After reading Emily's post on sodium, I've been thinking how much salt I eat a day... probably way more than the recommended value. So I'm thinking about taking on a sodium challenge for myself - monitoring how much sodium I consume in a regular day, and then following it with a day where I actually try to keep myself within the daily value range (at or below 2300 mg.). I feel like I might overeat on salt - especially on days when I gobble down popcorn or my mom's party mix... but maybe I'll surprise myself and find out I'm actually in a decent range?
Do any of you use salt substitutes? Or have tricks to keep sodium down in your diet? Or do you even bother with it?
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I like to order my McDonald's fries with no salt. Because that's the healthy thing to do :-P Actually, I'm sure I have too much sodium in my diet (through the many processed foods I consume b/c they're convenient), but I was very surprised to find at my last doctor's appointment that I'm severely iodine deficient. Apparently, I'm not getting enough iodized salt. Who knew?
ReplyDeleteI use no-salt spices (Penzey's has some great ones), low-sodium broths, sea salt instead of iodized (use less -- has lots more flavor) -- or cut out most of the salt altogether in recipes.
ReplyDeleteFor bread crumbs, I'll use plain instead of Italian, and add my own herbs or meatballs/chicken parmesan.
I've found that cashews, almonds, etc. all are available in low-sodium or unsalted.
Sauces/dressings are culprits for sodium-ladenness, so watch for those. It may be cheaper/better to make your own, if you have the time.
I've also found that my body feels so much better if I simply cook from home most of the time, since restaurants (especially chains) add a ton of salt for flavor and so that you'll eat more!
By the way, Kim, I wanna know more about your hubby & his ordination & where you guys go to church! :-)
Hey Kim..thanks for the shout-out. Jessica listed some great tips above! I think it's also important to factor in the sodium you lose when you run and sweat.
ReplyDeleteI don't eat a lot of processed products, so I keep sodium low that way. I also don't use a salt shaker (although I do occasionally use garlic salt). If you follow a generally low sodium diet, you can get away with ~1/4 t. salt for salting your food.