt substitute. It is made of potassium and might cause problems with your DH's medication. I have hypertension but am not salt sensitive. I use lots of dried lemon powder and fresh lemon juice. Look up your local American Heart Association and find out if they have a low sodium cooking class -or- low sodium cooking book. Also look for local YMCA/YWCA or Jewish Community Center and I am sure you will find a low sodium cooking seminar of some type.

Mostly I read, read, read product labels and if it is excessive sodium I do not buy it anymore. I recently had to give up Progresso Low Sodium soups because they add Potassium and do not list the amount of potassium in their label.

DL
(Retired nurse who used to teach newly diagnosed patients how to manage low sodium/low cholesterol/low fat diets.)