# Question - sodium



## Barb L. (Jan 12, 2008)

My DH was just put on a low sodium died, question is  - would unsalted butter be better for him than like the Promise brand they served in the hospital ?  I have never been too concerned but now I have to.
Also how about evoo - yes or no ?


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## YT2095 (Jan 12, 2008)

yes it would be better, Salt = NaCl in this case, Na= Sodium (Natrium was it`s old name hence Na).
so non salted butter is best, also evoo shouldn`t contain any sodium either.


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## Jeff G. (Jan 12, 2008)

Also switch to sea salt.  There are other salts besides sodium in it so you get less sodium with all the flavor (I prefer the flavor of sea salt).


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## GB (Jan 12, 2008)

Jeff salt is salt (NaCl). Also all salt (again talking about the kind you put on your food) is sea salt.

Barb, these are questions your DH should be asking his doctor.


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## YT2095 (Jan 12, 2008)

switch to Lo-Salt it`s 66% KCl (Potassium chloride) and only 33% Sodium chloride, although that`s Not an excuse to use 3x the amount! 

be aware of Hidden Sodium in foods also IE/ E621 is monoSODIUMglutamate, there is Sodium sulphites and Nitrites and Acetates and Diacetates and citrates etc... used in foods, Often hidden as `E` numbers.

gimme a sec and I`ll see if I can find a table for you...


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## YT2095 (Jan 12, 2008)

here we go: E Number Index

this is pretty good too: E number - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## YT2095 (Jan 12, 2008)

Hmmm... Thinking about it, it would be best to see the doctor before switching to Lo-Salt first, get him checked for a hyper kalemia propensity, most people will have no problem using lo-salt as lifestyle choice when in good health (Potassium is good for the Heart), but I`m assuming the low sodium is due to a hypertensive condition, so it`s always best to check 1`st


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## Barb L. (Jan 12, 2008)

Thanks all for your help, his doctor did tell him low salt, no canned stuff at all.  Can't believe all the sodium in so many things, the net has many low salt recipes- (The Heart Association )  This is all new cooking for me.


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## David Cottrell (Jan 12, 2008)

Barb, yes this is going to be new cooking for you - cutting way down and I mean way down on the sodium means keeping track of everything per serving. Canned foods are out - include frozen. Some foods are naturally high in sodium, spinach and tomatoes come to mind. Have him ask the doctor what low soldium means - doctors are generally vague about diatary matters as they generally have no training. 

Be careful of the Lo Salt option with potassium substitute because potassium too has to be maintained and in a specific range. Otherwise, like death - heart! You might get a Food Counter book that helps you keep track of sodium and if you look hard enough for one maybe potassium also. 

This recipe book is well worth having and worth reading and using. It's "The No-Salt, Lowest - Sodium Cookbook" by Donald A. Gazzaniga. I think I got my copy from Amazon. Depending on the severity of the problem and how low sodium must go this has to be a totally new approach to cooking. Sad but true - even have to watch innocent things like milk - high sodium content.

Good luck (I really do recommend the book - Mr. Gazzaniga literally saved his life by learning and developing the recipes and book, he was almost dead. And the recipes are good - not phony!)

All the Best to you and DH as well. Email if you would like a good sample recipe from the book.


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## David Cottrell (Jan 12, 2008)

*Sea Salt?*

That Campbell TV adv that is running about their low sodium sea salt breakthrough in their soup - I don't believe a word of it. Nope!




GB said:


> Jeff salt is salt (NaCl). Also all salt (again talking about the kind you put on your food) is sea salt.
> 
> Barb, these are questions your DH should be asking his doctor.


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## Michael in FtW (Jan 13, 2008)

Barb L. said:


> My DH was just put on a low sodium died, question is - would unsalted butter be better for him than like the Promise brand they served in the hospital ? I have never been too concerned but now I have to.
> Also how about evoo - yes or no ?


 
As far as the Sodium (NaCl - Salt) content - no difference, Promise (which is an artificial butter flavored spread) and unslated butter both contain 0gm Sodium per serving. 

Promise Buttery Spread contains 8g fat, 1.5g saturated fat, 0g Trans fat and 0mg cholesterol per serving; Promise Light spread contains 5g fat, 1g saturated fat, 0g trans fat and 0mg cholesterol per serving (they didn't mention the Soduim content). 

Unsalted Land O' Lakes butter (the one I use) has 11g fat, 7g saturated fat, 0g Trans fat, 30mg cholesterol, 0mg Sodium per serving. 

The EVOO bottle that I have - 14g fat, 2g Saturated fat, 0g Trans fat, 0mg cholesterol, 0mg Sodium.

So - health wise (fat content and types of fats they contain) with nothing to do with salt (they are all 0 sodium) - EVOO, Promise, Unsalted butter in that order. 

To LOWER the sodium content in DH's diet - stay away from canned foods (salt is a food preservative). Opt for fresh or frozen vegetables - and think about how you can add flavor by using herbs and spices to replace the salt. Also, ask the Doc for a target level for sodium reduction ... the current RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) is about 2,400 mg/day (about 1 teaspoon table salt). 

Whatever you do - *DO NOT* just grab the "salt substitutes" without looking at the contents first .... if they contain POSTASSIUM CHLORIDE (a different form of salt) they can be as deadly, or more so, than SODIUM CHLORIDE! It can result in something called hyperkalemia - another life threatening condition just as serious as hypertension. Talk to your DH's Doc first! If you want to use potassium chloride as a salt substitute the Doc may need to add a calcium suppliment to buffer it.

My uncle had congestive heart failure and I had to help my aunt learn to adjust her cooking style to reduce the salt content in his diet ... it wasn't that hard, and he never missed the salt - except for chips-n-dips while watching football or baseball on the weekends - but we worked that out, too.



David Cottrell said:


> That Campbell TV adv that is running about their low sodium sea salt breakthrough in their soup - I don't believe a word of it. Nope!


 
Yeah, me too! The only advantage of sea salt is the flavor of the minerals in it. It is just as "salty" as any other form of salt (NaCL). But - it does make for a good marketing gimmic for those who don't know anything about food, nutrition, chemistry, general science or cooking!


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## Michael in FtW (Jan 13, 2008)

Jeff G. said:


> Also switch to sea salt. There are other salts besides sodium in it so you get less sodium with all the flavor (I prefer the flavor of sea salt).


 
Sea salt is *primarily* sodium chloride. Yes, sea salt does contain other mineral salts - but they are only "trace" amounts. Yes, they can be flavorful ... but many times the minerals that flavor the salt is not from the sea but from the clay beds where they are evaporated - like the gray salts from France - some of the pink and black sea salts from Hawaii actually contain pulvarized volcanic rock to impart the color and mineral flavors.

I'm sure that sea salt derived from the East River in NY would be most flavorful ....


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## Bilby (Jan 13, 2008)

Barb, you are best to avoid as many salt items as you possibly can as there will be many items that have a natural saltiness or are just extremely hard to avoid. He is going to find the food very bland - you really do notice when you suddenly have your veges and pasta cooked without any salt in the water! Try upping the spices or garlic to compensate. Coat the veges in a bit of oil and garlic for a variation, or honey and balsamic vinegar (assuming no salt is added).

Cheeses often contain a lot of salt. So be wary there too.

Just remember also that he is on a low sodium diet not a NO sodium diet, so the trick here is wherever you can avoid the salt do so, that way he can still get some of the foods with natural salt in his diet (occasionally). If he has no-salt veges, he can have a few cheese and biscuits for dessert every so often. It is a balancing act. 

With the change in his diet, you may also find that he changes the way he drinks too as he may not be as thirsty. A side point that may or not be true, when my father came out to Perth in the 50's, he found the beer here to be almost salty, inasmuch as you needed to have another beer after the first cos the thirst wasn't quenched. Much different from the English ales he was used to. Now whether they added something to the beer here then to increase sales or what, I don't know. I also freely admit to not having a clue about what goes into beer (past the obvious) and don't drink the stuff, but it might be worth posing the question to some of the beer-makers at DC if DH is a beer drinker.

You both will possibly find the change very difficult at first but after a while you adjust but the biggest warning I can give to him is, don't indulge in salt items two meals or two days in a row. It does not take long for your taste buds to reacclimatise. I had to avoid salt for four years while on dialysis so as not to drink too much but I love seafood, Asian and cheese, so I had to walk a careful line.

Good luck!


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## David Cottrell (Jan 13, 2008)

Another two cents worth Barb, Without all the salt the food will taste sweeter - that's the big difference. In prepared foods we buy so much salt is added to mask the miserable quality of food to begin with. It doesn't have to be that way but for store bought it is. 

A sweeter tasting food will soon be adjusted to and as the natural flavor of the veges, grains, meats, etc emerges they will actually begin to taste better because one is tasting the food and not a handful of salt. Once the taste has been conditioned to much less salt I found that "normal" recipes and processed foods would actually gag me from the saltyness. That's a fact. Hope this helps you and your DH.


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## Bilby (Jan 13, 2008)

That's very true David.  It is very difficult to eat the over-processed foods after restricting your salt intake.  I went over to roasting my veges mainly for that better flavour.


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## Barb L. (Jan 13, 2008)

Wow, you all are awesome, thanks for all the input.  Doctor told him to  keep it around 2,000mgs.   He has never salted  food for years, just what was in the cooking.   So now its really me doing all the changing !  
Luckily there is a lot of info on the net, been doing much reading.
He has always lived to eat ( over-weight) now its time to eat to live.

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


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## Bilby (Jan 13, 2008)

He can still live to eat - he just has to eat differently!  A rebirthing for him!! LOL


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## expatgirl (Jan 13, 2008)

I've found all of this info very helpful----I try and watch my sodium intake because I have treated hypertension (not because my doctor has told me to cut back on sodium  but I know that it helps) and now it's very difficult to eat at any fast food place because everything tastes so salty that it's almost inedible---I will stab my son's hand with a fork when he tries to salt our nacho chips at a Mexican restaurants--Ha! Anyway getting back to Barb's thread, glad to know about the different margarine/butter spreads......Mike--you're awesome.........


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## sage™ (Jan 13, 2008)

I have been seeing a few no salt canned goods lately..think it was greens.


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## Katie H (Jan 13, 2008)

Adjusting to a low-sodium diet can be a challenge, but it can be done.  When I was pregnant with my first child in 1969, about halfway through my pregnancy, I experienced severe bloating and heavy water retention.  Rather than use medication to treat the problem, my physician advised me to restrict my sodium intake severely.  That meant only fresh and/or frozen fruits, vegetables and proteins.  I was never much of a "salter" for my food, so I didn't have to adjust much in that area.

As soon as I began eating as he advised, the water problem essentially went away.  I've kept to that style of eating and, if I need canned broths or canned fruits and veggies, I reach for the ones I canned myself.  Actually they taste better than the ones commercially produced IMO.

Best wishes, Barb, on making the change.  It can be done.  It'll just take a little time.


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## David Cottrell (Jan 13, 2008)

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!


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## Constance (Jan 13, 2008)

Morton's sells a salt substitute that is potassium chloride, rather than sodium chloride. You might give it a try...it's not bad.


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## Michael in FtW (Jan 13, 2008)

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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## expatgirl (Jan 13, 2008)

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 mehahaha


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## Caine (Jan 13, 2008)

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.


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## YT2095 (Jan 14, 2008)

sometimes seeing it like This helps:







that`s Exactly 2 grams of salt (2000mg), the coin is for scale.


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## Bilby (Jan 14, 2008)

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.


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## kitchenelf (Jan 14, 2008)

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.


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## expatgirl (Jan 14, 2008)

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.......


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## Michael in FtW (Jan 16, 2008)

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.


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## YT2095 (Jan 16, 2008)

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!


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## Claire (Jan 17, 2008)

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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