Living a long healthy self-sufficient salt free lifestyle

[liz stevens]

Health issues may catch you and your family right in the middle of an economic collapse, exactly where most preppers dont want to or plan to be.

No matter how much you want to escape, one of the largest challenges of living truly self-sufficient will be the dependency on health care and living with debilitating health issues. These can be health issues that require you or a family member to live close to a large health system in order to take care of weekly health care needs or to obtain life saving drugs.

Such health care needs as being tethered to a dialysis machine three times a week, will make it impossible to escape the confines of society and the dependency on infrastructure as we know it today.

Living healthy and maintaining a healthy lifestyle with a focus on not becoming dependent on health care, drugs or machines should be at the top of every prepper list.

For example high sodium along with obesity is the main factor why our health care system has become so overburdened with diseases and disabilities. These are severe and debilitating health issues that have been brought on or attributed to high sodium content over a person first 40- 50 years of life.

High blood pressure, heart and kidney failure, are all influenced with high sodium diets. As we age our bodies are not able to keep up and overcome the damage already done as these health issues begin to surface. Most can minimize the progression but continuing on a high sodium diet promotes further deterioration leading to such things as heart failure and end stage renal failure.

It may be eye opening, but the daily recommended sodium intake is only 2300mg and for those over 50 it is only 1500mg. Those with heart and kidney issues who are on low sodium diets of 2000mg or less are considered to be the most restrictive. In reality these are actually the daily recommended levels of sodium for healthy people.

Most Americans consume between 4500mg-5000mg of sodium daily and thats before having a heavy hand with a salt shaker. In fact most feel they are already restricting sodium intake by not adding salt at the table or during the cooking process.

People who have been able to live on a 1500mg to 2000mg have shown to have fewer problems with high blood pressure and developing heart and kidney issues.

In general its not until people are diagnosed with heart of kidney disease before they wake up and start reading the labels on food containers and paying attention to restaurant menus to really understand the amount of sodium they consume daily. The required labels meant to educate and inform the consumer of product contents such as sodium can be very misleading as they tend to utilize rather low serving sizes.

At first glance this may make the product appear to have less calories and the amount of sodium. In reality most will eat double to triple the serving size used to display the sodium content. So instead of the consumer ingesting 500mg of sodium listed on the product label they are actually consuming up to 1500mg or more of sodium. For example, did you know the serving size on a can of soup with 400-500mg of sodium is based on just one half of a cup? The normal consumer will fill a bowl equal to a cup or if the bowl is oversized up to a cup and half or even two cups.

Sodium is in just about every product on the supermarket shelves and manufactures keep pouring it into the products to satisfy perceived consumer taste desires. Living on a 2300mg low sodium diet means that only 766mg of sodium can be consumed for each meal. Eat a snack in between with a can of soda and deduct as much as 350mg of sodium off one of those meals.

One slice of bread can hold a dose of 150mg of sodium. Most processed or canned products will contain high levels of sodium anywhere from 400mg to 1500mg. Sauces and soups can contain over half of the allowed sodium before they are added with other items on the plate containing sodium. Even soft drinks contain 45-50mg of sodium.

About the only place you wont find high sodium is in the fresh produce and fresh cut meats or out of the home garden. Even the frozen poultry products can have salt brine injected to it before freezing, as the manufacture says to enhance flavor

Store bought mixes for pancakes, waffles and biscuits are loaded in sodium and you will really have to study the dry cereals to find one that is under 200mg of sodium. If you like raisin brand you will be very disappointed to see the level of sodium it contains. Dont forget to add the 150mg in the low fat milk to go with it. Cooked oatmeal (not microwave) is a good alternative.

Living self-sufficient and cooking from scratch may help avoid the American obsession with salt in their diets. Generally recipes work just fine with no added salt, unless the recipe is part of a curing process for meats and sausages. But for making dry mixes for baking, and main dishes ditch the salt and enjoy the long term benefits of less salt in the daily diet to live a self-sufficient lifestyle.

 

[ORChick]

I understand your point, but I feel that for those of us who cook mostly from scratch sodium is probably not a huge issue. But, I grant you, most Americans eat way too much salt (just because they do not cook from scratch). You didn't mention baby food; baby food is also salted, to appeal to the mother's taste - baby doesn't need, or particularly want it, but mom tastes before feeding, so the stuff is salted, for her. And, of course, baby develops a taste for the stuff.
My father was put on a low sodium diet. He was told not to add any extra salt to his food. So my mother (who really should have known better) added extra to what she cooked! I was quite astounded when she told me this. (He died early, from an accident, so we never learned what health issues he might have had from such a diet)
I grew up next to the ocean, and for most of my life (excepting the last 10 years) lived within 8 miles of either the ocean or a large body of salt water (San Francisco Bay). I have always had a very low tolerance for salt; often finding things oversalted that *normal* people do not. I rarely add salt to food - seldom while cooking, never at the table. I have always maintained that I get what I need from the air. Interestingly, my brother (a sailor), says exactly the same.
Salt, like so many things, is an acquired taste; a habit that can be changed. But few people are willing to make that effort ... just as they are not willing to change their sugar habit. Salt has never been an issue for me, though sugar was. However I conquered that too, more or less by accident ... though I'm glad it happened.

 

[tamlynn]

I like salt.

But I make nearly everything from scratch, so I'm not getting hidden sodium. I know it when I put salt in my food.

 

[hqueen13]

I have to agree with ORChick... folks that make things from scratch don't have the same issues with salt that people who eat pre-packaged foods do.

I will go one step further and say that *processed* salt is part of what is so bad, not necessarily just the fact that there is salt. Processed white salt has to have a LOT of things done to it in order to make it that "pretty" coming out of the shaker (part of the chemical process actually turns it purple, so it has to be *bleached* to make it white again... gross!). I no longer use processed salt, opting for Sea Salt or even better, the pink Himalayan salt, which I LOVE the flavor of. It tastes MUCH different from the white stuff, and has a much higher nutritional value since it contains a lot of trace minerals (which are virtually non-existent in a processed diet). Sea Salt and Himalayan salt have entirely different ratios of content which is far healthier than the white stuff.

This, of course, only addresses the salt concept. The processed foods and chemical additives issues are, in my opinion, far larger issues than just the volume of salt consumed. The lack of healthy natural fats in favor of hydrogenated super heated oils and foods that are adulterated beyond the original recognition is part of what disgusts me so much about the standard american diet. (I mean, really, what part of the cob does a "corn flake" come from anyway?!)

 

[sunsaver]

And, a large part of the extra sodium that people get from eating processed foods is from those extra chemical additives, like sodium nitrate. They are eating from a chemical plant instead of a real farm. Unfortunately, most Americans eat like that on a regular basis. Drive throughs and chip vending machines are everywhere, and cheap carbs are very addictive. The good news is that if you stop eating that junk for as little as two weeks, your taste buds will change, and you will learn to recoginze the difference between real food that tastes properly seasoned, and the wierd, chemical salts flavors of artificial junk. Once you get used to eating tasty, real food, you will loose all desire to eat the nasty stuff that comes from plastic bags or windows. The exception might be a real pie from a real window.

Oh yeah, i have the pink himalayan salt too. It really does taste much better, especially for table use. I use the sea salt for pasta water, etc.

 

[moxies_chickennuggets]

I have always lived on a low salt diet. By choice. I can tell if I have too much salt on foods, as I can feel the extra water retention. Both sides of my family were diabetic. Moms side was Type 1, dads side, Type 2. Not to mention other health problems. I just always figured I would end up with diabetes, so tried to live on a diabetic diet. Not too much of a challenge, as I don't like sodas, snack foods, chips, candy, junk food in general. That being said, one would think I am HWP. I wish. I still have to struggle with figuring out how to eat, etc. I should only have 2 meals a day, but I just can't seem to regulate that part. Still, not too much overweight. Just some.

 

[FarmerChick]

absolute salt maniac here. I put salt on ....ta da SALT

yea I scratch cook mostly so I do not worry about 'hidden sodium'

all the salt I eat I should be a goner, but BP and all are fine but yes, if I do too much salt I feel it in the water retention also.

if you eat fast food, packaged stuff etc...oh yea you are getting way too much sodium for sure along with tons of other undesirables.


I agree tho, everyone should watch sodium intake for sure.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Salt isn't unhealthy . . . it is necessary for life. I spent most of my life avoiding salt and that caused me to have health problems later in my life. I started getting really sick in hot weather. It took me a while to figure out why and I still have problems if I am not careful to eat extra salt before the hot weather arrives in the summer. My taste buds adapted to a low salt diet and so I have to be careful to think about how much salt I am getting.

What is unhealthy is an unbalanced diet, and yes the SAD (Standard American Diet) tends toward too much sodium intake.

 

[hqueen13]

Good point, DrakeMaiden. I had an issue once when I took a trip to FL, it was warm, and I drank so much water I actually gave myself a headache from low salt! In the pinch the only thing available was kettle cooked sea salt chips, and let me tell you they tasted SOOOOOO good! LOL I could tell I really needed it.

Course you can get a headache from dehydration too... It pays to pay attention to your body and know the signs and signals.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Yes. When you are drinking water all day (and passing the water) and have a horrible headache and feel sick to your stomach, you know it isn't from dehydration. I have also noticed that I love restaurant pizza in the summer (when I need the salt) but it always tastes too salty in the winter months.