campbell's low sodium soup

[annie]

i used to live on this stuff, back when i could get it. the only low sodium stuff i ever found worth eating. i do not cook successfully, but could throw in some instant rice or couscous and have a meal.

once it vanished from stores i kind of gave up on low sodium eating, and my feet have been so swollen since then that i cannot get a pair of real shoes on, wearing only men's large sandels.

just for curiousity i googled it last night, wondering if i could buy it on line and what the shipping costs would be.

and much to my surprize, there at amazon.com was campbell's low sodium vegetable soup, and if i bought 24 the shipping and handling was free.

amazing what is out there.

[Buttons2]

:rolleyes: Hi Annie, your title caught my eye. I'm on the 7th day of eating low-sodium, I've already lost 5# of water,my ankles & legs aren't nearly as swollen. I also take water pills which seem to just not work for me.

I have 3 cans of different brand soups here that I want to share the info on:

Healthy Choice,chicken w/rice 480mg sodium for 1 cup
Campbell's tomato soup 450mg for 1/2 cup!!!!!!
Progresso,minestrone 470mg for 1 cup

Now ask yourself it you will only have 1/2 to 1 cup of soup! Hardly!

The very best way to cut out sodium is to not buy/consume ANY canned food.

Not a cook? Eat salads. You cannot go wrong with fresh veggies, I only use no salt butter & the lowest sodium salad dressings I can find.

I have not used a salt shaker in years,never add salt to my cooking, have cut out the diet soda (35mg+sodium per can),take my high BP meds & water pill everyday & still I'm retaining water!! So now I'm getting desparate & hoping I can see further improvement by eliminating all the sodium possible.

You really must read the labels very carefully. And keep in mind the Campbell's soup when diluted with water would also lessen the amount of sodium.

Dash has a website on low-sodium but the very best site I've ever found is here: http://oto.wustl.edu/men/sodium.htm

This website is for Meniere's Disease & has 6 pages of low sodium foods/beverages listed,it's very informative.

Good luck,Buttons

P.S. When I complained of leg edema my doc told to to drink less water,ever wonder why women die of heart disease????

[annie]

hi buttons

i had scarlet fever as a child and have been watching sodium all my life until the last few years. i can't take water pills, too hard on my kidneys.

it used to be that there was low sodium stuff all over the place, bread, soup, cheese, milk, you name it it was out there. no longer.

your body requires 234 mg of sodium a day. more than that has to be dealt with by the kidneys. that is the amount of sodium in two cups of los angeles water, so your doctor had a point. i have always needed to restrict water. people with kidney problems must.

the label counts of sodium don't include the sodium in the water you add.

what makes these soups so splendid is that you can actually eat them on a low sodium diet. they average about 150 mg per can. not per serving, per can.

there are lots of low salt cookbooks out there. fine if you are a good cook cooking for a family of 12. useless if you are not a good cook and cooking for one.

i have constant seizures and tend to burn the house down while cooking. not to mention that i do very odd things while cooking.

i am an old lady and am now having lots of other health problems. cooking or making salads (sharp knives are not a good idea) isn't much of an option right now. shopping is very difficult since i can't drive. i have very little money.

so the most wonderful thing i could imagine would be to find canned low sodium food on the internet and have it delivered with free shipping.

[clouds z]

just get a can of low sodium beans and mix with 2 cans of water and make your own

[Buttons2]

Annie, I just researched Meniere's disease out of curiosity cause I couldn't recall what is was & my son has had horrid ringing in his ears for several weeks, now so it was one of those "insightful" internet moments. I'm gonna urge him to see another doc if he's experienced any vertigo....

Well, that's OT, here's what caught my eye: water softeners! I need to go back & read it more thoroughly now after what you wrote. I make my tea & take my pills with tap water, use tap water for ice cubes & cooking. I drink only bottled water from Costco & the label says o on sodium, do you think this is true?

I'm a type 2 diabetic so kidney disease is always a consideration!

I'm glad you have found some soup on the internet,be sure & report how it tastes OK? And I'm sorry to hear you have so many health problems and cannot drive. I gave up driving a few years ago because of myoclonus & eye problems, so believe me I know what it's like to lose your independence & not be able to work away from home. I too am very poor. I never dreamed I'd lose my good health. I'm nearly 58yr old but feel more like 88!!:rolleyes:

The swelling in my knees is improved this last week also, which helps tremendously with the arthritis! I need to lose 30# & of course all that isn't gonna be water. I'm trying for less than 1,000 mg a day of sodium. Food is boring without the salt, last night I had grilled chicken breast,steamed kale with Dash & low salt butter & brown/wild rice I cook from scratch.....bland,bland,bland! I'm weighing everyday, figure every once counts! Yesterday I had only lost 2 oz but I'm still encouraged to stick with this cause I used to gain as much as 5# in one day!

Good luck to you!
Buttons

[annie]

just get a can of low sodium beans and mix with 2 cans of water and make your own

where did you find canned low sodium beans? how high was the shipping?

haven't seen them for more than 20 years.

the point of the soup is not to have soup, it is to make a fast low sodium meal for one. i throw rice or couscous in it and have a meal.

[annie]

here's what caught my eye: water softeners! I need to go back & read it more thoroughly now after what you wrote. I make my tea & take my pills with tap water, use tap water for ice cubes & cooking. I drink only bottled water from Costco & the label says o on sodium, do you think this is true?

oh my yes, water softners are a biggie. more sodium in a glass of softened water than in a slice of pizza. i use unsoftened water to boil pasta, otherwise all distilled. the zero can be tricky, it depends on how much food they are measuring. just because one teaspoon has 0 does not mean that a quart will.

check with your water softner company for how much sodium is in one cup of water. this may be on their web site.

I'm glad you have found some soup on the internet,be sure & report how it tastes OK?

i know it is good, had been eating it several times a week for many years before it disappeared. there were lots of varieties. i liked the beef barley the best, but that isn't around anyplace i can find it. of course it is all unsalted, but this is the best unsalted food i have ever found.

And I'm sorry to hear you have so many health problems and cannot drive. I gave up driving a few years ago because of myoclonus & eye problems, so believe me I know what it's like to lose your independence & not be able to work away from home. I too am very poor. I never dreamed I'd lose my good health. I'm nearly 58yr old but feel more like 88!!

58? you are still a baby. i have ten years on you.

weren't you one of the people who was talking about a senior citizen forum on the old brain talk? or do i have you mixed up with someone else?

i still have my independence and worked away from home for many years. just do it on the bus.

i really messed up my disability money because i never believed i would not be able to work. i was born with seizures and crippled at 18, and worked and supported myself and other people for many years. if i had gone on disability one year earlier i would have had social security and medicare. did i do it the smart way? no. i am super crip.


I'm trying for less than 1,000 mg a day of sodium. Food is boring without the salt, last night I had grilled chicken breast,steamed kale with Dash & low salt butter & brown/wild rice I cook from cratch . . . . . bland, bland, bland!

pepper. red pepper. garlic.

but you will always miss the salt, i don't care what they say.

sounds like you are eating very healthy meals. i ate lunch at burger king. and have the swollen feet to prove it.

[Buttons2]

Annie, I'm only eating healthy NOW cause this water (edema) is scaring me. I'm also diabetic & have to watch the carbs.

I agree we will always crave some salt, I could live on chips & dip!:eek: Been so many years since I've used a salt shaker that adding it to even an egg would taste too weird now.

No, I don't recall asking for a Senior Citizen forum, I don't think of myself as old even though my body seems to be worn out. I also screwed up bigtime as far as getting disability. I'm self employed but it only brings in a very small amount of income. I live with an older gentleman that's disabled mentally & I cook,clean,do laundry,etc in exchange for a place to live. Not much cleaning gets done these days but he doesn't mind.:rolleyes:

I hope you have a support network! Seems you've pushed yourself your entire life & perhaps not gonna reap too many rewards for it now. I'm sure you are doing the best you can.

The soup sounds interesting,I'll have to look back & see if you posted where to get some. I'm getting tired of salads! I love barley,couscous,etc. You're making me hungry just thinking about it!:D

Eating out is a real tuff one with going low-sodium. I had a patty melt last week rather than go to Chinese place!And who wants to eat salads in a restaurant when going out to eat is a treat????

I'm gonna pick up some jugs of water for tea,etc. Tap water here is from a PUD, I'll try to research it.

Thanks for sharing info,Buttons

[annie]

my soup came. in the mail. maybe i am getting old, but it seems odd to me to get 24 cans of soup in my mailbox.

guess it would be even odder if it came e mail.

it has occurred to me that i should not have a thread with a brand name as the title, that this goes against the rules. tho if anyone can find another low sodium soup i want to know about it.

anyway, i am going to start a low sodium thread for this instead of here. that makes no sense at all.

probably ate too much sodium today.

[moirac]

I wandered over from the Stroke Forum.
S&W used to have low sodium kidney and garbanzo beans. Sodium and potassium have to be in balance. We need over 4 grams of potassium a day.That's a lot, but it's all over the place.

[annie]

I wandered over from the Stroke Forum.
S&W used to have low sodium kidney and garbanzo beans. Sodium and potassium have to be in balance. We need over 4 grams of potassium a day.That's a lot, but it's all over the place.

hi moirac

yes i remember those well, the garbanzo beans were very good. unfortunately i have not found them for at least 15 years.

if you eat less sodium you need less potassium. i tried taking potassium for a while but there is so little in the pills it didn't seem worth it.

i am seriously cooking challenged and surely do wish that all the low sodium convenience foods i used to get were still available.

[tic chick]

:D

two thoughts i had.

one, you can drain the beans and rinse them with cold water. i think a lot of the sodium is in the juice with the beans.

another thing you can do is cook your own beans. you can buy most any bean in a health food store or bulk food store. look up on the internet on how to cook them, although i think they are pretty easy to do...you mostly have to soak them and then just boil them until they are as soft as you like.

happy cooking!
jeannie

[annie]

:D

two thoughts i had.

one, you can drain the beans and rinse them with cold water. i think a lot of the sodium is in the juice with the beans.

another thing you can do is cook your own beans. you can buy most any bean in a health food store or bulk food store. look up on the internet on how to cook them, although i think they are pretty easy to do...you mostly have to soak them and then just boil them until they are as soft as you like.

happy cooking!
jeannie

hi jeannie

yes a lot of the sodium is in the juice, but not enough comes off if you are on a really low sodium diet.

i have constant seizures and have great problems cooking without burning the house down. i can buy dry beans at any grocery store, but cooking them safely is quite another matter.

what i used to be able to buy was all sorts of low sodium things, canned food, mustard, catchup, frozen dinners, all sorts of things. can't find any of them any more.

[linniec]

Annie or annie,

Try Trader Joe's (http://www.traderjoes.com/locations.asp). Except for their not being the cheapest place in town, which I frequent, I've heard good things about them. Although there's not one near me, they're quite a few locations where you live.

Linnie

[annie]

yes there is one just a few blocks from me. problem is that they have almost no low sodium food, if indeed they have any.

in fact, trader joe's has very little food. most of their floor space is taken up with supplements and alcoholic beverages.

they do have a lot of food billed as being without preservatives. many people think that this is a good thing.

there is only one preservative that has been proven by medical science to kill people. that preservative is salt.

so the fewer other preservatives in food, the more salt.

[linniec]

Maybe Amy's low sodium foods including soups (http://www.amyskitchen.com/special_diets/sodium.php)? Maybe? I know that you've thought of raw vegetables..like salads, and found them wanting.
I'm not on a low-sodium diet, but eat things with so little salt that people are amazed that I sit there consuming it. Are there any Health Food Stores or Farmers' Markets that have recipes for stuff you can get elsewhere?


Linnie

[annie]

hi linnie

sodium is very deceiving. if you don't read labels you will never know what is in there. cottage cheese has far more sodium than canned chocolate pudding.

Amy's LIGHT sodium foods are not low sodium. one serving of her soups have almost 400 mg, and she does not specify what one serving is. this is more than the entire ration of sodium for one day for a very low sodium diet. nothing realistic about eating a very low sodium diet any more, tho it used to be quite possible.

there used to be low sodium mustard, katchup, barbeque sauce, all sorts of stuff. unsalted cottage cheese, farmer cheese, regular cheese. unsalted bread. unsalted soup. low sodium milk. low sodium ham. but that was long ago.

i have low sodium cookbooks, craig clayborne is the best of them. libraries are full of them. unfortunately they all call for ingredients that no longer exist. and of course they all call for extensive cooking from scratch.

i want to open a can or stick something frozen in the microwave. i used to be able to do it. this why i got so excited at finding this soup. but once this soup is gone it is gone. sigh.

[linniec]

I talked to one of my friends who is a Type 1 diabetic.(Since he was two.) He doesn't need to follow a low sodium diet, but knows others that do--and he agrees with you--it's pretty impossible, these days.


I have five suggestions that may help.
1. Hospitals are privy to special diets--can they be a resource for you? ( I know that a local hospital held a heart-wise course one time that included a free lunch and recipes.)
2 Some Ethnic foods may not use salt as their major flavoring. (Cross my fingers.)
3. Can you contact an extension service? One anywhere will do. They're very pedantic and intolerably dull--so I trust their info. Plus they're very eager to help. And they're available to everyone. They're F.R.E.E.

Here's one in California:
Have a request or response for a recipe?

Write: Ask Your Neighbor, The Orange County Register, P.O. Box 11626, Santa Ana, CA 92711-1626. E-mail:
cfurey@ocregister.com. Include name, address and telephone number. Recipes have not been tested by the Register.

4. Don't cut up much. Rip veggies. If you have to cut up anything, use scissors rather than a knife.
5. Can you get a cooking buddy?


Linnie

[annie]

I talked to one of my friends who is a Type 1 diabetic.(Since he was two.) He doesn't need to follow a low sodium diet, but knows others that do--and he agrees with you--it's pretty impossible, these days.

it is not impossible or even very difficult for someone who cooks from scratch. i don't cook from scratch.

the difficulty is in finding canned and frozen meals that are low sodium.

1. Hospitals are privy to special diets--can they be a resource for you? ( I know that a local hospital held a heart-wise course one time that included a free lunch and recipes.)

recipies are not the problem. there are hundreds of low sodium cook books out there. i have probably ten, libraries have hundreds. they all call for ingredients that no longer are available. they mostly require cooking from scratch. hospitals do not sell ingredients.

low sodium diets are not popular with hospitals because many people who follow them do not need medications. many people have high blood pressure because they are salt sensitive.

it is quite possible that the reason so many low sodium foods have disappeared is that the drug companies did not want people to be able to stop spending money on meds. low sodium foods really cut into the profit of the drug companies.

2 Some Ethnic foods may not use salt as their major flavoring. (Cross my fingers.)

salt as flavoring is usually not the problem. there is far more salt in cottage cheese than there is in potatoe chips, because the salt in potatoe chips is right there on the surface where you taste it. the salt in cottage cheese is only there as a preservative.

3. Can you contact an extension service? One anywhere will do. They're very pedantic and intolerably dull--so I trust their info. Plus they're very eager to help. And they're available to everyone. They're F.R.E.E.

Here's one in California:
Have a request or response for a recipe?

Write: Ask Your Neighbor, The Orange County Register, P.O. Box 11626, Santa Ana, CA 92711-1626. E-mail:
cfurey@ocregister.com. Include name, address and telephone number. Recipes have not been tested by the Register.

recipies are not the problem. ingredients are the problem. cooking from scratch is the problem. extension services do not sell ingredients.

4. Don't cut up much. Rip veggies. If you have to cut up anything, use scissors rather than a knife.

cutting up things does not change the sodium content. ripping vegetables does not lower their sodium content.


5. Can you get a cooking buddy?
Linnie

no.

the problem is actually two problems. the first problem is the seizures, which make it difficult to cook without burning the house down. the second problem is the lack of prepared meals for low sodium eating.

i don't need suggestions for low sodium cooking. i am never going to cook from scratch, low sodium or high sodium. the problem is finding low sodium ingredients, preferably prepared meals.

your body requires 234 mg of sodium a day, total.

by very low sodium i mean fewer than 300 mg a day, total.

by low sodium i mean fewer than 500 mg a day, total.

"watch sodium" means fewer than 1000 mg a day, total.

[linniec]

Aha! well------aha. I found someone who might be able to address your concerns, annie ( and I wanna know about the microwave.) She's Vicki Lawson from the Univ. of Illinois mailto:vlawson@uic.edu and understands( well, I hope that she understands) the special cooking needs of disabled sorts who need low sodium diets. After all, I did get her name off the cooking section of the National Council of Physical Activity for the Disabled site (NCPAD.org) I hope she can help you in your quest for things to put in the microwave, without chopping, sliceing, or mutilating -- Maybe you can just send her your last letter of 4/13/07.


Linnie

[annie]

i have been googling low sodium food and actually found some internet sources for it. shipping cost is a problem but there are some real possibilities here.

i am on a program that supplies me with 14 frozen meals a month, for free. i am going to go off the program soon, it is beginning to put far too much stress on me, and i am looking for other programs that will send me food. actually found one that will send low sodium meals, very expensive. their senior meal program is more reasonable, $179 for 20 meals. still way outside my budget, tho, especially if i come off this free meal program.

but i can't handle the stress, and seizures are worse than lack of money for luxuries. so i am going to have to start looking seriously for other ways to eat.

[linniec]

Expletive Deleted annie, I do believe in being independent as much as possible,
but....Now that I've paid special attention to the sodium content of commercially available microwave meals, (which I've never had to deal with), and I'm fairly exasperated with your options, I understand that this is stressful. After all, even I'm breathing hard,
But ya gotta do what ya gotta do
OK. Now,
1 You are not the only person who will make up a market. Write to Stouffers about your concerns ( -- Meanwile, here's an interesting link (http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0813/is_9_33/ai_n16832550))
2. Oatmeal and Cous Cous-nutritious
3.churches-whether ya like them or not, do tend to be good resources at times like this.
4. Minds and skills--like Firehorse or HowdyDave only in L.A.
5. Newspapers, or T.V. stations.


Linnie

[annie]

i don't have much choice about being independent, there is not any good person out there offerring to take care of me.

the food problem is not nearly as stressful as the social workers. they are insisting that i have to have a caregiver. i have spent a year trying to find one who is half way normal, not afraid of cats, and will vacuum. good luck. there are a lot of very strange people out there.

one problem that i have always had and is getting worse is that there are a lot of people out there who enjoy bullying handicapped people. i don't dare say this on the E board but probably no one is going to read this but you so i will say it here. many of these people are caregivers. some of them are social workers.

you need a family member backing you up to deal with a caregiver and i don't have a family member willing to do this.

so i am going to tell them that i am so much better now that i don't need their program any longer and go away quietly.

the meals they send me are, of course, very high in sodium.

yes, i knew all about the salt in soup. this is why i have been so sad about losing the campbell's low sodium soup. apparently they have quit making it in favor of a lower sodium soup, which is still extremely high. sigh.

couscous is one of my main staples. haven't burnt it yet. i can cook it in a can of low sodium soup and have a meal, if i can buy low sodium soup. oatmeal and i are not friends.

churches do not supply special diet foods. they also tend to be full of religious people. i have, amoung other things, TLE. best to stay away from religious people.

dave and dave have over the years come up with some real good ideas.

newspapers don't supply ingredients. the problem is finding the ingredients. TV gives me seizures.

the problem is to find the ingredients.

what i will wind up doing is eating Healthy Choice frozen meals, the lowest ones i can find. this is not a very good solution, but it is a possible one.

fortunately chocolate is very low in sodium.

[linniec]

Annie,
I somewhat know what you're talking of about the indignities of being treated like a case. DDDD it, annie, it's obvious to anyone with a modicum of sense that you're quite intelligent ( my god, witness your understanding of math and computers.) and have a mischievous sense of humor ( often seen hanging around with smarts.) 'Sides that, you read books. Not Harlequin Romances either, but books that most would never approach even upon penalty of death. Because of your age and your handicap, you may need some sort of help, but more than aid, or with aid, you deserve respect. Your wishes are quite sane and need to be listened to. After all, you may at times be petulant, but What is so bizaare about a well-reasoned diet, books, a cat, learning, and silliness?


Linnie
Healthy Choice (owned by the Stouffer's Division of Nestle Corp. does seem to be good for now)
I found a partner in crime. It's Rowland, from the stroke forum. He's excessively smart, is 85+, and is from California This is his posting on the low salt found in raisins and on the DASH-Sodium diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) (http://brain.hastypastry.net/forums/showthread.php?t=12698).

[Norma]

Annie
Something you might try...take the juice of 1 lemon every morning and squeze it into a glass of water(Distilled/other and drink it down the FIRST THING EVERY MORNING.
Be sure and check about your meds. I don't know about lemons but I do know that Grapefruit/ juice will interact with some meds.
This is a natural dieuretic.
Norma

[annie]

hi norma, welcome to the forum.

the part you missed is that two years ago i had a massive blood clot in the major vein in my left leg, which caused amazing swelling. to make it more complicated, i do not have the vein in my right leg at all. to make things even more peculiar, my blood does not clot properly and i cannot take blood thinners.

so it was an interesting couple of years.