[thesusanone]

I have never been very concerned about sodium content in foods before joining core. But recently, I heard some women discussing on the WW core board how sodium can affect your weigh-in. So I found myself trying to eat less salty food the two days before weigh-in. But then I got to thinking about how this is a lifestyle, not just something I try to do a better job for the weigh-in. So I was wondering, are there some tips for reducing sodium in recipes?

I'll give you example. I made WW's Spicy Black Bean Soup. It called for some canned ingredients, such as black beans, tomatoes, and corn. It also called for onion and garlic, cumin, chicken broth, and crushed red pepper. It didn't say to add any salt at all. But it tasted too salty to me!

So I realized that all those salty ingredients must add up and contribute to that canned, salty flavor.

I was daydreaming about possibly adding a whole bunch of baked garlic, for an added smoky flavor. I'm not sure if that would be good or too much. But I figured I could also use black beans cooked from scratch without any salt, and some chopped, fresh tomato. I could use low sodium or "no salt added" canned goods too.

Is there anything else I could add to minimize the need for salt? How about lemon juice? Would that be good in the black bean soup?

Do you know any tips for reducing sodium?

I know of one easy one: buy the cook and serve sf/ff pudding mix instead of the instant kind: It has a lot less sodium! Look at the labels the next time you are marketing and you'll see!

[sloanie]

Susan-there may be some recipes on the heart association web site. Also, if you don't know, a low sodium diet for a heart patient would be either 2000mg or 3000mg/day depending on doctors orders. If you start totaling up how much sodium you are getting, you may be surprised! Also, there are several brands of canned goods, soups included, that are low sodium. You could try some of them.