In article >,
KenK > wrote:

> I've always read the nutrition labels for fat content but now I've
> started looking at the sodium content and have been horrified! Looks
> like there is hardly any canned or otherwise prepared food that does not
> have high sodium. (Everyone but me probably already knew that.) Just a
> couple of examples that surprised me - burrito-sized low-fat tortilla,
> 500 mg., one-half cup fat-free refried beans, 500 mg., ounce of cheddar,
> 170 mg. No more bean burritos. Even cheese has sodium. I had no idea.

Most food has *some*, Ken.
And processed foods often have a lot.
Gonna go fat free? ¡Cuidado! Fat-free food is often high in sugar for
better taste -- to substitute for the 'taste' that fat can provide in
some dishes.

Want to make something "taste sweeter" with less sugar? One trick is to
add a little bit of vanilla extract. Not necessarily a lot, mind.

Want some ketchup, Little Boy? 100 g Tomato ketchup 1,042 mg sodium

http://oto2.wustl.edu/men/sodium.htm
Do you have soft water in your house?

> One cup raisin bran, 370 mg. Evidently I'm going to have to start using
> more fresh or frozen

Bingo!

> (or does it have sodium added too?

Not as a rule if it's a plain vegetable rather than a blend with a
packet of some kind of sauce mix.

(Where's our resident dietitian, Cindy Fuller?)


> I'll have to
> check.) produce rather than most canned stuff, and stop eating a lot of
> stuff I don't wish to prepare myself - like tortillas, refried beans and
> raisin bran. I've lately been drinking a glass of vegetable juice with
> meals - no more - back to water.

You sure about that? See he http://oto2.wustl.edu/men/water.htm

> Trying to stay at 2500 mg. or less per
> day is going to be very difficult. Trouble is, knowing me, a 74-year-old
> bachelor, I'm very set in my habits and will probably soon go back to my
> sinful ways. Though I have cut way back on fat for many years now, maybe
> I'll surprise myself.
>
> Ken

Don't try to climb the mountain in a week or in a month, Ken. You'll
fall. Think of it as a project to get yourself out of a rut instead of
a grim task you have to do.

Do you know the difference between a rut and grave? The depth of the
hole. '-)
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://web.me.com/barbschaller
http://gallery.me.com/barbschaller/100041
-- a woman my age shouldn't
have this much fun!