low sodium – A Different Beet Nutrition

Know Your Labels: Sodium

To follow up with my post last week about High Blood Pressure, I thought I’d share about what the food labels about sodium mean. Sodium is something that we now have wide access to. It is a minor mineral that is vital to our well being. It helps put water into the cells, and another mineral (potassium) helps with taking it out. We need both otherwise our cells would not be hydrated and we’d dry up, and without potassium we’d keep holding onto liquid until we burst. However, since sodium is so prevalent in the foods we buy, especially fast food, prepared and preserved foods, we can get too much which can cause swelling and increase our blood pressure since the volume of liquid would have increased.

Knowing what’s being marketed to you is important, and knowing exactly what labels mean when they refer to sodium is important as well. Let’s dig in!

Salt vs. Sodium

A lot of times these words are used interchangeably on labels or when we talk about salt or sodium, but there is a slight difference. Salt (or sodium chloride) is the crystal-like compound that is abundant in nature and is what we use to sprinkle on foods. Sodium is a mineral that partly makes up salt and is the water retaining mineral that our cells use.

Nutrition Labels & Salt/Sodium

For an average 2,000 calorie a day diet, the recommended amount of sodium is 2,300 mg per day or less. That is just an average. This is not including if you are trying to decrease your blood pressure or have been told to lessen your sodium for other health reasons. For instance, for those with high blood pressure cutting back to 1,500 mg a day is recommended and even going as low as 1,000 mg a day can improve your blood pressure and heart health.

Salt/Sodium Free: Less than 5mg of sodium per serving
Very Low Sodium: 35 mg of sodium or less per serving
Low Sodium: 140 mg of sodium or less per serving
Reduced Sodium: at least 25% less sodium than the regular product
Light in Sodium or Lightly Salted: at least 50% less sodium than the regular product

And now here’s the tricky one.

No-Salt-Added or Unsalted: No salt is added during processing – BUT these products may not be salt/sodium free unless stated as such. It just means that no salt was added during processing but doesn’t mean the ingredients of the product doesn’t have sodium/salt.

Is Salt Really That Bad For You?

If you would like more information about salt/sodium and see how it is beneficial and when having more sodium than usual might be beneficial, check out out my earlier post “Is Salt Really Bad For You and Your Heart?” to get a better perspective for your own personal health.

Bottom Line

If you are needing to watch your salt intake or are worried about high blood pressure that is in your family history, then try limiting your sodium/salt intake to 1,500-2,300 mg a day. Eating fresh produce, making food at home, not eating prepared meals or frozen meals, and making sure to buy canned food with “sodium free”, “low sodium”, “no salt added” (if it’s vegetables or beans), can help with reducing your sodium. The link above for the “Is Salt Really Bad for You and Your Heart?” post, I also have different seasoning combinations you can use instead of salt that you can try to add first when cooking, and then add a small amount of salt when needed. The post last week has some tips on what you can do with your lifestyle to help reduce blood pressure as well.

Sodium is something we need to survive, but with everything there needs to be a balance and not excess.

Do you find it hard to stay away from salt?

Is Salt Really Bad for You and Your Heart?

Since February is Heart Health month, I wanted to post something about how salt affects your health! There has been a lot of talk recently about different kinds of salt and their healthy benefits, and then you hear about how you should be staying away from it. So which is it?

What is Salt?

Salt is Sodium (40%) Chloride (60%). These are both two minerals, and are both electrolytes. In a nutshell electrolytes regulate the flow of water in and out of the cells and sparks nerve impulses. They make sure our cells are hydrated, so we don’t shrivel up and die, and enables the transition of nerve impulses to help keep our bodies functioning. Think of your involuntary muscles that keep your heart beating, your lungs opening, and even the electrical impulses in the brain. Electrolytes are very important. Which is why replenishing electrolytes after and while sweating for an hour or more from exercising or being in the heat for hours is so important.

What about specifically salt? What does it do?

Sodium

Muscle Contractions, losing sodium through sweat or fluid can cause cramps in athletes
Maintains Nerve Function
Regulates Blood Volume
Regulates Blood Pressure

Chloride

Carries an Electrical Charge
Essential for Nerve Impulses
Essential for Fluid Balance

But with anything, too much of even a good thing can be bad.

Salt Sensitivity

There are some who can increase their salt intake and it does not effect them. Then there are some of those who with the slightest increase of salt increases their blood pressure and wrecks havoc on their body.

Salt & Blood Pressure

Keeping in mind there are some that are more sensitive to salt than others for various reasons, an excess of salt naturally will cause more water to be retained in your blood, increasing your blood volume. Increased blood volume increases the pressure and can make it harder for your heart to pump. The extra stress on the heart and blood vessels can then lead to high blood pressure and heart disease.

Also note that it’s not just salt that is a factor in blood pressure and heart disease. Fat intake and cholesterol levels are the major concern, but in a person with high blood pressure and/or high cholesterol, salt can be like adding another log on the fire.

Are There Certain Salts That Are Better Than Others?

There has been a lot of talk about different salts. Pink Himalayan salt, Celtic salt, Sea Salt, and so on. “They” say these salts are better for you than regular table salt. Let’s take a minute to compare.

Table salt is processed and does have some anti-caking additives.
Table salt has iodine added to it which in needed for thyroid health.
Himalayan, Celtic, and Sea salt are less refined and processed and contain a small percentage (2%) of other minerals like calcium and potassium.
Because the more natural salts are usually bigger flakes and they don’t have additives, you don’t have to use as much and it is “saltier”.
- However, it’s the same amount of sodium chloride.

There are some benefits to Himalayan, Celtic, and Sea salts, but it might not be as big of a benefit as you might have thought it was when we are talking about it’s affect on the heart. Just because it’s said to be “healthier” it doesn’t mean you can have more of it because it’s pink. It’s still sodium chloride.

Just like some people are more sensitive to different types of caffeine, some might react better to certain types of salt. But chemically speaking, sodium chloride is sodium chloride. With that being said, I am all for the more natural variety of things. There is a reason why other minerals and chemicals are together in their original state, why strip them of it? At the same time, don’t be scared of table salt.

Recommendations & Lifestyle

Salt, or sodium chloride is still very much needed in your diet and plays vital roles in your body. The recommended daily intake of sodium a day is 2,300 milligrams (mg). Those with heart complications and specifically high blood pressure the RDA is no more than 1,500 mg. And realize that sodium is not just in salt, it’s in other foods as well, it’s a mineral.

Sodium helps your cells to hydrate and retain water. Too much can cause pressure in your circulatory system which makes it harder on your heart which can then start to cause damage or add to the damage already there. If your system already retains too much water or you already have cardiovascular complications, then a low sodium diet is something you should look into.

Salt is not the cause of heart problems, but it does affect it. With the foods that are widely available now, most being processed, and more people not cooking and buying already prepared foods, we can easily meet our 2,300 mg recommended intake. If you do cook at home, what can we do to help reduce the amount of sodium?

Here are a few ideas on how to cook with less sodium. Check out these herbs, spices, wines and vinegars to add while cooking instead of salt.

Carrots: Cinnamon, cloves, dill, ginger, nutmeg, rosemary, sage, white wine
Corn: Cumin, curry powder, parsley, chili powder, paprika
Green Beans: Dill, lemon juice, marjoam, oregano, tarragon, thyme
Tomatoes: Basil, dill, onion, oregano, parsley, pepper, lemon juice, chili powder, red wine, balsamic vinegar
Fish: Curry powder, dill, dry mustard, lemon juice, paprika, pepper, garlic powder, white wine
Chicken: Poultry seasoning, rosemary, sage, tarragon, thyme, mustard powder, garlic powder, curry powder, lemon juice, chili powder, cumin, white wine, red wine, balsamic vinegar
Pork: Garlic, onion, sage, pepper, oregano, Italian seasoning, rosemary, chili powder, white wine
Beef: Marjoram, nutmeg, sage, thyme, red wine, balsamic vinegar

If you are not dairy-free you can always sprinkle parmesan on just about anything, which has a small amount of sodium, or you can use nutritional yeast on just about anything too.

If you have heart complications and need to watch your sodium intake, you can check out the “DASH diet” if you have not already. It’s a way of eating that focuses on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins and has more tips on how to reduce sodium in your diet. Check out more information about it here.

Apple, Pear & Cranberry Cobbler

Fall and winter scream for baked desserts. Having some of my favorites like pumpkin pie, apple dumplings, cinnamon rolls, and so much more, are always on the list once the weather gets cooler, but you don’t always have to have a dessert that is all that bad for you. I was shocked, and so was the rest of my family, about how delicious and rich this was. After a serving of this we were all satisfied and full. Let’s first talk about the main ingredients in most desserts – sugar, flour, and fat – and see how this dessert, although still being calorie dense, is changed for the healthier.

The Sweetener

Sugar is sugar, is sugar is sugar. Juice, maple syrup, honey, agave, turbinado sugar, date sugar, refined sugar – it’s sugar. However, using unrefined sources for a sweetener like maple syrup, honey, and orange juice still adds sugar but is not from highly processed sources.

With that in mind, in this dessert some of the sugar is from the broken down apples and pears. They are full of natural sugar and by keeping the peels on, you also keep the fiber in the dessert. When cooking there will be a loss of nutrients, but fiber pretty much stays the same which is good when we are talking about a dessert with sugar. Fiber allows the sugar to be absorbed at a slower rate so having something sweet with fiber (like fruit naturally has) does help your body absorb sugar at a slower pace and has more time to use it for energy instead of immediately being dosed with it and storing right away because of the overload. Not to mention the blood sugar spike.

The Flour

This recipe doesn’t use any flour. I only uses oats to create a crunchy topping. So if you are gluten free, make sure to use gluten-free oats. Using oats you can keep it whole food and nothing has been processed and stripped of anything. Plus to fact that we still keep that fiber in there as well.

The Fat

As you may know there are the “good” fats and the “bad” fats. An easy rule of thumb to tell the difference is if the fat/oil is solid at room temperature.

For instance butter and shortening is soft, but is still solid at room temperature. This means it is saturated fat or “bad” fat. This is fat that is easily stored and is known to increase LDL cholesterol.
Unsaturated fat is liquid at room temperature like olive oil, vegetable oil, and canola oil. These oils are known as the “good” fats. They are easily used in the body and can have some nutritional value because of Omega fatty acids. For instance, olive oil, has been known to decrease “bad” LDL cholesterol when replacing unsaturated fats.

In this recipe I use either canola or vegetable oil in the oat mixture to make sure it doesn’t burn and also creates a crunchy top. You’ll find that all in all, for a baked dessert, there is not a lot of oil added.

Apple Pear Cranberry Cobbler

Unprocessed source of sugar & is partly from the broken down cooked fruit
Oats only, no flour to keep it whole food
Unsaturated “good” fat, no “bad” fats

This is still a dessert and calorie dense, but it’s so worth it! Plus the added facts of it being a whole food dessert, easy, low-sodium, and the fat is good unsaturated fats. Enjoy!

Apple, Pear, & Cranberry Cobbler

Servings: 12 servings, about 1 cup each
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Ingredients

3 apples, chopped, I use honey crisp apples
2 pears, chopped
12 oz. bag cranberries
4 tbsp cornstarch or arrowroot
4 tbsp water
1 cup Grade A maple syrup
4 tbsp fresh orange juice
4 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp cinnamon
2 1/2 cups old fashion oats *See note
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup canola oil
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp nutmeg

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Chop your apples and pears and add to a 9×13 baking pan. No need to prepare the pan with oil or butter before adding anything, leave it dry. Whisk together the corn starch or arrowroot with the water in a small bowl until starch is dissolved. Add to the starch mixture the maple syrup, orange juice, balsamic vinegar, vanilla, and cinnamon. Whisk together. Pour over fruit and gently mix to coat with the wet mixture.
In a medium bowl add oats, honey, canola oil, cinnamon, and nutmeg and stir together. Once mixed together, pour lightly over top of the fruit and spread around to cover the top.
Bake on 350 degrees F for 50-55 minutes or until oats start to brown and the fruit is bubbling on the sides. Your house will smell wonderful!
Let cool for about 5 minutes after taking it out of the oven and serve!

If you are gluten free, make sure to buy gluten free oats. I was not aware of this until a friend had told me about how oats can easily be cross-contaminated with other things that include gluten. Make sure to find gluten-free oats.

Nutritional Information

About 1 cup serving

Macro Sources

69% Carbohydrates | 26% Fat | 5% Protein

Dietary Servings per Portion

1.2 Fruit
1.8 Grain

Chloe Coscarelli’s Golden Gravy

I had to share with you one of my favorite gravy recipes from Chloe Coscarelli. She is a vegan chef and I have used her first recipe book, Chloe’s Kitchen, front to back. This is her Golden Gravy recipe and I wanted to share it with you for a few reasons. Yes, this is a plant-based recipe for gravy but that’s not why I’m sharing it. Compared to your average beef/turkey broth version with flour and butter, this version gives some nutritional value without sacrificing any flavor.

Benefits

Less sodium
Less fat
High in B Vitamins
High in Fiber
Gives us 30% of the daily Omega 3s

Something I’ve learned – taking pictures of gravy is not as easy as it looks!

Chloe Coscarelli's Golden Gravy

Servings: 1/2 cup, about 6 servings
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Ingredients

2 tbsp canola oil
1 large onion, roughly chopped
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1/2 cup flour
2 cups water
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp garlic powder
Salt and Pepper

Directions

In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium-high heat and sauté onion until soft. Add nutritional yeast and flour, and stir for about 1 minute. Add water, soy sauce, thyme and garlic powder. Continue to cook, whisking continuously, until mixture is very thick. Transfer gravy to a blender and purée until smooth. Adjust seasonings, and add salt and pepper to taste.

Nutritional Information

Soy Free Version

Because of my allergy to soy, instead of soy sauce I’ve substituted Worcestershire sauce instead. Chef Chloe also has a Soy-Free Soy Sauce that I’ve made before to use in this recipe.

Chloe Coscarelli's Soy-Free Soy Sauce

Ingredients

1 cup vegetable broth
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp molasses
1 tsp sea salt
Pinch garlic powder
Pinch ground ginger

Directions

Combine all of the ingredients in a small saucepan.
Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently.
Reduce heat to medium and allow to lightly boil for 5 minutes. Allow to cool then store in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.