Salt restricted diet

[Jamie D]

Okay, so my cardiologist wants me on a salt restricted diet, to help with my blood pressure and fluid retention.

Actually, I already have cut out adding salt (sodium chloride, NaCl) to things I am cooking, or using just a fraction of what the recipe calls for.

Also, I occasionally use Morton's Salt Substitute, which is potassium chloride (KCl).

I don't often use highly salted processed foods either.

Any ideas?  Past experiences?  Suggestions?

[Jeneva]

Plan your meals ahead of time and track the sodium levels then instead of afterward.

No salt on the table.  Use pepper instead.
Something like the multi-grain tortilla chips at Sam's Club have very low sodium compared to other chips.
No canned soup.
No beef/chicken base.
Oatmeal and yogurt make great breakfast and snacks (not pre pack oatmeal obviously).
Don't brine meat.
Rice is your best friend (bread always has much more salt).


When I was tracking my sodium after my panic because of FFS swelling, I actually found some days I HAD to eat something with sodium just to make sure I got more than 500mg.

[Jamie D]

Thank you Jeneva.

I have been using a salt free seasoning product called "Mrs. Dash." It's pretty good.  I use it on scrambled eggs and in the water when I boil skinless chicken.

I like to make my own bread, from time to time.  Salt regulates the yeast, as I recall.  Is there any way to limit the salt in homemade breads?

[Jeneva]

I use it on scrambled eggs

Oregano, Basil, Garlic powder, crushed red pepper, and black pepper makes a nice omelet or scrambled eggs.  Even though we have 21 laying hens I can't eat eggs plain.  I guess the herbs could get expensive, but we raise enough oregano and basil that we don't have to buy it luckily.

I like to make my own bread, from time to time.  Salt regulates the yeast, as I recall.  Is there any way to limit the salt in homemade breads?

We rarely buy commercial bread (everyone in a while buns for a party so the kids don't wonder why the are all differently shaped).  We do buy tortilla to use as wraps for a lot of things, but the actual bread I make.  And like you said the salt is important for the yeast stoppage so......  I just didn't eat much when I was ultra worried about my sodium levels so I never researched it.  Technically Shannon should be watching her sodium intake, but well....

[Stephe]

Also, I occasionally use Morton's Salt Substitute, which is potassium chloride (KCl).

I hope you are not on spiro? Potassium chloride and spiro is a NO NO!

[Jamie D]

I hope you are not on spiro? Potassium chloride and spiro is a NO NO!

Absolutely correct, Stephe!

I was taken off Aldactone several months ago, but that was due more to on increase in a heart medication, Lisinopril, which is also potassium-sparing.

In my March labwork, my potassium level was 4.5 mmol/L, with a normal range of 3.5 to 5.3.

I was on a different AA.

[Jamie D]

Oregano, Basil, Garlic powder, crushed red pepper, and black pepper makes a nice omelet or scrambled eggs.  Even though we have 21 laying hens I can't eat eggs plain.  I guess the herbs could get expensive, but we raise enough oregano and basil that we don't have to buy it luckily.

We rarely buy commercial bread (every once in a while buns for a party so the kids don't wonder why the are all differently shaped).  We do buy tortilla to use as wraps for a lot of things, but the actual bread I make.  And like you said the salt is important for the yeast stoppage so......  I just didn't eat much when I was ultra worried about my sodium levels so I never researched it.  Technically Shannon should be watching her sodium intake, but well....

I have a half wine barrel I use for an herb garden.  It is overgrown with rosemary right now, but I'm going to trim it back this weekend and put in some cilantro and basil and Thai basil.

I was going to try my hand at making a home version of "Ezekiel 4:9 Bread."  I was searching for a good recipe.

My sodium levels from my last labs was 138 mmol/L, with a normal range of  135-146.  So that's actually pretty good.

[Jamie D]

Here is a link to a "simple" recipe for Ezekiel bread.  I haven't tried it yet, because I can not find all of the ingredients, but it looks good, and has a nice story.

This bread is good for Type II diabetics as well.

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/ezekiel-bread-recipe.html

[Constance]

When my ex-wife was pregnant the second time, she was also on a salt-restricted diet. I came up with the following concoction that I used in place of salt for seasoning all kinds of things.

2 parts garlic powder, onion powder, and chives to 1 part paprika

[Jamie D]

When my ex-wife was pregnant the second time, she was also on a salt-restricted diet. I came up with the following concoction that I used in place of salt for seasoning all kinds of things.

2 parts garlic powder, onion powder, and chives to 1 part paprika

Sounds savory, CA.  Thanks!

[Alexis]

There are definitely a few things that you can do though so that food isn't all a little flat.

Biggest thing would be season with acids. It's often overlooked but vinegar actually lets you reduce the amount of salt that you use in a lot of things. When using it, think of it like you would salt; you don't want to taste the vinegar, it's just there to help build flavors without becoming prominent (exactly like salt). Using something like a white wine vinegar for soups/stocks/sauces and their derivatives can really make a difference.

Glutamic Acid (not msg) would be another way, but a lot trickier since a lot of its sources can be pretty salty, but its presence brings about umami which again enhances all the other flavors in something like salt does. Some of the ones that I can think of that wouldn't add too much salt to your daily diet would be tomatoes  dried mushrooms (the mushrooms themselves are good, but the water that you rehydrate them in is like liquid umami), green tea, seaweed...theres a lot.

After that, depending on how much salt is being cut out, you could consider switching to seasoning with fleur-de-sel (sel gris works too, as does lava salt). These are finishing salts so they're used after cooking something, not before. It's great for salad, meat, anything really. Fleur de sel can be a bit expensive, like $10 for a box, but little bit goes a really long way (when I was in restaurants we went through a 6oz box of Maldon maybe every 4-6 months). A few granules put on top of something like a finished steak just makes the flavor explode when you bite down on a crystal.

Here is a link to a "simple" recipe for Ezekiel bread.  I haven't tried it yet, because I can not find all of the ingredients, but it looks good, and has a nice story.

Didn't read through the recipe, but I'm assuming some of the specialty flours are whats giving you trouble to find. Check out nuts.com, I'm pretty sure that they have everything on there, otherwise amazon believe it or not is a great place to buy specialty foods.

[LordKAT]

I've been on a low sodium diet for decades. One thing that got me was milk. Milk is high in sodium and cheese is a definite no-no. I don't buy salt for home use at all nor use it when out to other places. I use fresh or frozen veggies. Watch out for processed foods, usually the more ready to eat it is, the more salt and fat with less nutrition there is.

[Cindy]

I hear fried slices of Devlyn are low in sodium, they just need marinating in Australian Whine.

[Devlyn]

Yes, but very acidic and I'm chock full of other irritants! Hugs, Devlyn

[aibeecee]

I remember I had water retention almost on a daily basis during the first year on hormones. There wasn't much I could do about about it. Only feet and ankles, basically the area below the knee was affected. When I left the office after eight hours, the retained fluid usually was at the highest level.

Later the condition went down by itself.

I never consulted my GP or endocrinologist about it but I guess this was lead back to the hormonal changes going on in my body.