My daughter just got back from the pediatric cardiologist, who said that her fainting is NOT caused by a right ventricular hypertrophy - her heart is just FINE! Yeah!!! HOwever, he said that she has a touch of low blood pressure and needs to have more salt in her diet. On her own, she is actually a very healthy eater for a 7 year old. I don't really want to change her eating habits by adding more chips or foods high in fat. Does anyone know a healthy food that is high in sodium or heard of sodium supplements that she could take?
Thanks a bunch!
Cottage cheese is high in sodium! I sneak it into smoothy's for the protein content. We do the noodles from barilla plus, so it makes the italian dishes a lil bit better! So we also eat italian like once a week! Best of luck to ya!
So glad to hear that her heart is OK, how difficult that must have been!
Almost all canned foods have sodium... canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, soup. It wouldn't be hard to use those in relatively healthy ways... pasta with marinara sauce, vegetable soup, etc. When you cook, you could add a tsp of salt to some things. It doesn't take much to get extra sodium. Most people get way too much in their diet, so don't go overboard. As far as supplements, there are some available by prescription, but that would be overkill for her. Try it the diet way first. Good luck.
I have this problem myself. When I was pregnant, it was almost out of control. The doctor had me drink a sports drink or two a day to help balance me out.
My son also has this issue, and I give him several child sized glasses of powerade/gatorade/propel during the day in between his water and juices.
Another simple way also is to make a glass of lemonade and put in a pinch of salt or ice water with a lemon wedge and a pinch of salt .
I would offer her salted nuts. Use sea salt if you can (we use RealSalt) as you want something without the iodine and that is unbleached and unprocessed so you aren't damaging other organs in the process of upping the salt intake.
:)
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M.
Awesome! So happy for you. I do not know of a supplement but many foods are packed with salt. Choose a healthy, but salted popcorn or pretzels for a snack. Teach her to salt her foods.
I read somewhere bathing in epsom salts can help too
Google "food high in sodium" and find some healthly selections. There are foods that are naturally high, so it should be fairly easy to find something you want to feed her. I have been to the ER twice for an incredibly weak feeling and told BOTH TIMES that I had viremia. I found out later my sodium was so low I could have died. I ate some potato chips after the ER visits, felt 1000 times better so then concluded that I had psychological issues because eating chips made me feel better. Yikes I was so angry when I found out I was so hyponatremic. I always add 1 cup of canned soup every other day and that helps keep my sodium up. I also limit how much drinking I do daily. Your kidneys have, what is called an "obligatory salt release" so they are always going to release sodium with fluid removed: so limiting fluids to "just enough" (as determined by your doctor) is a very easy solution for you and does not include drugs at all.
I'm against the salt shaker idea. The amount of salt in that is probably so much more than she needs!
I'm on a low sodium diet (but have low blood pressure too) so adding salt to the diet should be easy to do from a food perspective.
Items that are sodium laden: canned veggies (except the no-salt-added varieties), pasta sauces, processed foods, pizza (any and all), deli meats (even the low sodium version), breads, most cheeses, some cereals, soy sauce (loaded with salt, even the low sodium version!), just to name a few.
You have already recieved many great responses but I just wanted to add one that i love....I take a cucumber and slice it into medallions and sprinkle a little salt on it. This is my healthier version of a potato chip- it has the crunch and saltiness without the added fat and calories! I'm sure if you just add a little salt here or there that it should be sufficient. Good luck!
How about just using a salt shaker a little bit on her food at dinner time? Drinking Gatorade might help, too. A serving of bacon a breakfast? Bacon, sausage, ham, pretty much any pork you can thing of is all pretty salty. So is soy sauce.
You didn't mention how much sodium you need to add to her diet, but you're probably learning now how much is in "regular" foods you wouldn't consider salty, such as bread, which contains about 100mg/slice, and cheese. (American cheese is higher than cheddar, swiss or other natural cheeses.) If you want to keep her diet pretty healthy, bottled salad dressings contain more sodium and make a good accompaniment to veggies or on a salad. Also try pita chips or crackers.
why not add real sea salt to her veggies and food. not too much salt but just make sure you salt her food. I am sure if you add a little salt to all her meals that will be sufficient
