Instead, choose a veggie-filled appetizer, like spring rolls, lettuce wraps, or steamed dumplings, to keep sodium down. Stick to steamed instead of fried choices to keep sodium levels down. Breaded and batter-fried items, in particular, are often higher in sodium.
Healthier choices include steamed brown rice, sautéed or steamed vegetables, spring rolls, or soups like egg drop soup or hot and sour soup. Veggie-based items like edamame, lettuce wraps, braised bamboo shoots, or cucumber salad are a few other great options you can try.
Conclusions: The sodium levels in Chinese restaurant dishes are extremely high and variable. In addition to cooking salt, other salted condiments/seasonings also contribute a large proportion of sodium.
Most dishes are heavy on sodium, so there's no need to add more. Avoid adding soy sauce at the table (1,000 mg of sodium per tablespoon), use only a little dipping sauce, and ask that dishes be prepared without MSG (monosodium glutamate). Skipping the soup course will also cut plenty of sodium from your meal.
The highest in salt was Slimming World's Chinese Style Banquet Rice with 4.40g salt (about 2/3 teaspoon salt) per 550g pack. As well as main dishes found to be high in salt, side dishes such as rice dishes, spring rolls and prawn crackers could easily tot up the salt levels.
1 cup of fried rice contains 460 mg of sodium, which is ¼ of your maximum salt intake for the day - it's a lot! Restaurant chefs tend to toss extra soy sauce into the dish because people tend to love the taste of salt.
Stir-fries look healthy, but with soy sauce and other salt-laden ingredients, the sodium content in one serving often contains all of a 2,300-milligram healthful daily limit. You don't have to eliminate stir-fries from your diet, though.
Vegetables and Fruits
Any fresh fruits, like apples, oranges, or bananas. Any fresh vegetables, like spinach, carrots, or broccoli. Frozen vegetables without added butter or sauce. Canned vegetables that are low in sodium or have no salt added — you can rinse them off to remove some of the sodium.
MSG is often an important ingredient for people on a low-sodium diet, because it improves the flavor of a dish while reducing the need for salt. In fact, when MSG is added (increasing the level of glutamate) to meals and recipes, sodium levels can be lowered by up to 40 percent while maintaining the desired flavor.
Take-out beef and broccoli is typically loaded with sodium and doused in unhealthy sauce. With this beef stir-fry recipe, you'll get all the yummy taste of a Chinese food favorite without the unhealthy additives.
Eating a modified version of traditional Chinese food containing half the amount of sodium may significantly lower blood pressure for Chinese adults in just a few weeks, new research shows.
Drink Plenty of Water
This is because water helps the body flush out excess sodium. Not only is hydration important for managing sodium levels, but it is also important for overall health. When you drink plenty of water, your body can flush the excess sodium in your body.
Avoid convenience foods such as canned soups, entrees, vegetables, pasta and rice mixes, frozen dinners, instant cereal and puddings, and gravy sauce mixes. Select frozen meals that contain around 600 mg sodium or less.
Cooking Light Nutrition Editor Lisa Valente, MS, RD, says, “Sprouted grain breads tend to be lower in sodium and they're whole grain to boot. I love Ezekiel Sprouted Whole Grain Bread (just 75 mg of sodium per slice). Trader Joe's also sells a few varieties of sprouted grain bread.
The following foods are high in sodium and should be avoided on a low-sodium diet: Fast food: Burgers, fries, chicken fingers, pizza, etc.
If you are working with a stir-fry or other “drier” dish, you will want to try to add a little acidity and sugar to help balance the salt. Add lemon juice, vinegar and some sugar. Remember, add only a little at a time until the flavors have balanced, you don't want to over-acidify or sweeten.
While potatoes—the primary ingredient in french fries—are a lower-calorie, low-fat food, french fries are usually high in fat, calories, and sodium. If you include them in your diet, it's smart to consume french fries in moderation or to use a cooking method that reduces the fat and sodium content.
Broccoli has just 15 milligrams of sodium per half-cup, while citrus fruits contain no sodium at all.
Dining out: Heart-healthy menu swaps
Opt for steamed dumplings instead of ordering egg rolls and fried dumplings. Sidestep fried or breaded meat entrees. Instead, choose baked, broiled, grilled, sautéed protein sources-chicken, fish, shellfish, lean beef or pork.
Basmati Is A “Super Grain”
In addition to containing all eight essential amino acids and folic acid, it's very low in sodium and cholesterol-free.
One 13.5 ounce serving of chicken fried rice contains 530 calories. When broken down into macros, it has 43 grams of protein, 21 grams of fat, 41 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of sugar, and 580 milligrams of sodium.