Low Sodium Diet Journey - Part 1

How hard is it to consume 2 grams or less of sodium per day? I started out thinking it would be difficult when a low sodium diet was recommended for one of my family members but it has been easier than I anticipated. This is the first post in a series that documents our family’s ‘learning experience.’ 

• Keep a running total of sodium consumption each day at the beginning. The purpose is to develop a good sense of the sodium content in various foods. Make changes to your normal diet so that it is easy to stay under the 2,000 mg per day goal.
• Use labels on packaging or the internet to get sodium amounts (per serving) for foods. I like http://nutritiondata.self.com/ - a clip of the screen from that site for ‘celery’ is below. Celery is one of the higher sodium vegetables.

• Experiment with no-salt blends (like Mrs. Dash) in lieu of salt. My favorite Mrs. Dash blend is Caribbean Citrus.
• ‘Hint of Salt’ crackers are tasty. We’ve tried Triscuit, Wheat Thins, and Ritz. Keep the portion size in mind!
• Generally - processed foods are high in sodium because they have a lot of added salt. Read labels carefully. Bottles salad dressings and ready-to-eat meats are almost always very high; develop alternatives for these in your diet.
• Buy salt free (i.e. 0 sodium) versions of products like butter/margarine and peanut butter. These are products that are available in most grocery stores. The flavor will be different but is often quite acceptable and even appealing.