Hi! I'm new to this list, and enjoying it very much so far. I was vegan
for several years, strayed from vegetarianism, and am now returning for
health reasons. Because my boyfriend has high blood pressure, high
cholesterol, and a family history of heart disease, we are opting for a vlf
vegetarian diet.
For the person wanting to cut back on sodium, here are some tips:
Eliminating processed foods as much as possible will be very important.
Hidden sources of salt in your diet may be canned tomatoes and canned beans.
It's very hard to find salt-free versions. I solved the canned bean problem
by cooking my own in a slow cooker. I soak the dried beans the night
before, then in the morning, I toss them in the crockpot, cover with water,
and leave to cook on low all day. When I get home from work, I have
salt-free, cooked beans, ready to go into whatever recipe. The crockpot is a
really worthwhile investment if you like to cook with beans.
Tomatoes are another issue. Parmalat sells boxes of chopped tomatoes with
no added salt. Be careful and read labels, because their tomato puree, on
the other hand, does have salt. That is the only brand I have found.
Jarred tomato sauces are also deadly. One local store sells a fat-free,
no-salt brand, which is not half bad. I think the brand is called Mother
Theresa's.
We had a consultation w/ a nutritionist, and she said not to worry about
"high-sodium" vegetables, like celery. Compared to the amount of salt you
would get from table salt or processed foods, this is negligible.
Hope that info is useful.
Melissa