Question - sodium

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This is good news - now you have something to keep track of. Pour a teaspoon of table salt into your palm, that's 2400 mg salt. That's about 20% over the limit and the limit includes what's naturally occuring. Bilby suggested roasting veges - yes indeed, really improves flavor salt or low salt. A "Food Counter" that has a sodium column will help. I haven't looked at mine for awhile but I love blue cheese salad dressing and at 240 mg sodium per serving (2 tbls) there just went more than 10 percent of my daily budget - for 2 tbls? Don't think so - I just don't keep any salad dressing around at all - a little vinegar and oil goes real well.
Best of luck - study up on other spices and enjoy!
 
Barb L. said:
... Doctor told him to keep it around 2,000mgs.

Good - you have a target Sodium level to work with. That's just a pinch lower than the daily recommended level (2,400 mg).

Barb L. said:
He has never salted food for years, just what was in the cooking. So now its really me doing all the changing !

Take the salt shaker off the table. And, if you keep salt by the stove within easy reach while you're cooking - put it in a cabinet where it will be out of sight and out of mind. I didn't purposely start cooking with less salt - it was just that my kitchen was so small I didn't have a place to keep salt by the stove - so I just started using less. In 13 years I probably used just a little over 1 pound of salt - and most of that was used to make bread.

I used to really load on the salt for things like corn-on-the-cob and nachos ... buit since I've gotten used to using less salt, I just use 1/4 or less of what I used to use and don't miss the excess at all!

Barb L. said:
One more thing I remember, his Dr. said no salt substitutes.
Barb L. said:

I'm glad he gave you that info up front! I've seen patients come into the ER who were not so lucky - their Doc told them to lower their salt intake, but didn't tell them not to use the salt substitutes (Potassium Chloride - KCl).
 
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I really like Heloise's No Salt recipe seasoning--delicious and and any of Mrs. Dash no salt seasonings--the chipotle is especially good but I like spicy so do beware--you can enliven many low salt recipes with these and flavorings such as lemon juice and depending on the food splashes of vinegar....black fig vinegar is to die for--it's so good on everything including fruit and ice cream--I love it on a salad with greens, strawberries, tangerines, and walnuts (well, I leave them out on my plate)--I also if I have the time make my own salt-free chicken and beef broths. Not always happening so I'm stocked up on low-sodium just in case. Mike, here's more karma if they would allow me:):)hahaha
 
Sea salt is, mostly, sodium chloride, along with trace amounts of other salts such as potassium chloride, sodium sulfate, etc. obtained from ocean filled evaporation pools, while standard table salt that's sold in blue cylindrical boxes with a picture of a little girl with an umbrealla on it is strictly sodium chloride, and it is mined from holes in the ground, like coal, gold, or diamonds.

BTW, an entire pound of salted butter contains about 1/2 teaspoon, or approximately 3 grams, of salt, so don't sweat the small stuff. The most important thing you can do is take the salt shaker off the dinner table.
 
sometimes seeing it like This helps:

2gsalt.JPG


that`s Exactly 2 grams of salt (2000mg), the coin is for scale.
 
The addition of salt to the cooking is not really the big part of the problem as that is easy to control and substitute for. It is really the hidden salts we find in our food be it takeaway, restaurants, convenience foods, processed and packaged foods as well as the naturally occuring salts within foods. Those foods are the ones you need to investigate because those are the ones where the salt intake will creep up on you. So while I would agree with Caine 100% not to worry about the little stuff, the little stuff all adds up and can become big stuff. So until you and he are more confident about avoiding the hidden salts, do worry about the little stuff. After a while you can relax about those things a bit more but by then it won't matter anyway. I work on the theory of "everything in moderation" but you have to get to a safe point before you can do that.
 
You're on the right track. Just read labels on everything for awhile i.e., cottage cheese, for example. Check fresh fruits and veggies too. When counting, EVERYTHING counts.
 
I also might add that just because the label says low salt do check the label---case in point--I went to the supermarket an hour ago and picked up a box of a wild rice boxed variety labeled "low-salt" checked the back and I cup cooked contained 31% of the recommended daily allowance. Low salt my a##@#--oops I think that my blood pressure just went up---I meant low salt my kidneys......and this is for people with NORMAL blood pressures. Even if I would eat only half of that , 15% for half a cup at one meal not counting anything else is way too much on a "low-salt" diet---it pays to check the labels.......
 
LOL - I love this stuff!!!!

Yes - read the label and pay attention not only to the amount of sodium but also the serving size:

Food labeling laws (in the US) are laid out in the Code of Federal Regulations, CFR Title 21 - Food and Drugs, Part 101 - Food labeling ... and the regulations concerning sodium labeling are in subpart 61 - § 101.61 Nutrient content claims for the sodium content of foods

From what I can tell ... yeah, read the label and pay attention not only to the amount of sodium but also the serving size. :LOL:
 
it would be a good idea to get something called Ammonium Bicarbonate too, a health food shop will be able to order it for you if they don`t already stock it.

as far as I`m aware you can`t really bake cakes and cookies with Yeast! :ohmy:
 
Cavendar's Greek seasoning makes a salt-free verson that is almost as good as the regular (blue can as opposed to the regular yellow one). Before DH went on blood pressure meds, I tried everything. Herbs are good (dry in the winter, fresh in the summer) and lemon (or other citrus) juice, some vinegars and wines. Now that his blood pressure is medically controlled, it isn't so much a problem, although I generally don't salt much when cooking and let him salt at the table. Now of course the problem is diabetes. You just can't win. Every once in awhile someone tells me (or AARP) that 60 is the new 40. Whoever invented that statement must have had a pretty darned lousy 40, getting older is a .... well, insert explitive of your choice.

But think of the alternative.
 
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