It is kind of funny in a cynical way, the doctor told me a couple of weeks ago when I went if for a cold – that I had high blood pressure! As I have been battling my weight up and down, I’ve noticed that the blood pressure rises with the weight.
Well I was told by the doc to exercise more (I’m already doing that I think), take a diuretic, lose weight (I’m on track for the last two months), limit alcohol, and limit salt in my diet. There was more stuff but it did not really apply to me.
Talk about drastically changing my diet! There is a lot of salt in most processed foods! Here is a picture of my low-sodium lunch today…. roast beast with cheddar cheese, low-fat mayo on a low-sodium bread.
Now there is no way a couple of weeks back that I would have considered roast beef sandwiches for lunch and real beef hamburgers for dinner. But now since beef is not injected with extra “flavoring” that is high in salt – I am eating more like I was on a modified Atkins.
Now I am probably making a mountain out of a mole hill because a low sodium diet can be up to 2000 mg of salt or so but if you eat more – your kidneys (I think) will not be able to keep up and lets it into your blood stream. That has the effect of adding water weight and putting more pressure heart and increasing the blood pressure… bad in the greater scheme of things.
So what am I doing? I’m not eating lunch meats, turkey burgers, or most any processed food except in extreme moderation and I have started eating the rabbit food (veggies) at dinner! One can argue eating less processed foods is a good thing – it’s just that I am not used to it.
Anyway I’ve lost weight faster without much effort – it is hard to eat as many calories with “real” food. I don’t really have to watch fat or calories anymore – just keep track with the sodium is keeping me where I need to be. If anything I have to make sure I eat enough!
I hope you enjoyed my perspective on a low-sodium diet and feel free to comment if you have any favorite foods or helpful information because I have never been here before… I have a whole new set of foods to evaluate. 
Hi John!
It’s interesting that you mention “low” salt diets. For one, I personally feel that what is called low salt should be the normal level. The second thing is, when I was writing that recent column on don’t eat fast food, I realized if people just ate low salt, that would eliminate most of the unhealthy foods just with that change.
I’m glad you are doing well!!