I cook low-sodium by not using much in the way of canned or processed foods, and leave the salt shaker on the table. Easy enough to do.

And besides, if this is a one-time festive occasion, will it really make that much difference? One meal?

I did that for years...
cook a "no solution added" turkey, minimally salt the gravy and potatoes....and the veggies and whatever else....and I made a small dish of bread stuffing made from home made bread, salt free saltines, celery, onions parsley sage and thyme...lots of celery and parsley and no added fat! And another of stuffing as usual...
I even made salt and cholesterol free pumpkin pie...
At least the cranberries were normal! LOL!
I say you do your best....keep added salt out of most things and tell everyone that "you may need salt".
Remember....you can present healthy food but you can't force someone to swallow it!
Linda c

Thank you ladies!

It is more than one meal. Extended family visiting for a week and the local special eaters will be joining us regularly, plus we have many birthdays in the next 2 months.

Yes, no processed foods, but my own baked goods are also an issue. I guess I should order the low sodium baking supplies.

"you may need salt" lol, I have been known to say this!

What they said.

Make sure your turkey is not a solution injected one, same with pork. Hormel fresh pork products are full of sodium.

Other seasonings and flavor enhancers like lime and lemon juice, onion, peppers, garlic, wine, sherry, marsala, vermouth, herbs, vinegars, do a lot toward providing flavor when salt is missing.

I reduce the salt in all of my baked goods by half or more of what the recipe asks for. They taste fine.

I like Linda's balanced answer, "do your best....". Lots of low-sodium fresh foods (a relish tray), and a light-hand on the salt shaker. I would probably opt out of a brined turkey if I knew there were people who were on a low-sodium diet coming. Find some low-sodium cookbooks at the library and include some traditional foods that would work in your menu. After that, they are on their own....

Depending on who we invite, I've had to accommodate gluten-intolerant, lactose intolerant, diabetics, vegetarians, low-sodium, and an occasional "I hate food and I'm going to make your life miserable" person - who I tend to ignore.

It could be worse... A friend told me about her Thanksgiving Dinner from last year - her sister-in-law brought a small container of "fancy" olives to the meal, placed the entire container of olives on her plate, and that's all she ate. I guess she was thankful she brought olives....

If I set up a buffet, I'll mark some items with a place card - gluten-free, sugar-free, low-sodium, etc... .

-Grainlady

The salt you find in baked goods is minimal....half teaspoon here and there....it's the things like salt in canned soup and canned broth and frozen entrees and things with sauce in the package that really add to it.....and cheese!

Denise, I hope they appreciate your consideration!
On a side note, while at Costco recently I almost caved to buying some Chicken Tortilla soup in a 2-pack container. DH likes soup and I thought this might be a freezer meal on a night when I work late. After reading the label to see that these plastic containers were meant for six servings, each with 740gm of sodium, I returned them to the cooler! WHOA, that's just suicide, especially when DH could finish off 3 servings in a NY minute!

I majorly salt addicted- nothing ruins a meal for me faster than undersalted food. Truthfully, if it were one or two people, and they weren't making much effort to stick to the low sodium diet, I'd just cook normally. It seems like a shame to go to all that trouble and have them eat the salted version anyway. If it were a serious medical situation and the person was being careful on his own time, I'd accommodate. I would make two gravies in that case. With a good, salty gravy, people would hardly notice that the turkey and mashed potatoes weren't salted. Weirdly, it seems that a little bit of vinegar and sugar really amplifies the salt flavor (like in sushi rice), so I'd probably play around with that for a turkey brine and also for the low-salt gravy- maybe a little brown sugar in that. I'd probably also punch up the low-sodium version with sauteed garlic and fresh thyme.

I cook low salt just because I like the taste of food. By making things from scratch, low salt is an unintended benefit. In fact, I'll be making make-ahead gravy this coming weekend in preparation for Thanksgiving.

For the life of me, I don't see why Thanksgiving dinner should challenge low-salt diets. I do cornbread dressing and that's probably the worst offender because low salt bacon isn't.

OP, other than select issues, let the tastes shine through and enjoy your guests and your meals! Bet no one reaches for the salt!

Thank you everyone. Lots of opinions here (no surprise about that!)

I do cook low sodium frequently. It's just a little tough to ensure all the courses at all the meals are offering healthy choices to our older guests who would like nothing better than a treat or two or three. The medical consequences are real though.

LOL at the olive dinner! I am feeling thankful that we will have our family together for any type of food.

I also cook low sodium but mainly because I use very few processed foods and can control the salt which I usually minimize. I don't see why Thanksgiving has to be a high salt meal unless there's lots of processed foods or brining involved, which is way too salty tasting for me anyway.

Salt is such a personal thing and there is no right or wrong. Dh dislikes anything that tastes salty and won't eat something if I use to much so I keep a wide variety of salt free seasonings for flavor. Penzeys has been a blessing!

Some who are on low sodium diets have serious reactions to salty foods. My husband is one. Perhaps one meal would not be so bad, but several over the course of a few days could be a real problem. I think your desire to offer lower sodium fare is commendable.

There are a lot of helpful products on the market now that would help with lowering the sodium content of a traditional Thanksgiving meal. Both Kitchen Basics and Swanson's now carry unsalted chicken stock. Hain's Featherweight is a sodium free baking powder. I use it all the time (along with eliminating the salt called for in recipes) for biscuits, scones, muffins, quick breads, etc.

Here is a site that is loaded with low sodium recipes, including Thanksgiving recipes. You might get some inspiration from it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Low Sodium Cooking Recipe Archive

My ex has ended up in the hospital after indulging in salty food. A can of something will make him sort of breath from fluid retention. He has congestive heart failure.

Someone with high blood pressure may have a little more fudge room but CHF gives a person no wiggle room with salt.

I wouldn't go to some extreme, but avoid using and serving high salt foods. Still TONS of options!

Thank you very much. I know that many of you cook low sodium and many of you cook for groups. Thank you for your suggestions.

Barnmom, I agree with you. That's what happens to my husband. He's got CHF and his lungs fill with fluid to the point that he has difficulty breathing. His feet also become painfully swollen. He suffers for at least two days until he can get everything out of his system. It's pretty unpleasant, so we try to be careful all the time. Those suffering with kidney failure can suffer immediate consequences too. So for some, an overly salty meal can create a real health crisis.