Kareni Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 Do you eat a low salt diet? Please name your favorite snacks. If it's something homemade, please share your recipe. (On a related note, do you have a favorite low salt cookbook to recommend?) If the snack is something commercially available, where do you get it? Your help is much appreciated as my husband and I are trying to cut down on our salt intake in an effort to decrease our blood pressure. Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali in OR Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 Dh's doctor put him on a mildly low sodium diet, which basically means we just actually have to meet the recommended 2300 mg per day. This isn't hard to do if you make your own food. The real hazard areas are eating out and processed food. For eating out, hamburger places are safer than most. Pizza, Chinese, Chipotle, pasta--those are a lot harder (we still eat this occasionally but being aware is good). For cooking, I started with some recipes from lowsodiumcooking.com. I then bought the guy's cookbook from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/500-Low-Sodium-Recipes-flavor/dp/1592332773/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1486093275&sr=1-5&keywords=low+sodium+cookbook I've had other books from the library but found that the recipes were weird or not what we would usually eat. I like this book because it has versions of the stuff I want to make. The taco seasoning is my standard now, and I modified his pizza dough recipe a bit but use that as my go-to recipe. Snacks we like: yogurt (we like Chobani--higher protein, less sugar) almonds (we like smokehouse which seem salty but only have 150 mg) home-popped popcorn (a little salt from the shaker is really not that much sodium) tortilla chips (check labels. Some brands are very low Na, others a bit higher) fruit ice cream raisins Higher sodium foods: bread products, cottage cheese, flour tortillas are worse than corn, most anything canned or processed. There are lower sodium versions of canned tomatoes, canned beans, some deli meats, and those are the ones we use. Garlic salt has a lot less sodium than seasoned salt or regular salt. Since our goal number isn't super low I will sometimes use this. Salt in many recipes can be halved, or even left out. You can add flavor with other spices. If I make a saltless pizza dough, I might brush it with olive oil and add some garlic powder and Italian herb seasoning to boost flavor. Fresh mozzarella has less sodium than the regular stuff. Sometimes the thin sliced reduced fat cheeses aren't too bad. Watch out for baking soda and baking powder. We use a sodium-free baking powder for homemade flour tortillas, and dh has made biscuits with it too. In general I don't find low-sodium too cumbersome, especially since we don't have to be super low. Your palate will get used to less salt, and then some things will just taste way too salty to you! Good luck. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted February 3, 2017 Author Share Posted February 3, 2017 Thanks, Ali, for your lengthy response. This is all new to us, but I imagine we'll learn as we go on. 500 Low Sodium Recipes My library has the book you mentioned, so I've put a hold on it. I'll take a look at the website you mentioned, too. Thanks once again! Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 Not on purpose, but naturally so. If you rarely eat out and don't eat a lot of packaged foods, you won't be getting that much salt unless you are adding it. Probably the one food I get the most salt from is cheese. Otherwise, I add only a little or no salt to the foods I make. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wintermom Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 unsalted nuts and seeds roasted kale (you add a small amount of salt) raw veggies fruit or dried fruit unsalted popcorn 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 (edited) I love the no salt tortilla chips from Whole Foods. Utz salt free potato chips are good. There are several crackers with low sodium: Ritz and Triscuit, I think. Not that any of the above should be eaten in vast quantities for non-sodium reasons, but that wasn't the question. :lol: I avoid dairy for other reasons, but both goat cheese and ricotta are on the low end of the sodium spectrum. Most prepared humus is around 5%, and my prepared fresh salsa is 2%. Do check the labels. edited for clarity/detail Edited February 3, 2017 by Penguin 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 I have these in my pantry right now: Simply Jif Peanut Butter (3% sodium) Full Circle Organic Almond Butter (0% sodium) Wegman's Cashew Butter (0% sodium) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellydon Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 I have been caring for my FIL and have had a many conversations with his doctor about salt. This doctor says that in order to lower your blood pressure even a tiny amount, you would have to eliminate so much salt that the lack of salt would damage your health. He said 1) lose weight 2) exercise to lower blood pressure. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TranquilMind Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 Salt is not the problem. Salt is an essential nutrient. It does not cause high blood pressure. Sugar (and carbs) is the culprit. You can eat a high salt diet of fresh foods with little added sugar and still lower blood pressure. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2755288/Sugar-worse-blood-pressure-salt-shock-new-research-reveals.html 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 I have been caring for my FIL and have had a many conversations with his doctor about salt. This doctor says that in order to lower your blood pressure even a tiny amount, you would have to eliminate so much salt that the lack of salt would damage your health. He said 1) lose weight 2) exercise to lower blood pressure. I believe it. I had some wonky blood pressures. So my really awesome and thorough (cough) doctor just said..oh cut down on salt. I'm already eating very little salt compared to what is probably average. It's not the flipping salt. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HollyDay Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 We don't aim for low salt as much as we do non processed. So I suppose most of our snacks fall into that category too: fruit celery/carrots with hummus cheese (not processed or sticks, but cheese blocks on a cutting board with grapes or blueberries on the side) hard boiled eggs nut butters (be careful about salt content, read labels) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 I think the DASH diet is successful in part because it encourages higher consumption of potassium. I try to eat higher amounts of potassium and magnesium. Ease into it, though, if you have lowered kidney function. potassium rich foods: potatoes, salad greens, mushrooms, citrus, dates, peas magnesium rich foods: dark greens, seeds, nuts, fish, beans, avocado, yogurt Our snacks: fresh berries (with a few dark chocolate chips if I am craving sweets badly) handful of almonds air popped popcorn hardboiled eggs spinach smoothie chicken--cooked and diced and kept in the fridge 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 (edited) Not to derail the thread, but too much salt gives me a food hangover. I have chosen to limit the sodium in my foods so I can eat some olives or a bit of bacon and not end up feeling ill. Edited February 3, 2017 by Penguin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoobie Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 My mom recently switched to low-salt, and I made her air popped popcorn with Bragg's Nutritional Yeast. She really liked it. It tastes sort of almost like cheesy popcorn. Trader Joe's carries a no- or low-salt sliced sandwich bread. Their bread tends toward the dry side, so I freeze it and toast to defrost. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 Nutrional yeast is awesome stuff. Yumm. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted February 5, 2017 Author Share Posted February 5, 2017 Thank you all for your thoughts; they are much appreciated! More suggestions are still welcome. Regards, Kareni 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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