Sodium in Diet

Toe pain revealed to me how careless I had handled my diet. Learn from my experience and be aware of your intake amount of sodium in diet from now on.

What’s wrong with my toes?

One evening I walked for two hours successively to shop an item. Pain from my feet tortured me throughout. I used to walk longer than this and encountered no problem. What’s wrong?

When I got back home to examine my feet carefully, I noticed that the pain came from my toes. How numb the ten little toes looked? A little bit too purple, hardened and swollen, I would say. The idea of “death” stole into my mind. Were my toes all dead? Not yet for pain still existed.

To find out the cause of this abnormal change, I tried a few possibilities. The cold weather might be the cause. So, I wore two pairs of socks instead of one pair at a time and even dug my feet into four layers of blanket. Well, there was no improvement. The toes were still like dead fish.

Was I walking too little recently and so the feet couldn’t stand the two hours exercise? I stretched my feet as much as I could, but again, no improvement. Wait a minute, if the inadequacy of exercise was to be blamed, why the pain came from the toes only, not the whole feet?

I couldn’t help knitting my brow. There was a common saying, “Pain from a specific area of the foot means a part of your body is undergoing health problem.” So, which part went wrong?

I decided to examine my recent diet see if it would give me some hints. I listed out the foods and drinks that I consumed and checked the labels of their packaging. I found the villain eventually. It was the excessive sodium in diet. 

What is the safe level of sodium intake?

Healthy adults should have their sodium intake not more than 2300mg per day, and no more than 1500mg per day for those with high blood pressure. Patients of congestive heart failure, liver cirrhosis and kidney disease may need even lower amounts. Always consult your doctor for the safety level according to your body and health. In other words, it will be fine to maintain a low sodium intake, but excessive intake is definitely hazardous to health.

(The alarming difference for one serving: left is the instant noodle, right is the udon, photo taken by the author)

Where was my excessive sodium intake come from?

Surprisingly, the villain was an instant noodle that alone contributes to 2107mg. No matter how much I love eating, it couldn’t stay in my diet anymore. I replaced it with an Udon (Japanese noodle) that only consisted of 84mg per serving. The difference is alarming, isn’t it?

Usually I eat one serving of noodle for a meal. But we have at least three meals per day. There are many foods and drinks consisted of sodium, we may add up the amount for the ingredients we used in cooking, but we easily lose count when dining outside. A little bit here, a little bit there, we don't need to worry about inadequate intake. On the contrary, we must still count and check the excessive intake shortly. Don't let your body run wild to tell you this.

How to check the excessive sodium intake?

As mentioned above, I replaced the ingredient with a low sodium portioned one upon discovery. Drink a lot of water to wash out the undesirable elements. A lot doesn’t mean over-drink; here it means to replace your usual coffee, tea, soft drinks with water for a while to let water work its magic.

Prevention is always better than cure. We must learn to read the labels for every ingredient albeit its commonness. Do a little bit calculation to get a rough idea on the intake level and make the adjustments among the meals to bring down the intake level of sodium. Keep a good balance strictly in a daily basis.

We may need to forsake some favorite foods and drinks or reduce the intake amount and frequency, but good health should be given the top priority. Eat well and be healthy all the time.

Other health related articles you may be interested in reading:

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How to Lower the Meal Cost

Do you want to eat better at lower cost even though the purchasing power of your money is continually decreasing? Let’s learn to lower the meal cost.

Price of the ingredients rises more than our salary raise. Each meal, eat at home or dine out, becomes more expensive. The cost is often higher when the harvest has been damaged by the poor weather, for example, heavy rains or snow. It is essential for us to try a few strategies to lower the meal cost. Most of the methods are simple and worthwhile to be developed as good habits. We can start the money saving in several aspects.

Zero waste

* Don’t cook or order more than you can eat.

For the residue, don’t treat them as refuse and let them go straight to the dustbin. You can use them to feed your dog, reheat them for your next meal, and reuse them as ingredients for a new dish such as old bread for pudding.

* If you dine in a restaurant and have leftovers, kindly ask for a bag or box to carry them home.

* Try to make use of every part of an ingredient, such as grate the lemon skin for seasoning purpose instead of throwing it away.

Small portion

* Serve small portion for each meal. If possible, adopt the buffer style, i.e. to have the foods in big dishes and bowls and let people decide the size of a portion they would like to have. It’s easy to collect the residue for further treatment.

* In case the meal portion is inadequate to cope with hunger, you can have some almonds and other nuts, fruits, and cookies, which again can be served in small portion, as snack at any time.

Clever Mix

* Some parents don’t adopt the buffet style for fear that their children will overeat, under-eat, and have dietary bias. They assigned the portion and forced their children to clear their plate with all foods down into the stomach. Some children are more difficult to deal with: they often left the unwanted foods behind after stirring with their fork and spoon. Those residues always go to the dustbin. What a waste! Parents can chop the unfavorable food into very tiny pieces and mix it into the favorite ones. This will disarm the resistance and children are likely to eat the whole assigned portion.

Wise purchase

* Don’t buy foods and drinks more than you can consume albeit the discount.

* Use coupon to save money whenever possible.

* Pick ingredients with a longer due date.

* Those that will be overdue soon should be given the top priority in consumption.

* Pick the best buy not only among different shops, but also at different periods from a single supplier to enjoy the temporal discount.

* Bulk purchase for regular used items only and if possible, together with your neighbors so that each buyer can enjoy a greater discount for smaller purchasing portion.

Good inventory control

* Buy with a shopping list that has been checked with your inventory in advance.

* Make a list of your inventory and highlight their due dates. You can stick this list on the refrigerator with a magnet for easy and quick reference.

* Store the ingredients and cooked foods properly to avoid quality deterioration.

Wide variety of recipes

* Learn to cook with more ingredients. When price of an ingredient remains high, you can always replace it with a less expensive ingredient without the necessity of sacrificing the nutrition and the tasty level.

Growing eatable plants

* Do you have a garden or backyard? Why not grow your own tomato, potato, and apple, etc.? If you have neither of them, you may still save money by growing herbal plants in pots indoors. Many people put the potted plants in their kitchen and nip off the fresh leaves for seasoning, for example, rosemary, mint.

* If your harvest is rich, trade with your neighbors for other ingredients.

These cost saving methods are applicable to one man home, a big family and even organization. With a more efficient use of our resources, we are not only saving money for our own sake, but also contributing to a lower exploitation rate to the Earth. We become more environmental friendly as there will be fewer refuse. With some many advantages, let’s lower the meal cost from now on.

Other money saving related articles you may be interested in reading:

How to Stay Warm in Winter at Lower Cost

 

Stop Being a Shopaholic

Affordable Valentine Celebrations

Want a happy and remarkable Valentine’s Day celebration at lower cost? Try some ideas given and feel free to apply your creativity to fine-tune them. 

The 14^th of February is a big day for many people who are in love. Presenting flowers and dining in restaurants are common options to celebrate the Valentine’s Day. But they could be expensive. What if you don’t have too much money to spend? Don’t be discouraged. You can still have a remarkable Valentine’s Day with your sweet heart. Here are some inexpensive suggestions for your consideration.

Buying flowers from the florist’s shop could be very expensive on Valentine’s Day. Did you grow a pot flower in advance? If not, or the flower didn’t blossom, you may need alternatives for the Valentine Gifts.
  

Valentine Card

Depending on your creativity and adroitness, the card can range from simple to complex, unique though.

Level one (the minimum requirement):

You can make a Valentine card by drawing and painting, stamping, stencil embossing, punching and gluing. Pay a visit to the library or bookshop lest you need to leaf through the DIY books for some ideas to start with.

Level two:

Besides writing a touching love message, you can add a little bit more gimmicks to this card by making it as a frame with a sweet photo of you two at the front.

Level three:

Go further by adding flowers made by Polymer Clay at one or two corners of the Valentine card photo frame. Try to adopt your beloved’s favorite flowers.

Level four:

For those who don’t want to mess with Polymer Clay, you can make the card work like a desktop monthly calendar instead. Each sheet framed with a photo that provokes special heart-warming memory between you two.

Don’t want to dig out the past for fear that it’s not outstanding enough? No problem, start creating a merry projection now. Enclosed you will find my photo on a lantern display. Feel free to edit this photo by pasting your sweetheart’s face and yours on it. Pick the background photos carefully so that each combination could provoke him / her to smile, giggle, or even laugh.

A Book with Specific Topic

Offer a book whose contents can help your beloved solve problems or view more demonstrations to facilitate the development of one’s interest. You may not be familiar with the topic and can’t offer personal advice. But you can still care a lot and be active in offering useful help. A book with the appropriate content is a handy solution that is affordable to many people. Explain the book selection a little bit to enhance your beloved’s appreciation.

Valentine Picnic

It is important to deliver the gifts in person. Don’t forget to devote some time to be together. Have a meal together. Forsake the usual place, and if you can’t afford dinning in a restaurant, why not have a remarkable Valentine picnic?

Choose a place that allows you two enjoy the beautiful sunset or seat under a sky full of stars. For foods, I will suggest Heart-shaped tortilla topped with chicken and vegetables.

Heart-shaped Tortillas:

Make dough with all-purpose flour, salt, baking powder, lard and water.

Separate the dough and press each small portion into a big sheet.

Cut out a big heart before heating each piece in a frying pan.

(Use a cardboard and cutter if you don’t have a big heart-shaped baking mould.)

Fillings:

Vegetables and Fruits:

Cabbage, tomato, baked bean, pineapple dices are some good options that require no cooking.

Chicken:

The simplest preparation is to buy seasoned chicken wings and bake or barbecue them. Get rid of all the bones after cooking.

Replace chicken wings with other seasoned meats according to both eating preference.

Sauce:

Create yours or buy some from the supermarket.

Hand your beloved the heart-shaped tortilla, place one’s favorite ingredients on top and feast.

Welcome to apply your creativity to fine-tune the ideas given. If you have any other recommendations, kindly leave a message to share with us.

Last be not the least, be joyful in hugs, embraces and kisses. Smile, laugh and sincere praises are additional spices to a delightful Valentine Celebration. Enjoy and have a sweet time. 

Other Valentine related articles you may be interested in reading: 

How to make a Valentine Card by Stamping and Embossing 

Exclusive Valentine to You