Friday, March 20, 2009

"Saltless"


Yes... that is the new word I have created to describe my future. My life with Meniere's (I'm still assuming with the doctor that this is what the MRI will reveal Wednesday). When the doctor ordered for me to go on a low sodium diet (less than 2000 mg daily), I had no clue how life-changing that would be. EVERYTHING has sodium in it, except for water, corn, and oatmeal. Yes, I'm serious. The way I eat and the way I cook will forever be changed... darn, I sure love salt and will miss it!

Check out the sodium content in a few items that I used to cook with or eat quite a bit:
  • Chicken Bouillon (1 cube) - 800 mg
  • Cheese Nips (1 serving)- 340 mg
  • 2% Milk (1 cup)- 100 mg
  • Honey Nut Cheerios (3/4 cup)- 190 mg
  • Soy Sauce (1 cup)- 14,374 mg
  • Butter, salted (1 cup)- 1,308 mg
  • Large egg (1 egg)- 60 mg
  • Chicken Breast, uncooked (4 oz.)- 180 mg
  • Cheddar Cheese (1 cup)- 820 mg
  • Wheat Bread (1 slice)- 135 mg
  • Steamed Broccoli, Cauliflower, & Cheese Sauce (3/4 cup)- 440 mg
  • Mashed Potatoes (1 cup)- 699 mg
  • Blueberry Poptart (1 package)-340 mg

2 comments:

Heather said...

I've been using unsalted butter for a few years now. It actually has a better flavor than the salted. I've also been trying to cut back on our salt intake because Kevin's blood pressure has been a little high. Avoid frozen meals because the sodium levels are extremely high. Try reduced sodium varieties of crackers...the taste isn't so bad. Also, the kids snack varieties don't always have as much sodium as the adult versions. Instead of using chicken bouillon cubes, try substituting lower sodium chicken stock or broth. If I think of any other changes we've made, I'll let you know.
For the no dairy, you could try the Silk chocolate soy milk. Kevin gets it off and on and it is pretty good. Dairy is also in more things than I ever realized until I started reading more labels.

Anna said...

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm open to any! Sadly, Abby is even allergic to soy- just found that out yesterday. However, rice milk tastes pretty good... today was my first day to try that and she was fine on it. I even found a recipe for making it homemade that I will have to try.

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