So SO comes home from the doctor with a low-sodium diet recommendation. High blood pressure runs in his family, and his, at 27, could be lower.
I already cook with no salt whatsoever. Unfortunately, he doesn’t like vegetables. Really. Lettuce, and maybe spinach, carrots, corn, are about it, so I have limited choices to work with. He hates tomatos, too.
I have my work cut out for me :rolleyes:
Any advice?
Any popular foods with hidden through-the-roof sodium content?
I would love some recipes!
It sounds like home cooking might not be the problem if you already rarely add salt to foods. What types of prepared foods does he eat for lunch, etc?
Any type of frozen food (excluding plain frozen veggies) typically has an astronomical level of sodium.
Thanks Hello Again.
We don’t do frozen food, but there’s no telling what he eats at work when I’m not around!
From what I understand, it’s a lot of hospital cafeteria food :eek:
Doc says he could whip the problem entirely if he gave up Coca-Cola. Since he mainlines the stuff, I’m not banking on that solution!
Anyway, I refuse to be the nagging girlfriend, but I just wanted to make sure I was doing my part at home.
If anyone else in a a low-sodium regime, or knows about it, please give me some tips1
Thanks!
I got put on a low-sodium diet by the Dr. too (less than 2000mg a day) and perusing the labels of all the foods I ate, I was flabbergasted. We never cooked w/salt either but if it’s in a can or jar (not to mention the frozen food section), you’re probably in trouble. The fact is that everything has bad amounts of sodium in it–milk, bread, cereal, cheese everything other than fruits & veggies, really.
The first thing we did was stop going to Safeway, since their low-sodium options for food are almost nil. We now go to Whole Foods; is there something analogous where you live?
Whole foods has been a lifesaver because otherwise, I’d be stuck. Cheese, salad dressing, black or refried beans, mac & cheese, salsa & tortillas, cookies, tuna, peanut butter, potato chips, even soda–they’ve got low-/no-sodium options for everything. Trader Joe’s isn’t bad either.
Naturally, there are some things I haven’t given up-milk, for instance. But I can afford to because milk’s not that bad (certain sodas aren’t either, in moderation) and the rest of my diet is much better. But there are some things I’m resigned to never eating again, really: pizza, coldcuts, hot dogs. Those days are over (except maybe on a birthday or other annual occasion). Other things I could technically eat (low-/no-salt soup), but they taste so bad, why bother?
Other things, I’m resigned to having only one or two of the same thing forever. Cheese is either swiss, mozzerella, or goat cheese–not any, mind you, but I’ve found some low-sodium options in these, but all other cheeses (American, Cheddar, Jack, Parmesan, etc.) are out. Period. There is only one type of bread I can buy that’s low enough, and only one kind of sandwich I can make: PBJs. Anything else is either bad for me or too heavy for the fragile no-salt bread to handle. Same goes for salad dressing (found a Thai-lime I use always now), cereal (Frosted Mini-wheats), and cookies (these Almond ones at Price Club). The selection is so limited, that I’ve rarely found other things available that will fit into my regimen.
Re: Meat, I cook everything with pepper, onions, garlic, maybe some cumin for flavor. Those salt substitutes work on some things, but not enough. I don’t like vegetables either but I do eat a lot of salads and plenty of fruits to supplement. Yogurts aren’t bad, sodium-wise (though not great, either).
If you want some name brands of specific low-sodium foods that you’ll only find at specialty stores, I can provide them later when I get home (or e-mail me).
My wife is supposed to be on a low-sodium diet because of Meniere’s disease, but she is not real strict about it since she doesn’t have symptons very often.
If he doesn’t like vegetables it may be difficult. Frozen vegatables are the lowest sodium product in general. We also got the American Heart Association Low-Salt Cookbook and have found it very helpful. Be prepared to stock up your spice cabinet though and possibly put more time into meal preparation (depending on how much you do now). We have only tried a few recipes from it, but have found most of them very good.
Also, you can get frozen cooked apples from Stouffer’s or Boston Market that are not very high in sodium.
Thanks for the responses!
ArchiveGuy-Yep-he’s on 2000mg also. Thought that was no big deal, until I noticed that one link of Italian sausage has 400 mg, a glass of chocolate milk 200mg, etc. Geez!
We have an Earth Fare grocery store that is similar to Whole Foods. I will start hanging out there and get some ideas.
I do use garlic and onions, and recently planted an herb garden.
Sounds like I just need to get a little more creative.
MentalGuy-I think I’ll pick up that cookbook. I’m always up for learning new recipes, especially if they’re good!