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Low salt ideas???

16 years ago

My doctor says my blood pressure is approaching stroke territory and I should limit my salt. Does anyone have suggestions regarding maintaining taste and limiting the salt?

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Comments (6)

sushipup1
16 years ago
You probably get more sodium from processed foods than you get from table salt, or salt used in home-made dishes.

First of all, get over the idea that the problem is "salt", and start thinking "sodium", which is in far more things than just salt.

Take time to read labels on everything that you buy and bring into the house. Canned soups? YOW! White bread? Yup. Cornflakes? Indeed.

A small pinch of kosher salt used in your cooking is nothing compared to these other things.

Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: sodium content of common foods
canarybird01
16 years ago
Use plenty of herbs and herb mixtures such as Spike seasoning.

Also there are low sodium salts available and you may want to check them out for limited use.
You can gradually become used to less salt if you reduce it a little at a time and don't add salt to cooking water for vegetables or stews. Just add a little for taste at the table, and you'll be surprised at how much you can cut down when you need to without missing it. Good luck.

SharonCb
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lindac
16 years ago
As sushi says...it's not the salt you season with but the sodium that's in the stuff you buy.
eliminate canned soups, never use onion soup mix or boullion cubes, throw out the flavor packet in Ramen noodles, don't buy lunch meats, no canned spaghetti sauce...in fact all canned vegetables are suspect. Make your own salad dressing, omit the salt and you can crumble a bit of blue cheese on top.
It's not the salt on your steak that's so bad, but rather the salt in the canned soup you use in the scalloped potatoes.
And check out the sodium content in soft drinks.
Linda c
jessyf
16 years ago
Shambo has done a lot of work for low-sodium diets, she has a blog.

Use lemon juice and vinegars for flavor.

Penzeys has quite a bit of salt-free spice/herb blends.
sushipup1
16 years ago
There are some good low-sodium alternatives available if you shop around. Campbell's 'reduced sodium' tomato soup is a joke, but Trader Joe's low-sodium variety are indeed quite low. There are low-sodium bouillon cubes available, too.

So first step is to learn to read labels for sodium content. Then shop and cook accordingly.
shambo
16 years ago
Elisamcs, I've been dealing with low sodium cooking since my husband was diagnosed with congestive heart failure a few years ago. (Jesse, thanks for remembering me.) There are a lot of good resources available. I've listed my favoirtes on my blog, but I'll list them here too.

For advice, inspiration, recipes, etc., you can't beat Low Sodium Cooking by Dick Logue. I've linked to the recipe archive, but if you go to the home page, you can sign up for the free newsletter. Each month you'll get a list of recipes. Dick's site also provides information about online sources for low sodium products.

Another great source of information and recipes is Don Gazzaniga's site MegaHeart. He also has a free newsletter with recipes. Both Don & Dick have published cookbooks you might be interested in ordering. Although the free newsletters and websites provide plenty of recipes.

I order products regularly from online sources specializing in low sodium products. Healthy Heart Market is a great source as are SaltWatcher and HeartWise Food.

Another great source of product information is Low Salt Foods. I especially like the low salt foods directory. It gives me some brand names to look for when I'm shopping.

Cooking low salt is a real challenge. As others have mentioned, you really need to read labels carefully. Most canned foods and even fresh pork & chicken are loaded with sodium. Luckily, more and more grocery stores are stocking salt free canned beans and tomato products. But be forewarned: Just because a product purports to be low sodium doesn't mean it's acceptable in a low sodium diet. Swanson's sells a lower sodium (for them) chicken broth, but it's still too high in salt content for me to comfortably use. So I use other products. The same is true for grocery store low sodium soy sauce. (You can read about my chicken broth adventures on my blog. I think I've tested every low sodium offering out there.)

I've linked to my blog below. (Due to family difficulties, I haven't blogged recently. I hope to get back to it in late Spring.) You should be able to find some more informational links and possibly some help in managing low sodium cooking. It's not as simple as not adding salt to the foods you cook. You have to watch the sodium content of every ingredient you use in your cooking. And no matter what anyone says, some foods just don't make the transition to the world of low sodium cooking very well.

If you think I could help you further, feel free to contact me via the GardenWeb email system or through my blog.

Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Please, DON'T Pass the Salt!

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