243: How to Eat Low Sodium For Health and Still Enjoy Delicious Tasting Meals You'll Love

Speaker 1:
1:30

Hello PlainBasedFriend, we are so happy to have you joining us again today. Jared and I are thrilled to have you here and if it's your first time joining us, welcome to the. Pops family. Today we're talking about something that we get asked about all the time, and that is salt or sodium content in your food. Now, the reason this is such a popular topic number one is we've all grown up hearing don't eat salt. Salt's not good for you.

Speaker 2:
1:54

It's bad for you.

Speaker 1:
1:55

Yeah, but our bodies require some sodium, but not nearly the amounts that most of us are getting. So in the plant-based space you'll hear SOS. Well, I want SOS free. Well, that's salt, oil and sugar. We are oil-free, we eat mostly sugar-free and mostly salt-free or very low salt. So we can show you how to do all those things and how to decrease it. You can go completely salt-oil-sugar-free. That is totally fine. The closer you get to that odds are, the healthier you are going to be, because whole-plant foods naturally have some sodium in them anyway. So today we're going to share some ideas with you about how do I decrease the salt. This is super important for you to learn, because you don't know where it's hiding. How are you getting so much? Maybe you think, oh, I already eat low salt. Well, this may be a rude awakening for you because we thought for a long time we were eating low salt because we weren't grabbing the salt container on the table and shaking it on. But today we're going to show you some places that salt may be sneaking into your life and how you can more easily decrease it and still be happy about it. Hey sister, welcome to the Power On Plants podcast. Are you tired of staring into the fridge wondering what to eat so you can just feel better? Do you want to avoid spending hours in the kitchen making complicated meals in the name of help? Would you love to leave fatigue behind and finally have the energy to do all the things you want to do? Hi, we're shared in the Need to Resale Christ followers, healthcare professionals, parents of four and big fans of great tasting food. We, too, tried exercising more, eating natural and clean foods, but we still found ourselves struggling with what we thought were changes that come with age or bad genes, and we weren't finding answers to traditional routes. So we dug into the research and created our secret nutritional weapon sustainable plant-based living. The truth is, you can eat more whole plant foods, and it's not hard. You just need the way. That's realistic and delicious so you never feel deprived. If you're ready to enjoy your meals, no longer be held back by your health struggles and actively live your life, then you're in the right place. So grab your favorite plant-based cup of happy pop in those earbuds and let's get started. Salt we all like the taste of it. Well, maybe, if you've been doing no salt for a long time, you don't like it as much, because I can tell you your taste buds are going to change. I eat way less salt than I used to. All of our family members do. We don't just reach for something and shake it on there without tasting our food. That is the first step. If you're wanting to decrease your salt intake, that's the first step.

Speaker 2:
4:35

But you're still tasting salt. It's just you're able to taste the salt naturally present in foods when it's at lower amounts. Oh yeah, you totally notice it. I don't think it would be inappropriate to say we all love salt. Some just love it way more than others.

Speaker 1:
4:50

That's true, and we've kind of been trained by the foods we eat, because odds are you don't know how much you're eating. Unless you've really been looking at the sodium content already in your foods, you will not believe. It will blow your mind and this is the first step to getting the salt out of your life is looking at the ingredients label. But before we go there, I just want to talk a little bit about why is it important that you start removing some of the added salt from your diet. Again, we're not talking about the salt shaker here. What you're just shaking on it is sneaking in and the pre-prepared products you're buying, even the healthier ones yes, those diced tomatoes that you buy and you're putting in your soup or in your stews. If you're buying that, turn that over and start looking at the sodium and we're gonna talk about how to read that and figure that out now.

Speaker 2:
5:35

What are we turning over? Are we turning that puppy over? We're turning that puppy over hashtag.

Speaker 1:
5:40

You know we are Susan, that was for you. You know you love it when I say that. Oh my word. But it's true. Right, you got to turn that puppy over and look at the ingredients label. But why? Why does it matter? Okay, if you have high blood pressure, it can raise your blood pressure even more. It can be one of the causes, one of the Because, goodness knows, the animal products are right in there with causing high blood pressure.

Speaker 2:
6:04

It's not just the salt that and the pressed out refined oils.

Speaker 1:
6:09

Yes, absolutely all can cause blood pressure problems, because they cause damage to your blood vessels. It can. The salt pulls more liquid into your bloodstream, so that causes your pressure to raise.

Speaker 2:
6:19

But it also inhibits nitric oxide production, which is necessary to maintain a normal, healthy lining within your blood vessels, which prevents things from sticking, but it also helps to reduce inflammation. That allows the vessels to stretch every time your heart beats, because when they don't, the pressure goes up. Your heart has to work harder, and it's just a cascade of events.

Speaker 1:
6:40

So the nitric oxide causes the blood vessels to be able to relax, and we want nitric oxide there. So those are a couple of the reasons why you don't want to be eating a load of salt in your life. It can cause swelling, it can cause inflammation, it can cause your blood pressure to go up. It's just one of those things that you want to start getting less of in your life Now, before you start just worrying about everything, because sometimes when you come into this way of living, you think I've got to do it All. So if you start thinking, oh great, now they're taking my salt away, look, just start eating more plants. Okay, this is like next step. Or if you're ready to just go all in off, all whole food, plant-based, no added salt or sugar, do what we know from working with most of our clients and which is why you'll see Salt optional and some of our recipes or some sugar added into our recipes. It's very rare as occasional dessert or two. We just rarely use it because we want to be eating the healthy things. Right, but we want to make the transition Easier for you and so we might put on there. Hey, if you want this to taste like what you're used to when you're first starting out, put a little pinch of salt, but then you've got to start being aware of where is that salt coming into my life? Where is it sneaking in that I don't even know, like those cans of diced tomatoes? You won't believe that. Salsa, pizza sauces, bottle dressings I'm talking the healthier ones that you think are everywhere you turn it over and you're thinking this isn't healthier. This has almost 50% of my daily salt. 20% of my daily salt. It's unbelievable mustard. Turn your mustard over and look at your favorite Mustard and please, please did. The next step is when you're reading that ingredients label junk. Just look at, does it have it? Where does it fall on the ingredients label? Look at how much sodium is in that serving. You might think, oh, 20% isn't too bad in a tea span. You know. You can start thinking, wait a minute, okay, I've got to look at the serving size. What is the serving size? And then you want to start looking at other options, like, let's say, I've got two sauces, okay, and I'm looking at both of them and they're both whole food, plant based, and wow, I found two that actually have no oil at all. Score, I found two that have no sugar in them. Score. Now you start looking at the sodium. Oh, I'm not all salt or all sugar free, right. So which one has the least amount? If I'm not gonna make my sauce at home, which is very easy, it's something that I can show you easily how to do inside the group coaching program. But what you want to do is start making some more of the things in a way that takes five minutes. But if you just got to have that grab and go, grab and go because we all need some of that. We most, all of us just want like a jar of sauce that in our fridge or in our pantry and we all know, we all understand what that's like. So take those two and look and compare the amount of sodium in them. You will not believe the variation that there is. But when you do it, please come here the serving size, because one may be giving you sodium for one tablespoon, the other for two tablespoons big difference and a big thing to be aware of is don't just look at the sodium content on the label.

Speaker 2:
9:51

Look at the added salt, because tomatoes have sodium in them, naturally. You are never going to find a zero milligram sodium tomato product because it doesn't exist, right, it's in there naturally. Once you're used to not having a lot of salt added, you'll naturally taste the sodium present within foods. So look at the added sodium, not just the sodium content. And another aspect of looking at serving size that kind of stuff gets manipulated Because they'll say, oh, this is just a quarter teaspoon size so that it makes it look like you only have five milligrams of sodium, right, and whatever the product may be maybe it's ketchup, just kind of staying with the tomato theme there- it has a lot of use more than just maybe half a teaspoon or a teaspoon, so you do want to be aware of how much is in the serving size plus. It also lets you compare apples to apples.

Speaker 1:
10:40

Yeah, ask yourself how much of this do I usually eat when I use it? So if it's ketchup or mustard, do I usually only eat a teaspoon? Do I usually only eat two teaspoons, or am I just squirting it freely into that salad dressing I'm making with balsamic vinegar? Okay, then you've got to really be aware of how much I'm putting in there, and the more you back off on the waste that's been sneaking in, like Jared said, the more you're gonna taste it.

Speaker 2:
11:03

And then looking at the label. Now we don't want you to dwell on the amount of sodium, but if you're trying to compare between two different products and maybe one says a teaspoon is a serving size and the other one says a half teaspoon, then you will want to look at what the sodium is for that serving and then you can compare, you can calculate. So if you need to Maybe double one of it, that says a half teaspoon to a teaspoon, then again You're comparing comparable numbers with one another, apples to apples, absolutely, or salts to salts. Yes, salt to salt.

Speaker 1:
11:37

Okay, so Do look at where can I get the least sodium in a product that has no oil and no sugar, you know? And just compare those products and that's where we start. And then you wanna look at also what can I buy that is no salt added? Like I said, it sneaks in a lot in the diced tomatoes, and there are diced tomatoes, there are strained tomato products, there are whole tomato products that are out there. There's tomato paste out there that has no added salt. That's what you wanna be looking for.

Speaker 2:
12:09

Another example of for something that we get with no salt added that we look for specifically would be stuff like canned beans or any canned product in general.

Speaker 1:
12:16

You won't believe. Just think of things you don't even think salt is added to and start flipping that puppy over. So get in your pantry, flip over the beans, flip over the things that you don't even think about salt being added to because they don't taste salty. You won't believe how much sodium's in there.

Speaker 2:
12:31

But don't get overwhelmed. No, just one or two products at a time. You'll find your new favorites. You get your habits. Don't go into it thinking I've gotta revamp my entire pantry, unless you just want to, then by all means go ahead. Yeah, sometimes I think that's easier.

Speaker 1:
12:45

Honestly, Jared says one at a time and it is easier for some people. But if you know that you wanna go all in and you really want to feel better, step one is go all in with all plants, 100% go all in, it's easier. We've done a podcast about it. Go back and look forward and listen to it. We've probably done several podcasts where we've talked about that because it really they found and we found that it's so much easier to transition. You think it's not gonna be easier, but it's easier because your body changes so much more rapidly, start getting the results and your taste buds start changing.

Speaker 2:
13:15

You're not just putting those things in every day that are gonna sabotage you Well, you also get excited and invigorated by the changes that you're hoping to get. You get them faster. And then you realize, wow, this is really working. Cause if you do things gradually, sometimes you may also get those results gradually.

Speaker 1:
13:32

But do it the way it works for you. But I would say, with salt if that freaks you out too much and it's like I'm going all in already. You know, now you're telling me I can't have salt. We're not saying that. What we're saying is this is another thing to look at, to up your health to the next level. And it really is important to look at that, especially looking at where it's sneaking in, because if you're conscious about salt and the amount of sodium you're eating, you're probably already not grabbing a salt shaker and shaking it on at the table anyway. So you want to know where it's sneaking in and start just becoming aware of that so you can make the best choices for yourself and your family. And every time you just won't need it that you taste the salt and things. That's naturally there, like Jared was saying earlier.

Speaker 2:
14:14

And if you're buying commercially available food products, it's sneaking in.

Speaker 1:
14:18

Oh yeah, I mean it is.

Speaker 2:
14:20

There's no question about it. Yes, you just have to keep. Yeah, you gotta keep a lookout for it.

Speaker 1:
14:24

No, it blew my mind at first because I thought with things like the beans that you brought up, they didn't taste salty, they didn't taste good. I was used to making homemade beans at home, so I season my beans at home with herbs and spices. We get our greens and all kinds of amazing things in there and it's just seriously. You put them in some water and press start. But if you're in a hurry, sometimes you like to just have a can of beans or two, or three or 10 in your pantry. It's nice, but it shocked me because it doesn't taste salty. But I've turned it over and, looking and going, I cannot believe how much sodium's in this and they just don't taste salty. So there it was, sneaking in and I didn't even know it. So the last thing I want to mention here is, when you start taking things out, what do we always say? You want to put something back in its place. So you're not gonna stop eating all salt, adding all salt to everything not have salt added to anything 100% and then be happy about the way your food tastes. I'm just gonna tell you that's not gonna happen. So if you want one simple way, I just wanna share one strategy because it's one thing, and then one thing just do that one thing. What's that one thing you're gonna do today? All right, you're going to flip it over and look at the labels and start choosing the best products for yourself. The next thing you're gonna do. The one thing is find ways to replace that flavor. A step in the right direction is miso. Miso is high sodium. I'm not gonna tell you you're gonna be taking out salt. It's kind of like a healthy bullion option. If you have high blood pressure, it's probably not best for you to start eating a whole lot of miso? But miso adds flavor to your food at the same time. It's even, I think, a better flavor than salt. But it is salty. It's a high sodium product, but what they have found, and what Dr Greger has talked about, is that it does not negatively affect your vessels the way that just plain sodium does. There's something in the fermentation process that actually makes it much healthier for your blood vessels, so that's something to consider when you're replacing salt.

Speaker 2:
16:24

And that's something positively affects nitric oxide production. I don't know if they know exactly what that is just yet, but whatever happens in fermentation still allows for nitric oxide to work and function like it should.

Speaker 1:
16:38

And so that's something to consider. But if you're really wanting to come off sodium and I think it's a great idea what you'll want to look at is what is something I can add that doesn't have sodium added. That still gives me that salty kind of flavor that replaces the strong the punch of it, and if you think about a punch and something that's gonna bring us tears as a punch to your food, you want to start getting vinegar, more vinegar. This is one thing I did. I started adding more to my sauces that I put on my baked potatoes so that I wasn't sprinkling salt on top. Look at them. There's great variety of vinegar out there Different types balsamic, acv, pomegranate. I could go on and on. Start exploring vinegars.

Speaker 2:
17:24

And sometimes it takes just a little bit. I mean you can add it in a sauce to get a lot of flavor, but on a food that's maybe not a sauce, you can take just a little bit. And you mentioned Dr Michael Greger. He's a huge proponent of adding just a little bit of vinegar into your food daily, just for the health benefits.

Speaker 1:
17:39

We love it. I have it in a lot of my sauces and things and I just sprinkle it over my salad. Sometimes it's one of the easiest things to add on top of your salad, on top of your potato, on top of a dish just to give it a little bite. I love vinegar. It tastes so good. I could go on and on about vinegar, but this is an episode about salt and I don't want you freaking out. This is just another thing to consider. To next level, your health. We always want you to next level, next level, but it's next level, no pressure. Okay, you're gonna do this in a way that you actually enjoy. That's always gonna include finding your new favorites, and vinegar here is gonna be key for you. So, when it comes to getting more sodium out of your life, one of the most important things is to find out number one where is is sneaking in, and to do that you've got to.

Speaker 2:
18:24

Flip that puppy over.

Speaker 1:
18:25

Flip that puppy over, look at the ingredients list, find out which one has the most and compare apples to apples, like Jared said. So in order to do that, you've gotta look at the serving size, because one might be one tablespoon, one might be two tablespoons and always remember to look for the no salt added options. And if you are still shaking salt on at the table, don't do it, just don't do it. Find new ways to replace those flavors that you love, and one of the best ways you can do that is vinegar. Also, miso is a consideration, but I would still say don't go overboard on that, because it does have sodium. But we shared what Dr Michael Greger said he likes it, he uses it on a regular basis and he digs, digs, digs into that research, and so that's another option too. But I'd say my favorite option, as someone who has decreased and decreased and decreased the sodium in our life, is balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar, pomegranate, all these different vinegars that are out there just waiting for you to explore. Get on that, because you are gonna not believe the flavor that that is gonna add to your food and the ability that you'll have to decrease salt.

Speaker 2:
19:32

And just increasing the nutrient content. Because you're increasing the variety of the things that you're eating.

Speaker 1:
19:38

Yeah, if you know, most of us didn't eat a lot of vinegar back in the day. I know I didn't.

Speaker 2:
19:42

Other than maybe like a distilled white vinegar, which that's chemically made, that didn't have the health benefits of a naturally fermented apple cider vinegar or rice wine vinegar, Just the I'm sure the list is endless out there.

Speaker 1:
19:53

Yeah, don't eat white vinegar. Just don't do it Clean with it, don't eat it.

Speaker 2:
19:57

Yes, yeah, pretty much that we have it and that's all we do with it is. We'll use it for cleaning, maybe disinfecting countertops.

Speaker 1:
20:05

Absolutely. This has been such a fun episode sharing this with you. That should clear up a lot of confusion around salt and where it's hiding, and what do I eat instead? I've gotta have those good taste and flavors in my food. We want you to have that. We are not asking you to leave flavor behind. You know that. We're all about making it quick, simple and what.

Speaker 2:
20:27

Delicious, delicious. You can't spell delicious without flavor.

Speaker 1:
20:31

Yeah, it definitely has flavor in the spelling, absolutely.

Speaker 2:
20:34

It's just hidden between the letters of delicious.

Speaker 1:
20:38

Thank you for joining us for another episode of Power On Plants. We love hearing from you and getting to know you more. We're in the process right now, at the time of this recording, getting our free podcast, insider's Community, up and running, and we would love to meet you there. We're gonna place the link below in this description Listen, sister, as soon as we have that up, and brothers too, come on in and join us. We are so looking forward to meeting you and hearing your questions around plant-based and it's just gonna be a fun place for all of you together and finally get to meet one another as well. Click the link and pop on in there and we will look forward to meeting you and seeing you and hanging out with you more there. And until next time, we hope you have a great week and we'll see you on Power On Plants. Don't forget to watch the previous episode of Power On Plants now.