Having to cut back on sodium can take a lot of tasty things out of the equation. Fortunately,
Compared to Classic Spam, the Lite version offers half the fat and a little less sodium. There's 110 calories per serving here compared to the original's 180. If spam is your jam, but the health concerns are holing you back – it's hard to not go with this version.
Tofu is the meat substitute that will probably be most familiar to you. This vegan and vegetarian food is made from curdled milk and pressed like cheese making. It's low in calories and high in protein, making it an ideal alternative for Spam.
Well, you can do what our forbearers did with salt-cured meat and fish: rinse out the meat to wash the salt away, then cook. Or you can buy the 25% less salty version. Or you can make a dish, with Spam as one ingredient, and let the salt of the meat serve as salt for the entire dish.
Spam Lite - 110 calories, 8 g of fat, 580 mg of sodium per serving. Spam Classic - 180 calories, 16 g of fat, 790 mg of sodium per serving.
Spam is a type of processed meat, and thus eating it may be associated with a higher risk of diabetes, heart disease, COPD, high blood pressure and certain types of cancer.
Key Point: Spam contains large amounts of sodium. A diet containing excessive amounts of sodium can increase the risk for high blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases.
Sometimes consumers rinse or soak country ham, bacon or salt pork because they think it reduces the sodium or salt enough to allow these products to be eaten on a sodium-restricted diet. However, very little salt is removed by washing, rinsing or soaking a meat product and doing so is not recommended.
Rinse canned foods.
Draining the liquid, then rinsing them can eliminate up to 40 percent of the sodium in some cases.
We ran a study with some soba noodles that the label says contained 400-600 milligrams of sodium. When they were boiled in the water, 80 percent of that sodium came out in the water while it was cooking.
Spam has 11% more calories than ham - spam has 293 calories per 100 grams and ham has 263 calories. For macronutrient ratios, ham is heavier in protein, lighter in fat and similar to spam for carbs. Ham has a macronutrient ratio of 25:3:72 and for spam, 17:5:78 for protein, carbohydrates and fat from calories.
Treet (Armour Star Treet) is a canned meat product similar to Spam first introduced in 1939 by Armour and Company in the United States. Sold as "spiced luncheon loaf", it is made with chicken and pork and has a more finely ground texture than Spam, more akin to bologna or vienna sausages.
It stands for 'spiced ham' and was a name suggested in a competition launched by the Geo. A. Hormel Company in 1937, to find a name for their new product, which they described as 'The Miracle Meat', and marketed as a health food. Richard Thompson, Allerod Denmark.
USDA sources for nutritional information: Bacon (Pork, bacon, rendered fat, cooked) and Spam (Luncheon meat, pork, ham, and chicken, minced, canned, reduced sodium, added ascorbic acid, includes SPAM, 25% less sodium) .
Sodium content has been lowered from 790 mg to 580 mg per serving. Gluten free.
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.
Based on this study, draining and rinsing can be effective in reducing sodium in canned vegetables; however, varying amounts of some water-soluble nutrients may also be lost.
Pat the surface with a wet paper towel. The wet surface might be able to pick up some salt granules. If the salt is on a piece of meat, rinse the meat under running water or soak the meat for an hour so the salt leaches into the water.
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.
Incorporate foods with potassium like sweet potatoes, potatoes, greens, tomatoes and lower-sodium tomato sauce, white beans, kidney beans, nonfat yogurt, oranges, bananas and cantaloupe. Potassium helps counter the effects of sodium and may help lower your blood pressure.
But you need to choose your seafood wisely, since options like shellfish and canned tuna fish are high in salt. Five ounces of canned tuna has more than 300 mg of sodium, and 3 ounces of frozen shrimp can have more than 400 mg. Better seafood choices include fresh tuna, salmon, halibut, and haddock.
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.
Lean beef, pork, chicken and fatty fish are good proteins to help promote healthy blood pressure. Fatty fish like salmon are loaded with omega-3 fats, and high levels of this healthy fat are associated with lower SBP and DBP.