How can I reduce salt in my diet???

I have a tendency to retain water(especially before my menstral cycle), it makes me feel bullky and uncomfortable. I HATE IT!

How can I reduce my salt intake? This is very hard for me because there is salt in everything!!! Even in some foods I don't expect, I think something wouldn't have alot of salt in it and I read the label and it has quite abit of salt in it. I also have a tendecy to eat ready-to-eat foods-because they are convenient-and the are LOADED with salt! This make's it tough.



How can I eat a healhy balanced diet that doesn't have a lot of salt in it??

What are some easy to prepare salt-free foods, that are satisfiying? What about snacks to?

What kind of foods should I avoid??

Also if you can give my any links to website or pages that would help me, that would be great too!

Try to limit pre-packaged ready-to-eat meals and snacks. There are low sodium versions, and they should be labeled, but even the low salt types can have a good bit of sodium. Eating a prepackaged meal won't send you over the edge....:0 Just be sure that you also eat fresh foods and other things lower in sodium.

Most folks do ok with about 2300-2400 mg of sodium per day, so if you eat one item that is high in sodium, you can balance it out by decreasing sodium during other meals and snacks.

You could cook and freeze individual portions yourself. I do this sometimes, and it works well. There are many recipes you can use. Check out your State Cooperative Extension or Agriculture Dept website for recipes..

Avoid: sodas!

Drink water, tea or coffee (prepare yourself not bottled!), no-sugar added juice (espcially OJ, purple grape, and cranberry).

Low fat yogart is low in sodium.

Any fresh fruit or fresh veggie. Or steamed veggies (you can use some lemon juice after you've steamed them if you like).

Frozen veggies without sauces are low in salt.

I love plain sweet potatoes. No butter, just sweet potato.

Keep uncooked, frozen, chicken and fish in your freezer. I keep boneless, skinless chicken and individually frozen fish in my freezer. Then you can cook them quickly and avoid tons of salt.

Here are some links for you:

You are welcome, and thank you! I thought of your question yesterday....I cooked a chicken breast for lunch yesterday...;) Report It

Eat A lot of Fruits

don't eat pre-packaged foods. Don't eat out.

only eat food you have prepared from scratch.

All food packaging consists of a nutritional label. Anything high in Sodium is going to be high in salt.

Choose foods with low sodium, and you should be ok. There are lots of dieting websites that talk about sodium.

This one is easy as 1 2 3 all you have to do is not use salt you can use pepper red or black you can use onions and this will give your food flavor.
Also stay away from fast food take out since these foods are high in sodium. Lot of salt in those fries...

avoid anything thats pickled. avoid junk-food. (always has salt.) Aim for salad with little dressing, fruits, and vegetables. If this doesnt help, talk to someone who can help you go on a diet.

Tough to do but not impossible. Primarily you must be motivated to do the right thing. Say no to the salty stuff that you like so much. Eat frozen vegetables rather than canned. Do not add salt to what you cook. if you make an effort to live a low sodium life you can do it with a little effort.

From my own experience cooking with Mrs's Dash work's really well.You
can apply it to whatever you like. Just staying away from chips, sodas,
fried foods, Chinese food, and fast food places is hard but if your serious about it you can do it, I did and drink distilled water I lost alot of weight
doing this also if you can walk about two miles anytime during the day
it help boost your metabolism.

I need to watch my salt intake because of high blood pressure issues, and understand your predicament. here are some tips that i've found usefull:
1) Read labels on food packaging and choose lesser salty items.
2) Don't add extra salt to your food. Most prepared foods already have hefty amounts of salt in them. Fast food french fries are heavily salted before being served.
3) drink lots of water to help flush your system of excess sodium and toxins.
4) when you prepare your own food, use herbs and spices instead of salt to season your dishes.
The Heart and Stroke Foundation recommends a daily max of1500mg of salt. Chips, salted nuts, fast food, many prepared foods make that almost impossible to attain if you're not watching what you eat very carefully.
To put that 1500 mg of salt into perspective, let's say you go to Mcdonald's and have a Big Mac, medium fries with ketchup, and four McNuggets w/bbq sauce. You have just ingested in one "meal" a whopping 2140 mg of salt!