Does low sodium diet help loose weight?

The short answer is Yes!

The long answer is: Most people do not reduce their sodium intake only to loose weight, but they definitely retain less water once they start consuming less sodium, hence loosing weight. There is a new discussion about this subject at Eat Low Sodium's forum site:

http://eatlowsodium.com/osc/forum/

Following a low sodium diet is not about eating foods that have less sodium only, it is also about eating more fresh foods and avoiding processed foods. This is also part of any healthy diet helping us loose weight or keep an ideal weight.

Excess salt may cause kidney stones in kids

As I was reading the Children's gazette published by Miami Children's Hospital, the following lines caught my attention:

"The incidence of kidney stones in children has been increasing steadily in America over the last decade..."

The first reason mentioned in the article is Salt! The article reads:

"Excess salt is contained in many foods that children love and eat now more of than ever before, such as french fries, cheeseburgers, and potato chips. In addition, with today's prepackaged, quick-meal mentality, parents may not be aware that many convenient foods such as lunch meats, packaged meals, canned soups, and sports drinks, contain high levels of hidden salts."

The other reason mentioned is dehydration as children tend to not drink enough water as they don't to take a break from play, or they don't have enough time in school, etc. Even when they do, instead of drinking water, they choose sodas and other sugary drinks instead.

The gazette is small but full of useful articles and tips. Thank you Miami Children's Hospital!
Umit

Low Sodium Grocers, Food Stores, and Restaurants Wanted!

Please read the details at the press release we published yesterday:

http://www.prlog.org/10321306-low-sodium-food-stores-grocers-and-restaurants-wanted.html

There are other great healthy dieting blogs too!

I registered my blog at halfhourmeals.com. It is a very nicely design, neat site where you can find (besides recipes) other blogs on cooking, foods, and healthy dieting.

Particularly their section on "organic and natural food blogs" include other great blogs in various forms of healthy dieting such as organic food diet, low fat diet, low carb diet, diabetic diet, and more. All the blogs get manually reviewed and posted after the moderators' approvals, therefore the blogs listed there must have useful content for their readers.

While you are visiting this site, please do not forget to give eatlowsodium blog an excellent rating!

Thank you

Here is the direct link to the blog list: http://www.halfhourmeals.com/blogs/

Can't find sodium content of a product?

Hi,

As some of you know, the Department of Agriculture has an extensive database of nutrition content for food products sold in the U.S. I would like to share with you the link to this database so you can check the sodium content of the food products you are curious about. This way you don't have to run to the grocery store to check nutrition labels :-)

Here is the link:
http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/

Also at the same site, there is a big (25 pages) list of products with their sodium content. A very useful source for people that are on strict low sodium diet:
Click here to download the file
http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/Data/SR21/nutrlist/sr21w307.pdf

The same file in alphabetical order:
http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/Data/SR21/nutrlist/sr21a307.pdf

Enjoy!
Umit

Why should someone eat foods with lower sodium?

According to USCF Medical Center, the average American eats five or more teaspoons of salt each day. This is about 20 times as much as the body needs. In fact, your body needs only one quarter of a teaspoon of salt every day.

What happens if your sodium intake is high? Too much sodium in your diet can cause your body to retain excess fluid. This excess fluid can collect in your hands, ankles, belly, and lungs. This is especially important for patients with liver, heart, or kidney disease.

There are also other health problems that high sodium intake can cause or aggravate (source: Menzies Research Institute):

Prehypertension, hypertension, severe premenstrual syndrome, vertigo of Meniere's disorder, congestive heart failure, diabetic retinitis, calcium kidney/bladder stones, stomach cancer, and more...

You do not have to suffer from one of these problems to be on a low sodium diet. Please read this informative article about the importance of low salt diet for your health: Salt intake brings new level of alarm, published at USAToday.

What type of foods have more sodium?

Sodium occurs naturally in most foods. The most common form of sodium is sodium chloride, which is table salt. Milk, beets, and celery also naturally contain sodium, as does drinking water, although the amount varies depending on the source.

Sodium is also added to various food products. Some of these added forms are monosodium glutamate, sodium nitrite, sodium saccharin, baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), and sodium benzoate. These are ingredients in condiments and seasonings such as Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, onion salt, garlic salt, and bouillon cubes.

Processed meats, such as bacon, sausage, and ham, and canned soups and vegetables are all examples of foods that contain added sodium. Fast foods are generally very high in sodium.

Reference: NIH Medline Plus Medical Encyclopedia

How to follow a low sodium diet

Here are fews tip on following a low sodium diet:

Eat fewer processed foods such as potato chips, frozen dinners and cured meats. Instead, eat more unprocessed, fresh foods, such as fresh fruits, vegetables, lean meats, poultry, fish and unprocessed grains.

Choose foods labeled "low sodium" or "reduced sodium." Also do not rely on the labels and check the nutrition chart of every product you buy or use. Note sodium and portion size information.

Don't add salt to your food. Instead, use herbs and spices to flavor foods.

Do not drink water from water softeners as many water softeners use salt to get rid of the 'hardness' in water.

Low sodium tortilla bread

I read that tortilla bread is the second most popular bread in the U.S. It can be used in many meals, especially fajitas. To make some fajitas yesterday I searched for low sodium tortilla breads. At Winn Dixie I found "La Bandita" brand flour tortilla breads with 286 milligrams of sodium per serving (one piece of tortilla bread) . The same brand also makes corn tortilla breads with 42 milligrams sodium per serving. If you don't use any salt on your meat and use low sodium sour cream, you get yourself nice, low sodium fajitas easily :-)
Umit

Kidney stones and low sodium diet

According to the National Kidney Foundation, if you have had a calcium stone, you may need to cut back on the salt in your diet. Extra sodium causes you to lose more calcium in your urine, putting you at risk for developing another stone. Your doctor will probably advise you to limit your sodium to 2,000 to 3,000 milligrams a day. Your dietitian can help you make sodium changes in your diet.

I also found out that all kidney stones are not the same; some of them are made from calcium, and some from oxalate. If you have oxalate stones, then you might need to avoid foods that are high in oxalate such as peanuts, tea, instant coffee (more than 8 ounces a day), rhubarb, beets, beans, beets, berries (blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, gooseberries, etc. ), chocolate, Concord grapes, dark leafy greens, oranges, tofu, sweet potatoes and draft beer.

Most of this information is from:
http://www.kidney.org/Atoz/atozItem.cfm?id=41

Let's make low sodium ketchup!

If you cannot find low sodium ketchup at your supermarket, you can make it on your own very easily. Just combine low sodium tomato paste, vinegar and sugar. Add two to three tablespoons of vinegar to one can of tomato paste plus half a can of water to six spoons of sugar. You can make it fancier by adding spices like mustard if you want.

I got this tip from Ms. Sandra's article at http://www.bukisa.com/articles/62666_low-salt-cooking

Americans should eat less sodium

Late last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) that show Americans consume too much salt. You can read more about this at examiner.com. Click on the title and it will take you to the article.

Umit

Low sodium recipe: Spinach and Tortellini Soup

Another good low sodium recipe I found at CDKitchen.com. Less than 200mg of sodium per a serving of soup!

Ingredients (Serves 6 people):
Vegetable cooking spray
2 cups sliced carrots
1/4 cup sliced green onions, tops included
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
2 cans (15 oz size) reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cup water
1 package (9 oz size) fresh low-fat tomato and cheese tortellini
3 cups torn spinach leaves
2 teaspoons lemon juice, more to taste
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg, more to taste
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Directions:
Spray bottom of large saucepan with cooking spray; heat over medium heat until hot.
Saute carrots, green onions, garlic, and basil until onions are tender, about 5 minutes.
Add chicken broth and water to saucepan; heat to boiling.
Reduce heat and simmer, covered, 10 minutes.
Heat broth mixture to boiling; stir in tortellini and spinach.
Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until tortellini are al dente, about 5 minutes.
Stir in lemon juice, nutmeg and pepper.

Per Serving:
Calories: 170
Sodium: 177mg
Fat: 3.5g
Carbohydrate: 26.9g
Protein: 8.6g
Cholesterol: 17.7mg

Amazon has some good deals in organic foods in April

Today I found out that Amazon.com has up to 50% off discounts on some organic foods. This is good news for low sodium dieters as majority of these foods have low sodim content. For instance, you can find low sodium popcorn from Bearitos, low sodium cereals and granola bars from Nature's Path and Kashi's. You can click on the title of this post to go to Amazon's deals page for organic foods.

Happy savings!

Low Sodium Directory

The low sodium directory I mentioned earlier on this blog is ready at the address below:
http://eatlowsodium.com/osc/links.php

This is the version A! You can submit any businesses, professionals, or websites here as long as they are related to low sodium dieting. It is a free listing. So enjoy using it and let me know about your comments.

Thank you,

Umit

Hypertension, sodium and potassium

I was reading a couple of articles about the effects of low sodium diet on hypertension. It is quite well known that many people with hypertension have to watch their sodium intake. I also found out that maintaining a healthy sodium/potassium intake ratio (1:1 or 2:3) is also important. When our bodies have an overabundance of sodium, potassium acts as a cleaning agent, and helps to flush our system of excess sodium.

Good sources of potassium include bananas, citrus juices (such as orange juice), avocados, cantaloupes, tomatoes, potatoes, lima beans, flounder, salmon, cod, chicken, and other meats.

Also, an increase in potassium in the diet has been shown to decrease blood pressure in people who were deficient.

You can read an extensive article on the effects of potassium on your health at http://www.emedicinehealth.com/low_potassium/article_em.htm

How does sodium intake affect Meniere's?

The vertigo experienced in Meniere's disease can be severe. Eating a low-sodium diet may help reduce the frequency of your episodes.

But how does sodium intake affect Meniere's? To answer this we have to first know how Meniere's occur:

The current theory is that Meniere's Disease symptoms are caused by an imbalance in fluid pressure between two inner ear fluid chambers. The endolymphatic chamber is believed to build up excess fluid and pressure. Once the pressure has reached a critical level, the thin membrane separating the endolymphatic and perilymphatic chambers ruptures, causing a mixture of the fluids from the two chambers. These fluids are chemically different and their mixture causes a "short-circuiting' of the inner ear. This results in the severe vertigo of the Meniere's attack. Once the pressure has been released, this membrane heals and the fluid chemistries return to normal. It is thought that when this healing occurs the hearing recovers, although not always completely. This fluid pressure build up can reoccur causing the symptoms to return. It is important to remember that this is all theory supported by the appearance of microscopically examined inner ears from deceased patients who had Meniere's Disease during their lifetime.

Now let's go back to the original question. How does sodium intake affect Meniere's?

Sodium in the body increases fluid retention. Common table salt is, of course, sodium chloride, and is normally the primary source of sodium in the body. On the theory that Meniere's Disease symptoms may result from excess endolymphatic fluid in the inner ear, physicians often counsel patients to reduce overall fluid in the body, with the hope that endolymphatic fluid will be reduced in the process. To reduce sodium intake and, therefore, reduce bodily fluids, physicians often counsel a low-salt diet.

Moments flash sometimes

This is from part of my life that is not related to low sodium!


moments flash sometimes
smiling faces
the most perfect turquoise you can see
in the sea

brings memories
with happy and sad conflicts
dubious honesties
questionable realities

makes living amazing
heart pounding
with maybes
and wishes

moments flash sometimes
in my eyes

Mrs. Dash rules!

Mrs. Dash has salt free or low sodium seasonings in variety of spices. I am really glad that this company provides these products. A good seasoning is important for delicious meals.

You can check what they have and the ingredients of their seasonings, go to
http://www.precisionfoods.com/foodservice/bnd_products.cfm?start=1&id=72

You will also find some low sodium recipes on their website.

Bon appetite!

Few tips on eating less sodium

Several tips on eating less salt. Some of these are common sense. I wanted to list them anyways in case you have not heard/read them before:

Eat fewer processed foods such as potato chips, frozen dinners and cured meats. Instead, eat more unprocessed, fresh foods, such as fresh fruits, vegetables, lean meats, poultry, fish and unprocessed grains.

Choose foods labeled "low sodium" or "reduced sodium." Also do not rely on the labels and check the nutrition chart of every product you buy or use.Note sodium and portion size information.

Don't add salt to your food. Instead, use herbs and spices to flavor foods.

Do not drink water from water softeners as many water softeners use salt to get rid of the 'hardness' in water

Whole Wheat-Apple Pancakes Recipe

All pancake mixes I see at supermarkets have high sodium content. I found this pancake recipe at CDKitchen.com
It only includes 200mg sodium per servings. If you make it delicious, invite me :-)

Ingredients (Serves 10 people):
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar substitute
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup nonfat buttermilk
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup peeled, finely chopped apple
Vegetable cooking spray
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup reduced-calorie apple jelly
1/2 teaspoon apple pie spice

Directions:
Combine first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl; make a well in center of mixture.
Combine buttermilk, oil, and egg; add to dry ingredients, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened.
Stir in apple.
For each pancake, pour 1/4 cup batter onto a hot griddle or skillet coated with cooking spray, spreading batter to a 4-inch circle.
Turn pancakes when tops are covered with bubbles and edges look cooked.
Combine applesauce, jelly, and apple pie spice in a small saucepan.
Cook over low heat until jelly melts, stirring occasionally.
Top pancakes evenly with apple sauce mixture.

Per Serving:
Calories: 97
Sodium: 200mg
Fat: 1.8g
Carbohydrate: 17.6g
Protein: 3.1g
Cholesterol: 23mg

Recipe Source: CDKitchen.com

Stress. Enemy of my healthy state!

Aloha!

I have been thinking about writing an article on stress as it is the root-cause of many illnesses such as heart diseases, depression, sleeping disorders, and more. I can tell you for sure that watching my stress level has been as important as watching my sodium intake while I was healing from Meniere’s symptoms. So now is the time I guess. Here I begin!

We all seem to be aware of it, but what is stress? I found this in Wikipedia:

“Stress is a biological term which refers to the consequences of the failure of a human or animal body to respond appropriately to emotional and physical threats to the organism, whether actual or imagined”

So you do not need to have actual problems to be stressed, even the imaginary ones would suffice to stress you out. Nice start! Maybe it is all about someone’s personality. You know the ones that stress about everything and the ones that do not care about anything in the world. Maybe stress factors we get ourselves exposed to are just factors, most stress comes from within!

But hold on! How about the external factors: not only life and death situations but also busy schedule, an argument with a friend, a traffic jam, lose of a loved one, recession in the economy, a mountain of bills or even a politician’s non-sense speech may all contribute to your stress level.

The bad thing is sometimes we do not even know if we are stressed. So what are some common symptoms?
Moodiness, short temper, isolation, depression, eating more or less, sleeping too much or too little, memory problems, inability to concentrate, and more…
I usually loose my appetite when I am under a lot of stress. Everybody’s response is different of course.
There are several things I do to keep stress under control so that this sneaky beast does not get me sick:

I control my thoughts as much as possible. When I realize that some thought has bothered me, I ask myself if there is anything within my power to resolve the problem. If there is, I immediately make a plan to start implementing it. Well I do my best on this. If the problem seems bigger than I can tackle or is due to someone else, I tell myself to “let it go” or “let it go for now”.

Majority of the stress causes is in relationships. Louise Hay mentions in one of her books that the most effective way of dealing with problematic people is to take them out of your life. Hoping that they will get better or circumstances will change is usually futile. I have seen this in my own life several times. Easy to say, hard to do sometimes, but it is what it is.

Also having people that love you and people that you love is a great stress reducer! So contact those people you haven’t for a long time. Ignore all the excuses and past resentments (if you can) and establish, re-establish, strengthen your relationships. After all we are all social animals.

Another cause of stress is financial and most financial problems stem from lack of planning and living with day-to-day mentality. In other words people save and invest insufficient amounts for their future and spend what they earn to satisfy their needs right away. Availability of loans and credits makes the situation more difficult for many. So if you are stressed due to financial problems, it is cliché but true that just identify your detrimental habits and change these habits one by one. I will not delve into this right now, but there are many books on financial planning. If you are not willing to educate yourself via books, seminars, schedule a free appointment with a financial planner from companies like Primerica, Edward Jones, etc. You will hear some sale pitch but you might also get educated if you meet a decent financial planner.

How about your relaxation? Do you have a method of relaxation? Here are some tips on that: walking in an area that pleases you (in forest, at the beach, at a pretty shopping area, etc.), getting a massage (what are girl/boy friends for?!), playing team games (like football, soccer which should be called football in the States, baseball, etc.), punching bags/pillows, singing/whistling loud (I get a lot of kick out of this), making love (or you call it shagging or sex, it is still good), getting rid of old clothes, furniture, remodeling/fixing the house/car, so on and so forth…

For now the last but not the least my philosophical look into life easies my stress with life’s challenges. As Steve Jobs puts it nicely at his famous speech at UC graduation ceremony; “We will all die, so we are all naked”. Whatever we make and do will vanish with us in the end. Well mostly, unless you are in the 1% that succeeds in making the earth a happier place to live for others. If you are or strive to be in that 1%, then little bit of stress might be worth it. If you do not care to be in that 1%, you will live it, you will enjoy it, and then things will be over soon so why stress about it? Just enjoy each day. Every day is full of changes, surprises, little and big beauties… And stay healthy so that you can enjoy them. As great Ottoman Emperor, Kanuni Sultan Suleiman said “Olmaya cihanda devlet bir nefes sihhat gibi!”. In English, “there is nothing in the world like a breath of health”.

Salute to you all!

Umit


References:
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/stress_signs.htm

Please also watch Steve Jobs’ inspirational speech at YouTube. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA

How much sodium is healthy?

Hi!

This is some info I put together from various resources in regards to consumption of how much sodium is healthy:

A low sodium diet includes no more than 2,000 to 3,000 milligrams (mg) of sodium per day. To give an idea of how much that is, 1 teaspoon of salt is approximately 2,300 mg sodium. People with moderate exercise schedule are usually asked to limit their sodium intake to 3,000 mg per day.

People with moderate/severe heart failure are usually asked to limit their sodium intake to 2,000 mg per day.

The human requirement for sodium in the diet is about 500 mg per day, which is typically much less than typical American diet. Most people consume far more sodium than is physiologically needed. For certain people with salt-sensitive blood pressure, this extra intake may cause a negative effect on health.

I also recommend this article: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sodium/NU00284

References:
1) Heart Failure Society of America, How to follow a low sodium diet.
2) Implementing recommendations for dietary salt reduction: Where are we? DIANE Publishing. ISBN 1428929096.

The very first low sodium directory on the net!

Hi again,

I am working on making a directory specific to low sodium dieters. If you or any of your loved ones have to be on a low sodium diet, you might know the difficulties of finding a restaurant that serves foods in low sodium, or a supermarket that markets low sodium versions of soups, sauces, and ready-meals, or a dietitian that specializes in low sodium dieting.

Low sodium dieting is not as popular as low fat or low carb dieting, therefore it is hard to find resources in this matter. So you can help! If you know (or even own) a business (such as a doctor, dietitian, restaurant, supermarket, website, etc.) or a product that low sodium dieters can benefit from, please add their names and description as a comment below. I am putting together a low sodium directory at http://www.eatlowsodium.com. I plan to list the directory there once it is in a presentable format.

In the meantime your posts (comments) will be visible on my blog. In a way this is also free advertisement for businesses or people providing low sodium foods/diet tips.

Thank you for your contribution to our low sodium community.

Salute!

Umit

Eat low sodium foods for a healthier life!

A big hello to all!

What you put in your body contributes to who you are significantly. Your physical condition affects almost everything in your life. We all know that, but do we truly understand it, live it? Well, I haven't until I got diagnosed with Meniere's disease three years ago.

For those who have not heard about the disease; imagine this! Drink alcohol until you get very dizzy, then imagine you stay dizzy for 24 hours and dizziness does not go away even if you put your head on a pillow. Of course this much dizziness causes you to vomit, which kills your appetite for some time, which leads you to lose weight. Then imagine that this dizziness comes back to you intermittently now and then, whenever it feels like, whether you drink alcohol or not!!

Well Meniere's has nothing to do with drinking alcohol. It is just this inner ear problem that shows its pretty face with the symptoms I mentioned above. It causes vertigo (strong dizziness) which prevents you from doing almost anything fundamental in your daily life.

After unsuccessful attempts with several ENT doctors, finally a doctor (Dr. Adrian Eshraghi, God or mother nature, whichever you believe bless his soul!) at University of Miami diagnosed me with Meniere's and gave me the good news that "we do not know the root cause of this problem, you have to be careful about your sodium intake and stress level". I remember saying "I don't add salt in my food anyways. As for the stress level, I have to stop seeing my girl friend!". He smiles and said "Girlfriend is your business but definitely check the nutrition charts of everything you eat. Check for sodium levels. Make sure you get less than 2000mg per day".

I followed his advice. I was feeling so bad that I did not have a choice. My sister took care of me and my diet at the beginning. I am a much healthier man today. Partially I owe that to following a low sodium diet. I know that eating foods in low sodium is what I will do for the rest of my life because high levels of salt intake affects not only affects Meniere's but also causes problems related to illnesses in heart and blood vessels.

I already have a website called http://www.eatlowsodium.com/ where I market food with only low sodium content (200mg per servings or less). I sometimes post useful information (low sodium diet tips, books, recipes,etc. ) there. I will use this blog to inform my readers about low sodium diet, foods, cooking techniques, diseases where sodium intake matters also answer your questions regarding the subject in a more informal, person-to-person manner. So feel free to post a comment to the articles on my blog or email me at UmitDemir @ eatlowsodium. com (remove the spaces)

If I can be of any help for you to have a healthier life, I would be happy.

Salute to all!

Umit Demir