I am retaining too much water with the baby, so I need to cut down on my salt and sodium intake... I need ideas for food that is low in salt or sodium...
usually pre-packaged food is pretty high in salt. Your best bet would be to prepare your own food, so you know exactly how much you are adding. And, if you start experimenting with herbs and spices, you'll need less and less salt.
Fruit and veggies are naturally low in sodium, and some of them have diuretic effects: fennel for sure, but I remember reading that even potatoes are diuretic. Carbs, esp simple carbs, help retain liquids, so you might want to watch for them. I am talking especially about simple sugars.
Also, check the labels when you buy stuff: for example, lots of crushed tomatoes have salt added: not a big deal, but you have to take it into account: I use it but don't add salt to wherever I put them (soup, sauce, or so on). Or some PB have salt: check the label and buy the one without sodium. And so on...
You might want to do a search on the web: some herbs are diuretic, you can buy them in a natural food store and make tea with them. Some taste better than others (I am at the point where I can pretty much drink anything without even adding sweeteners, but you have to get used to that). I have to check for their name in english, don't remember now. You can PM me if you want, and I'll reply as soon as I fugure it out.
I used to have a huge bloating problem before my period. I mean, huge, really. And I was already watching my salt intake! I found that it went away by eliminating all soy-derivated foods. This might not work for everyone, I think it's pretty personal, but if you are eating lots of them you might give it a try.
hope this helps, and again, PM me if you need more info!
When my trainer has me on a low sodium diet, I drank a TON of distilled water. It's sodium free, I never knew that bottled water had sodium in it, but apparently it does.
Get deli meat instead of lunch meat, and echoing what Metric and ico said, stay away from pre-packaged and canned everything. Just buy everything fresh. easier said than done by the way. I found myself going to the grocery store several times a week...ugh.
And I know this sounds obvious, but if you do have to buy canned or pre-packaged, look for those marked low-sodium. I got hooked on low-sodium chicken noodle soup.
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It's pronounced "Johnny," like the boys name....but spelled like an Indian Zuchini.