@iamnikki I don’t eat fast food and much fewer processed foods due to having a gluten-intolerance. So only gluten-free crackers, for example, and they are usually very inexpensive unless I can find some on clearance. Pretty rare for me to have any processed meats like bacon, hot dogs, smoked sausage or even beef or turkey bacon. I avoid MSG which is responsible for a lot of the sodium level in processed foods. If I don’t get enough sodium in the summer I’ll sweat too much and also lose the other electrolytes through sweat. Even so with all of this it seems I am eating a lot of salt from what I take in plain and chase with water. It doesn’t raise my sodium levels too much though and I guess that’s what’s important.

My sister went on a low-sodium diet one time for a couple months and her blood pressure got high. Probably because sodium is an essential electrolyte.

@cherokeepatti that bit about Sister is really interesting. What kind of meats do you eat?

@iamnikki chicken, beef, clean fish like cod, salmon, canned kippers (no bottom-feeder fish like catfish and others) and occasionally turkey and lamb. I like venison, elk and bison and would have it often if I could find it more often. …also have eggs for protein. I don’t eat pork or shellfish at all. I get hungry for smoked turkey or beef sausage but it has nitrites in it and want to avoid that. I can find beef or turkey bacon sometimes at the health food store that has no nitrites or MSG in it but it’s expensive. I get hungry for bison hot dogs but the company that was selling them sold out to someone else and they don’t sell bison dogs…and get hungry for smoked sausage but it’s loaded with nitrites too. Haven’t had deli lunchmeat in a long time either.

@Blanchy sure thing, it's literally what I woke up thinking about.

@icedsky I'm lactose intolerant 🥴 thanks for the other recommendation