question about no salt diet

[hoodleehoo]

My dad has 2 heart problems and only one kidney, which is bad. So, the cardiologist as well as our regular doctor was very clear about having a NO salt diet. Not a low salt, but a NO salt diet!

The problem is, we can't find anything the is 0mg sodium! We literally don't know what to fix, except oatmeal. Even lettuce has sodium in it! Pretty much every vegetable has sodium in it naturally.

Every renal diet cookbook I've seen has sodium in the recipes, they are more "low sodium" recipes.

Is there nothing that has NO sodium in it???

[Ottawagirl]

Re: question about no salt diet

I think sodium is naturally in a lot of things,so I guess for vegetables just don't add more salt to them.
Pepper is much nicer anyways.
Most oils are sodium free,like vegetable oil,olive oil,vinegars should be sodium free-but not entirely sure on that.
My mom just makes salad dressing with oil and vinegar as she never uses salt.

I kind of wonder about the kidney cookbooks-do the people that write them actually eat the food?
Have they not heard of any "new" food like rice milk? or rice noodles? also how come they only reccomend Mrs Dash seasoning when there are so many better ones?

I just bought some seasoning from Lizzies Kitchen on amazon.com and almost all the seasonings are salt free. I bought one for fruit salsa and all I added was some mango,but pineapple would be good and there was no salt at all and it was so good my mother who never eats "salsa" ate the whole bowl I had left in my fridge.

Anyway the Lizzies Kitchen spices are very resonable,I paid around $10 inc shipping for 4 big bottles of 50 grams each. you can use the spices on rice,soups ect also...

[eaglewoman]

Re: question about no salt diet

My kidney dr. told me not to use any artifical salt.
There are some cereals that don't have salt, you really have to read the labels. I've found the cheaper they are the less salt. most generics have no salt.
I don't own a salt shaker and never buy it. When we have holiday dinners here my daughter-in-law brings her salt shaker.

[Maria]

Re: question about no salt diet

Sounds to me there needs to be a bit more clarification on the "no salt".

Salt is actually a combination of Sodium (which is listed on food labels) and Chloride. In other words, salt is NaCl, or sodium chloride. Since the doctor verbalized "no salt", that most likely doesn't mean "no sodium".

Sodium is a naturally occurring mineral and is also an "essential mineral", meaning it is required. Sodium is also added to foods. The most common source of sodium in our diet is the addition of table salt to food. The average American takes in 4000-8000 or more milligrams of sodium per day. A mild restriction is 2000 mg per day. Of course, each person's requirement/limit is individualized and can range from less than 1000 to around 2500 or so..... some maybe even a tad more based on their personal, individual needs.

It will help you know what to do to ask for a clarification from the doctor. Maybe he meant "no added salt". If so, find out his recommendation for the "sodium" intake and you'll have an easier time trying to meet that goal.

When a salt substitute is created, the Sodium part of the NaCl is replaced with Potassium. That is why many/most patients with kidney disease are cautioned about using salt substitutes.

Best wishes as you continue to try to learn about caring for yourselves and family members.

[Marilyn1947]

Re: question about no salt diet

I have just been dealing with the salt issue and trying to get more of handle on it. I am post transplant and my husband was my donor and we are both watching our salt. I have two sugestions'
1 There is a wonderful product called Mr. Spice organic. They are no salt low fat sauces that can add so much to the taste of the food. To find more go to www.mrspice.com. It is made in US and as a Canadian I have trouble finding it as my chain dropped it recently but now I order on line.

2. There is an author of several books that my unit referred me to on truly low salt cooking...like no-salt breads. His name is Donald A. Gazzangia and you can find him thru web search or at Amazon. He started this because of his own heart condition. It has really given me a lot of help since I bought his first book and have now ordered the second one. Good luck and of course listen to Maria and get them to tell you what the actual salt goal is. There is sodium in water so 0 sodium is not an option

[Ottawagirl]

Re: question about no salt diet

Can't you get salt free water?
like Distilled water has no minerals,no salt and is just water-you can buy it by the gallon at the drugstores usually or buy a machine to do that.
-its supposed to be better for you.

For salt free seasoning there are also the Mrs dash salt free seasnings-there are 20 different ones.
Also,fresh black pepper in a grinder is much nicer than regular table salt.

I just have regular,natural sea salt but barely use any ever on my food.

last week,I was forced to put salt in all my drinks,food ect as I had extremely low blood rpessure and was severely dehydrated...and it was so gross too...i even tried to put salt in iced tea...yuck!

[Marilyn1947]

Re: question about no salt diet

Yes you can get salt-free distilled water but most people do not use this. Also almost everything has some sodium. For example an egg has 65 mg, celery 33mg per stick and so on with many many foods. Mrs. Dash is great but the MR Spice is organic sauces that are terrific and quick for stir fries and meats. You may be able to get them in Ottawa tho as I think it is the English only lables that are a problem in Qc.

[Ottawagirl]

Re: question about no salt diet

Yes you can get salt-free distilled water but most people do not use this. Also almost everything has some sodium. For example an egg has 65 mg, celery 33mg per stick and so on with many many foods. Mrs. Dash is great but the MR Spice is organic sauces that are terrific and quick for stir fries and meats. You may be able to get them in Ottawa tho as I think it is the English only lables that are a problem in Qc.

Oh,
I've actually never looked for those.
I had a ton of free Mrs Dash last year and didn't even fishish all that....
I usually make my own sauces,but will try and look for those.

I am trying to eat out less,I find I can't cook 3 meals a day nor have the patience to for 1 person that is.
The stuff I eat out is very healthy-exept for my pocketbook that is,lol.

There are way too many good food stores around me,ex I really want to go and buy some natural chemical free paprica bacon....yummmmmm
and natural pepperonic sticks ($2 for 2 small peices,).
I think I have to go there tommorow.

http://banksausagedeli.com/aboutus.html

In our production process we do not use preservatives, fillers or flavor enhancing chemicals since our goal, for the last three years, has been to provide our customers with natural products.
We also supply our products to other fine hotels, stores and restaurants i.e. Marriot Hotel, Chateau Laurier Hotel, Swiss Pastry, Saslove Butcher Shop and Orlink’s Butchery.

If anyone happens to visit Ottawa,Canada this store is highly reccomended!

[Marilyn1947]

Re: question about no salt diet

Thanks for the tip. Am in Ottawa all the time as my sister and brother both live there.

[Ottawagirl]

Re: question about no salt diet

Thanks for the tip. Am in Ottawa all the time as my sister and brother both live there.

The meats at that store are so yummy.
I like that all the meats have no preservatives.

The smoked chicken is great and also freezes well. same for the sausages (just freeze each one separately or even cook and freeze to use w less work).

The hot smoked salmon is good and more like salmon filet but smoked,kinda like "canned" fish as it is flakey.
I also have to say the paprica bacon and garlic pepper bacon is good and nice that it is just sold by the weight so no need to buy a whole package (I usually buy 50-100 grams).