Let them eat low sodium heathy soup on a cold day!

[Wise Old Owl]

I have been on the lookout for a few years about taking Low Sodium Soups on the trail. There are lots of problems with this as many companies feel that lots of Salt means lots of sales - no Salt = won't even get off the shelf. Cambells is now being sued over faking sodium levels, and they are right - Americans are addicted to Sugar and Salt in everything...

It is now possible to have a filling, flavorful soup in 5 minutes on the trail. And to find it not loaded with salt is very hard.

Today I went to Acme and went down the ethnic isle and saw this vegan-low sodium product while looking for ingredients... for those that want 2.5 oz =1.25 cups of soup check out this product... boil water and stir for 4 minutes. So you have an alcohol stove - the soup cup says microwave - so what - follow the directions and add two minutes... it works. maybe add bacon bits.

Here it is http://www.rightfoods.com/scripts/di...ategory_id=150


I have no vested reason to post this - I am not spamming and will not be compensated in anyway...other than, its delicious.

[Derek81pci]

Military taught us to over-salt everything. It helps retain moisture requiring you drink less water. Also, most of the insta-noodle brands taste horrible and the salt helps hide that fact. You are correct in that most Americans copnsume WAYYY too much salt, one of the reasons I hate processed food. Still haven't totally wrapped my mind around the whole "living on crap food for 6 months" thing. Something I will have to suck up I guess. I might look into those though, I do love me some split pea soup

[RWheeler]

I've tried that in my pre-trail trials of food. It's not bad. I tend to prefer stews over soups, though, and this one especially came out a little thinner than my preference. My easy solution to this is just add some instant potatoes. The flavor actually works very very well with the split pea, too. It's a great item, although the cup that it comes in is extra bulk to consider for packing in and packing out. But you could also give yourself a bowl to eat out of for the rest of that stretch, if you don't want to eat out of plastic bags anymore.

[rocketsocks]

Good find Woo.I to like low sodium quick dishes for the trail,and think this one is to be put on my wifes next shopping list.But don't tell her I said that.

[HT1]

Military taught us to over-salt everything. It helps retain moisture requiring you drink less water.

Curious when was that, because in 2008, we where being preached not to salt anything, all food MRE or DFAC was dietary correct.

I Was having terrible salt cravings and asked the DR.(probably a PA) on my annual PFA if there was a problem, he took blood, and told me everything was normal, "eat what your body is asking for"

I have generally followd that rule since

V/r HT1

[Derek81pci]

Marine Corps 06-10. You would never want to salt an MRE... they have way too much salt as is. I was reffering to chow hall food, box'd chow etc. Hell, they even told us to salt our PowerAde.

[HT1]

Marine Corps 06-10., box'd chow .

Styrofoam clamshells from the galley, or the Frozen "B" ration on the egg crates?

"B rates" need more then salt, they are the worst food I have ever ate, and that is saying alot.


I have to wonder how "field" living compares to thru-hiking, I know the military, the marines in particular have some odd ideas about weight. an assualt load for instance was 20% body weight, but did not include SAPI plates, and everyone knows you never remove your SAPI plates. can you imaging trying to carry 3 days of MRE's on the trail? and appearently we where all supposed to carry a pound of salt for our poweraide

[Derek81pci]

I know the military, the marines in particular have some odd ideas about weight. an assualt load for instance was 20% body weight, but did not include SAPI plates, and everyone knows you never remove your SAPI plates. can you imaging trying to carry 3 days of MRE's on the trail? and appearently we where all supposed to carry a pound of salt for our poweraide

Not to that extreme, but I was a combat Marine, so I carried my M-16, SAW, ammo for both, and my pack more often then not. That was well 50% of my body weight. Simply saying that carrying a few more pounds of food is a non-issue for me, at the start. I only got MRE's for Maine, will be doing the normal town resupply after that. It's a good option, for me. The MRE's I put a link to are not military issue (couldn't get my hands on any and not a fan of Ebay). They are lighter and probably a bit tastier. I didn't mind the old-school ones anyway, my mom couldn't cook worth a sh**

[Wise Old Owl]

well its thick and tasty - few starches - a touch of sea salt... nothing screwy and guess what a cup at 2.5-3 ounces.

[vamelungeon]

Thanks for the link. I have a sodium imbalance and have to really watch my sodium intake closely.

[sterling98]

I had the chicken noodle version of that the other day... I can't say it's as good as ramen (well, I haven't lived on a staple of ramen for 6 months yet) but it's pretty good. If you do dig chicken noodle, just get one cup container thing since its pretty different from what you might be used to.

[Fiddleback]

...maybe add bacon bits.

My Hormel Real Bacon Bits provide 10% of the sodium RDA in a serving...1 Tbsp. Artificial bacon bits I've looked at don't seem to be as bad but still... BacO's Bacon Flavored Bits; 5% in 1½ Tbsp. McCormick Imitation Bacon Bits; 9% in 1½ Tbsp.

You're right. 'They' put salt in everything. The fast food industry's fortune is based on the Unholy Trinity of fat, salt and sugar. And we Americans are very devout to that addiction...

FB

[sarbar]

The Dr. McDougall stuff is usually quite good

[Wise Old Owl]

I thought so too Thanks Sabar & Fiddleback

[4Bears]

I have ben loking forever for a good dry split pea soup for my hikes. It is great comfort food on a cold day, you could even cut up some Jack Links kippered steak and throw in there, many other possibilities. Thanks much WOO!!

[gunner76]

why not make your own so you can control the salt content and dehydrate it for the trail

[JAK]

I make my own.
Lentils. Dried Vegetable Mix. Dried Onion Mix.
Herbs and Spices. Parsley is very healthy. Paprika also.
Don't be afraid to throw in some oats now and then.
Split peas instead of lentils now and then.

[sarbar]

http://www.trailcooking.com/recipes/...pea-bacon-soup
Leave the bacon out for truly low sodium!

[Spokes]

Funny, after my thru hike I went in to get my annual medical check-up and told the doc to take a slice of my blood for testing.

Bada-Bing........

[T-Dubs]

Studies show that 30 percent of the Americans who have high blood pressure would greatly benefit from a low-sodium diet. But that's about 10 percent of the overall population -- the rest of us are fine with sodium. And drastically cutting out sodium may actually hurt some people.

Read more: http://www.esquire.com/the-side/MARI...#ixzz1okmXowQO

But a new study, published in the May 4 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), found that low-salt diets actually increase the risk of death from heart attack and stroke — and in fact don’t prevent high blood pressure.
http://grist.org/food/2011-05-26-cha...e-its-bad-rap/

Who knows what to believe as far as dietary claims are concerned. Some things 'everyone knows' don't seem to stand up to scrutiny of more recent tests. For those who are sensitive to salt, by all means use those lower sodium products--especially if they are delicious!