Fast Food Drive Thru with Low Sodium

Fast Food Drive Thru with Low Sodium 

low sodium taco bell ihelpc.com
Hold the salt please.

It’s time to get smart about eating out! Yes, you can find fast food drive thru with low sodium. If you are on a blood pressure medication or diuretic, you know that the sodium is the first thing you count. Protect your kidneys, heart, and liver!

Seven Sodium Savvy Quick Tips

  • Leave off the cheese.
  • Get ketchup on the side.
  • Mayo has less sodium than mustard.
  • Hold the pickles.
  • Just say “No salt” on fries and hamburgers.
  • In a hurry? Order kids meal.
  • Salads are easiest.

For Sit Down Restaurant Quick List Click Here

(Sodium mg are in parenthesis) For My Best Friends Convenience

McDonald’s

6 Piece McNugget with apple dippers (770 mg)

Any salad with ½ pkg of Newman’s Own Dressing (400-500 mg)

Kids meals with fries or apples (700 mg)

Vanilla cone is always low fat and low sodium and so is the Fruit and Yogurt Parfait! (Under 100mg)

Scrambled Eggs with English muffin (470 mg)

Hotcakes with syrup (700 mg)

Low sodium healthy fast food ihelpc.com
Are you flirting with my granddaughter? MM hm..
best Low sodium healthy fast food ihelpc.com
Now wasnt that fun?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Burger King

4 Piece Chicken Tender (310 mg)

Hamburger (490 mg)

French Fries (240 mg)

Garden Salad  (90 mg)

Taco Bell

Fresco Crunchy Taco (310 mg)

Fresco Grilled Steak Soft Taco (440 mg)

Black beans (200 mg)

Fresco Soft Taco (490 mg)

Side Cheese nachos (230 mg)

Mexican Rice (200 mg)

Chips and Pico De Gallo (260 mg)

Waffle Taco w Egg and Cheese (420 mg)

Taco Bueno

Crisp Beef Taco (440 mg)

Chicken Taco (310 mg)

Party Taco (244 mg)

Mini or Kids Cheese Quesadilla (500 mg)

Side of Guacamole and chips (150 mg)

Pico (10 mg)

Sour Cream (20 mg)

Breakfast Potato Stix (350 mg)

Tried and True to Save YOU

Panera

Bagels – Sprouted Grain (400 mg) all are about 500 except Asiago cheese

Cream Cheese (110 mg) for plain or reduced fat Hazelnut

Egg White, Avocado & Spinach on sprouted grain (600 mg)

Pecan Roll (390 mg)

Oatmeal (170 mg)

Tuna Salad on Honey wheat with apple (580 mg)

Mediterranean Chicken Flatbread (610 mg)

Thai Chicken Flatbread (490 mg)

Most Bagels (400 mg) I skip the asiago cheese and stick with plain or hazelnut cream cheese

Caesar Salad (490)

4 Cheese Egg Souffle (700 mg)

chik fil a sodium
It is easier on your body than beef for real!

Chick-Fil-A

Grilled nuggets 8 pack with side salad (650 mg)

Medium Fries (140 mg)

Fruit Salad is NO sodium

The Grilled Market Salad is great! (570 mg)

Chik-Fil-A Sauce is only 170

Honey Roasted BBQ (70 mg)

Polynesian (200 mg)

Kids meal 6 count w fries (790 mg)

Wendy’s

Junior Hamburger (470)

Garden Side Salad or Caesar (115 mg or less)

Baked Potato (25 mg) add sour cream and chives (50 mg)

5 Piece Chicken nuggets (460 mg)

Jr. Frosty for dessert (95 mg)

Arby’s 

arbys low sodium fast food
Im thinking Salad.

 

Jr. Roast Beef (520 mg)

Jr. Deluxe Sandwich (560 mg)

Bronco Berry Sauce (30 mg)

Plain fries (490 mg)

Curly Fries (540 mg)

Chopped Farmhouse Chicken Salad roasted (680 mg)

Practical Tips:

  • Leave off the cheese and lose 250 mg of sodium per serving.
  • Hold the condiments or get them on the side. You can be more sparing with the sodium laden sauces! Mayo has 1/3 less sodium than mustard.
  • Hold the pickles. They’re cured in salt so that’s a no brainer.
  • Just say “No salt” on fries and hamburgers.
  • In a hurry? Order kids meal.
  • Salads are easiest.

There you go

 Fatty liver disease is on the rise along with diabetes. Learn how to reverse the damage. 

Low sodium for kidney, liver, heart disease, or general health? For easy recipes and meal plans for on the go: Click here to learn more

fast food drive through with low sodium ihelpc.com

Now you know how to order fast food drive thru with low sodium. I want you to be prepared to see your water retention, ascites, and/or blood pressure go way way down as well!

Happy Trails and Happy Meals to You, xo Karen:)

 

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77 thoughts on “Fast Food Drive Thru with Low Sodium”

    1. Ian, Are ya eating the Big Macs? Gosh! I worked at McD’s when they sang the “Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onion, on a sesame seed bun” days. I always got called on by customers to say it.

      I always got a free big mac for lunch. You’re killing me here! Maybe after my transplant?
      xo Karen:)

  1. I have found some low sodium burgers at 5 guys and steak and shake I guess because they use fresh not frozen beef. check it out !

    1. Awesome! Thanks for sharing this! I’ll edit the blog, but for now here’s the scoop:

      Steak and Shake – you can get a single, double, or triple for under 400 mg. Add 210 for a large fry. Garden salad is 105! I figured vanilla, strawberry, banana, chocolate, or any of the “regular” shakes are about 200 mg. Breakfast is 2 eggs and toast for under 500 mg!

      Also the 5 guys, which we don’t have in Tulsa yet is great with a hamburger and fries for about 650 mg.

      I love readers posting tips! I’m ready for steak and shake now!

      1. shireen rogers

        Karen
        My father is 77 and has PCS he has failing liver from years of medication for ulcerative colitis. He has a no sodium diet but everything is bland. What do you do for flavor with the fish, just lemon? What about chicken, or beef? pork? portabella mushrooms? Do you marinate? What do you use to marinate. My parents are elderly and it is like you have said, a lot of work to cook for healthy eating. Can you give me ideas for daily meals?
        Shireen

        1. Hi there, if you look up in the upper right hand page there is a drop down menu of recipes under Liver Loving Recipes which may give you some ideas for cooking. There are other recipes listed, here is one for meat dishes which also has drop down menus.

          https://www.ihelpc.com/liver-loving-recipes/meat-dishes/

          Here is one for meat to get you started. You could use Mrs Dash salt substitute or any of her spices. You could use fresh herbs like basil, oregano,ginger or parsley. You could try some horseradish. Garlic is good. I hope this helps a little. You might have to experience. Good luck 🙂

        2. Table Tasty seasoning is what my hubby uses on eggs, meat and veggies. We even take it when we eat out. We order 3 at a time from Amazon but you can order 1 at a time.

      1. Hey there, so happy this helped you! I know Karen will be happy as well, she loves this blog, just trying to recover from her transplant
        Cheers! Dee

    2. Steak and shake low sodium burgers and fries are the best. Cracker also has a great low sodium menu

  2. Karen, I enjoyed your blog, especially the info on Taco Bell because I tend to avoid fast food.
    If you like Italian, Carrabbas and Olive Garden have grilled salmon and they are low sodium Otherwise, everything on OG’s menu has 1,000 mg of sodium or more!
    Another IHOP choice is simply the one they call the “Fit and Trim” which uses egg beaters and has fruit on the side.
    I’m thrilled about Steak & Shake. Love them!

    1. Hi!

      I’ve been traveling and have eaten out more than ususal the last few weeks. I actually wrote this blog to give myself a heads up! lol. Olive Garden is def a friend to healthy eaters. Much more so than many Italian places. Thanks so much for the wor on IHOP. I totally forgot about that! I have ordered the egg beaters before and they’re great.
      Thanks so much for stopping by!
      xo Karen:)

  3. Thank you for this blog post! While I don’t have any specific health problems relating to sodium intake, I’ve been eating a lot more fast food so I can gain weight. (My metabolism is faster than Usain Bolt!) I was recently shocked to discover how much sodium was in my favorite Chipotle menu item. :c What I thought was healthy maybe isn’t so much *sigh*. But on the bright side, I have this handy little guide to help me.

    1. Thanks for taking the time to stop by! I try not to eat out a lot, but I was planning a trip and thought it might be good to know which options were healthiest. It came in handy at the airport when I hit Wendy’s. 🙂

      All my best to you in your health endeavors. I’m happy to see that some individuals take this seriously. The European Union actually are trying to map how much salt and asking each country to have a plan for reduction. And many of those countries already eat less than 1,500 a day. I’ve hosted international students who can barely eat restaurant food here. And so my rant goes. lol.

      Kudos to you!
      xo Karen:)

    1. Haha! Thanks so much for catching that. It would seem a little extreme. Especially since it was a salad. It is only 570 mg. So I got that fixed. I’m not sure if that was my typo or if it got glitched after the redo from the hack.
      I appreciate you so much for catching that dear friend. xo K:)

  4. Hi Karen. I have probably some of the worst eating habits you have ever seen. Not surprisingly I am overweight and recently was in the hospital with shortness of breath and extremely high blood pressure. Luckily all of the tests on my heart came back good, but obviously the doctors recommended I keep my sodium down. Unfortunately, everything I enjoy eating is high in sodium, and I have never eaten salads and almost all vegetables.

    It wont be that difficult for me to avoid desserts and candy and so called junk food, but that doesn’t seem to be where the high sodium intake comes from anyway. I have never cooked, and eat mostly at chain restaurants and fast food. I spent a decent amount of time checking out a lot of these places nutritional charts and am having a hard time finding any items I enjoy that I can eat on a regular basis. I checked out a couple of your articles and, although I definitely appreciate the input, it didn’t provide me with much optimism.

    I know you are saying “you are just going to have to change your diet”. I understand that, but I also understand the reality of the fact that, not only am I addicted to food, but I have an auto immune disease which requires me to take prednisone, which has the side effect of making me hungry.

    I have a couple of questions that maybe you can help me with. First off, I will tell you there are some relatively low sodium foods I do enjoy. Chicken, mushrooms, bananas, potatoes, to name a few. Your top suggestions of chains I should frequent? Also, I noticed you recommend Genghis Grill. I enjoy dining there, and actually like several Asian vegetables. But I always use the sauces. Do I need to completely cut out the sauce? How bad are they? If I was to still use a sauce, which would be the best? Also, I assume the brown rice is the best starch. Are either of the pastas ok?

    Lastly, I have always ate a lot of breakfast cereal. After going through the labels of most of the well known cereals I have noticed that they generally range from 110mg to 200mg of sodium per serving. Obviously that is a lot, and probably makes it not worth partaking. Strangely enough, I did discover that Golden Crisp only has 25mg of sodium per serving. I was wondering how a cereal that is not tremendously healthy in other areas can possibly be this low in sodium.

    Anyway, any help is extremely appreciated. I am all new at this, so sorry for the bombardment of info and questions. Thanks, Jason

    1. Hello Jason! I’m glad you stopped by the blog. It is not easy to make some changes, I know. Bravo for doing the research here at the website though. I try and eat as “normally” as possible. It does take some working around. Leftovers is a huge help because you can make a few days meals in advance. Like I just finished off some potatoes from Monday. I fried up a huge skillet in olive oil and have stuck a plateful in the microwave with pepper and garlic powder with loso catsup 2 or 3 times this week.

      About the prednisone, I’m on a transplant list and will be taking steroids for the rest of my life. I’m working on a new blog about nutrition specifics to deal with that battle. I think a lot of it is going to involve burning more calories than I take in. That’s where the salad and veggies come in. It will be a whole new world for you to learn to cook, eat, and actually enjoy! It is so worth it in the long run though Jason.

      I tend to not eat the sauces with most asian food. I’d go with Roasted Tomato, Asian Chili, or Sweet and Sour. Tell the chef to keep it under 4 TBL and you should be good. Im a wok cooker too and it’s not easy to find them for use at home, but I manage. By the time I add the veggies and noodles or rice, the meat taste pretty good with very little sauce.

      I love breakfast cereal too! The Golden Crisps is pretty good. They just make up for it using high sugar. I stick with the shredded mini wheat. I also love oatmeal and make a big pan and keep it in the fridge for snacking.

      Any ole time you have a question, let me know. I’m always glad to help. I’m impressed with all of your questions and can tell you are serious about making changes. I’m pulling for you Jason!
      xoxoxoxo Karen:)

  5. I appreciate how low sodium focused you are, but most of this list is too high of fat for stage 4 cirrohosis. Some of the meat protein will also not be good for those who need to keep encephalopathy at bay. Can you re-evaluate that part?

    I do like the recipe section and other parts of your blog.
    This is my only concern since I am keeping my fat grams low to avoid faetor hepaticus (liver breath.)

    1. Thanks for pointing that out. I eat a pretty low fat diet except for some occasional lean beef and maybe a pop tart. My body fat ratio is at 21.3 right now which is very lean. I have to keep up with all of that for a transplant list.
      I’m practically off of meat for now due to hepatic encephalopathy. That is the main cause of the sweet breath you talk about. Are you on Lactulose or Xifaxan? I’ve controlled my HE without it for a while and am back on xifaxan now.

      I’m also putting together a food guide to help with grocery shopping and menu planning. xo Keep in touch and thanks so much for stopping by. Karen:)

  6. Hello, I just found your blog and I enjoy it. Last week I had a stent placed in one of my heart arteries. I waited too long to change my bad habits but you can bet I’m on board now.

    I travel for a living and eat all of my meals in restaurants. Looking for low sodium options for every meal is daunting. I’m fairly overwhelmed by it all.

    I am wide open to any suggestions for a basic plan. I rotate through certain areas of the country so at some point I guess I could find restaurants and stick with them. I am afraid I’m going to find myself eating the same meal over and over because it meets my dietary requirements.

    1. Russell,

      Eating out a lot does present problems. I’ve been traveling a lot lately and find it easy to make excuses.. Salads are always available, but I get pretty bored with them day after day. I seem to gravitate toward a Wendy’s baked potato as my back up also.

      I like your idea of finding a mom and pop place you can become a “regular” at. I know of a couple of local diner’s where they will fix a fresh veggie omelet or just a beef patty without a lot of seasoning and fresh steamed veggies. It’s been a while since I read that blog, but I did mention that breakfast is always easy, right? If you skip the gravy and biscuit and go for toast w honey or jam, you can do all right there.

      My other trick is to keep a jar of almond butter and honey in the car with a loaf of bread. Then you can snack in the car for a quick fold-over fix. Another one is to stop by a local grocery store for some fresh fruit and/or salad bar. Take it back to the room with you…

      I’m leaving for 3 days in OKC today for doctor’s visits and am glad to hear from you. I’ve already been dreading (planning) how I can eat well. Luckily there is a great deli at Green Acre’s Market with a chicken curry salad that I happen to love.

      Standing ovation for you taking care of your heart. I’m in there with you!
      xo Karen:)

  7. Karen, I am enjoying your blog – I too am on the list for a liver transplant here in Houston, TX due to cirrhosis caused by primary Schlerosing Cholngitis (PSC) I was diagnosed with PSC about 12 yrs ago but only really became symptomatic about a year ago – in fact it was during spring break last year! Since then I’ve been hospitalized twice with infections in my hepatic system due to progression of my PSC and cirrhosis.

    I’ve always eaten pretty healthy or so I thought but I am trying to crack down all the more on my sodium intake. I hadn’t realized just how much salt is on our daily lives without even adding tons of it on purpose. Right now I’m going through the everything is flavorless without it – we made a big pot of vegetable soup using no salt added tomatoes and fresh veggie but it just tasted like vegetable water without any salt – I did try using Mrs. Dash and some other saltless seasonings but it was just flat. I tried baking chicken using saltless herbs and lemon but again flat. The most flavorful thing I’ve come up with is scrambled eggs with a little homemade poco de gallo tossed in it or a bowl of oatmeal. I’m anxious to find some good low sodium recipes. Any help you can give in this area would be great!

    Thanks again for the great resources for dining out and fast food. I don’t eat out much but it’s good to have the references!

    Hope you’re enjoying your Sunday!
    Mischelle

    1. Hi Mischelle, thank you for sharing your ideas. It helps everyone. Have you been to Karen’s liver loving recipe drop down? It is on the upper right side of the page.
      I am Dee, a friend of Karen’s helping her out for a bit. She had a procedure, is doing well, trying to recover. I know she appreciates your help. It is amazing to me how much salt is in food. When my Mom had to lower her salt I discovered that there is salt in milk! Forget about the old chicken noodle soup. It is very difficult. My Mom, a big time snacker, had to snack on puffed rice as there just wasn’t anything else at the time. Take Care, Dee

  8. If you leave off the pickles, cheese and Mayo, the Whopper Jr is only 300 mg of sodium. According to their website, their small fry is actually 480 mg, not 240 mg. I didn’t see McDonalds small fries on your list, which are 260 mg.

    1. The Whopper Jr is actually just a hamburger with the Whopper toppings. I used to tell people to order a hamburger instead and just add lettuce, tomato, etc. (I worked at the BK Lounge as a teenager) as it was cheaper (at the time) to do it that way.

      I’m starting to have blood pressure issues (which I’ve never had) so paying attention to sodium has become a priority lately. And to everyone’s point, WOW at how much sodium everything has in it. Thanks for the blog–it’s very helpful. And good luck with your transplant!

      1. Hi there Tom! I am Dee, a friend of Karen’s she had her transplant and is in the hospital. She is doing well. Thank you for writing. I agree with you, I never knew how much sodium there was in everything. Even a glass of milk has sodium. I thought I was on a low sodium diet because I didn’t add salt to anything. Funny how much I did not know. I am trying to learn now. I hope you will stick around I know Karen would like to hear from you. Take Care, Dee

    2. McDonalds small fry is only 130 mg according to their website. Sorry for the incorrect information. Still a better option than BK’s.

  9. Thank you Karen for the lovely blog so helpful good luck in your recovery post transplant

    1. Hi there, thank you so much. Karen is doing well. She is working on a new blog describing her experience with the transplant. She will publish as soon as she is able to. I know she was working on it yesterday. Take Care. Dee

  10. I just found your site, I was diagnosed with liver disease 2 years ago and have been on low sodium since. I have done a lot of research too. I’m sure you have already but check out healthy heart market on line, they even have no salt pickles which are really good. Also Red Robin does a really good job at keeping their food low if you ask.

    1. Hello there, thank you for the information. We appreciate. It is difficult, after first being diagnosed to figure out the best things for the liver.

  11. My main concern at the moment is how to raise my kidney GFR from 49 to 59/60. I’ve brought it up from 30. I drink so much water sometime I bend over and up comes a little.

    1. Hi there! I wish I had an answer for you besides water. What does your doctor say? Is there a medication that could help raise your GFR?
      I so sorry you are going through this, sending good thoughts, Dee

  12. Thanks! finally some real options that lazy/busy people can live with, and before everyone jumps down my throat I am the lazy one. I hate how long it takes to make food at all, and in the morning I don’t have time to fuss with it, I like my sleep!
    I appreciate honest living tips instead of everyone trying to one up how much they do everything perfectly.
    link if you have any other real living eating ideas!

    1. Hello there! Your comments made me laugh out loud! 🙂 None of us are perfect, I understand not having time in the morning. McDonald’s makes a really good oatmeal that I just love. In the upper right hand page there is a list of liver loving recipes and food that you might be interested in. Dee

  13. My husband has just been diagnosed with congestive heart failure, he also has had uncontrolled atrial fib for years, he was placed on a low sodium diet. I was shopping at the grocery store today and the dietician was there. She told me low sodium ketchup has potassium chloride instead of sodium chloride in it which can increase heart rates, just thought I’d let anyone else know who may not tolerate this!

    1. Hello there, thank you so much for sharing this information. My Mom had to go on a low salt diet, it was difficult to find things. She was a real snacker so used Quaker Puffed Rice as a snack. At times it was hard to find it but we did and people from all over the US were mailing her boxes of Puffed Rice 🙂 I have just been reading about different things to try to help me. I found that most of us are deficient in magnesium. It is very interesting to find that magnesium performs over 300 enzyme actions in our body. When my husband was rushed to the ER when he couldn’t breath the first thing they did was hook him up to an IV bag of magnesium. It is supposed to help with breathing as well as muscle aches/cramps. The best kind if Magnesium malate or glycinate. They don’t seem to cause the stomach upset. I wish you a lot of luck in changing your diet. It is not easy at first but gets easier every day.

    2. Thank you! I just did some quick research on this. I think for a person who eats a LOT of ketchup, this may be a problem. A bottle lasts me about 3 months, so I’m ok.
      It is great to see that you are working hard to help your husband. My husband has been so good to eat my healthy food also!
      xo Karen:)

  14. I realize this is an older blog, but I just had a stemi heart attack june 12th. I’m wondering about low sodium options for sonic and braums. I see you’re in Oklahoma as well (I’m in Cushing) so I know you’ll be familiar with these places. 🙂 Just trying to make sense of it all. Being 40 and type 2 diabetic my options just got “slimmer” (pun intended) Hope you still check this blog.. You can message me at the email given if you’d like. Thanks a bunch

    1. Hi there, I am sure Karen can help. She had a liver transplant 2 months ago so is recovering, I will let her know that you have a question, I am sure she will answer as soon as she gets back on the site. I am not familiar with those restaurants.

    2. I love Sonic so much that when I lived in another state back east, my relatives had to stop and pick up a cheeseburger in Illinois and bring it or I wouldn’t let them in! haha. That said, Sonic is a lot of work for heart healthy.

      The best deal for us with low sodium is the Whacky Pack Kids Meal. That runs you about 1,000 mg. of sodium. Now the onion rings are not heart healthy, but you can ask for no salt on any sonic item and they will do it.

      The bottom line for me the last few years? I’ve had about 3 Sonic Hamburgers with NO Salt, NO pickles, and light mayo. (mustard is hi sodium). I tend to tear a lot of the bun since it contains about 200 mg of sodium.
      THEN … I eat a small bag of onion rings that have been ordered NO salt and blotted with a napkin.

      I love your comment. So after my liver transplant guess where my first place to eat out was? You got it! I only had 2 onion rings and ordered it the way I told you above. Old habits die hard.. I still want to eat healthy. My healthy diet is what gave me the cardio strength to survive the long transplant surgery. Nothing tastes as good as being alive feels!
      If I’m ever in Cushing I’ll have to try your sonic. They are all different and some are better than others… lol.
      xo and best to you! Karen:)

      http://sonicwww.s3.amazonaws.com/Content/pdfs/sodium.pdf

  15. I’m a little late to the game here, but I thought I’d mention that if you want to drive through MickeyD’s you don’t really have to get the toy.
    You can ask for an “All American Meal.” It’s not on the menu board, but it’s a hamburger (or cheeseburger, you specify which), a small order of fries and a small drink, and every order-taker at McDonald’s knows what it is.
    I believe it’s a tad less expensive than a “Happy Meal” (probably because it comes without a toy).

    1. Thanks for THAT bit of info. I really do like the toys though. I have this file cabinet where I keep them for my students to play with. Yes, they’re in high school. haha.
      What an interesting piece of info. Back when I worked at McD’s we didn’t have those. I worked inside during the “Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed bun” years. What fun!
      xo Karen

  16. This is SUCH a helpful site. I have lupus (SLE) and am on dialysis. I also have autoimmune hepatitis. I’m not very good at cooking or patiently deciphering nutritional ingredients. Thank you for doing the work for me!

    1. I hear you! It was trial and error and I’m glad you are finding the help you need. Just this morning, I was thinking about this diet. I went out for a cheeseburger and fries. A VERY rare thing and only done a couple of times since my transplant. I woke up with a lot of joint pain and stiffness. More than usual. This girl just finished a bowl of my own home made potato soup. Our diet can even effect our pain level.
      All my best to you. Thanks for stopping by. I love comments!
      xo Karen

  17. Thank you for this blog. I’m still figuring out healthy eating for autoimmune hepatitis that wasn’t discovered until cirrhosis! This was extremely helpful! Congrats on the transplant. I’m still in the work-up stage for that. Also have to be consistent with green veggies as I am on blood thinner for portal vein clots!

    1. Hello there! So sorry to hear of your troubles. My cousin is on blood thinners and has to be very careful when eating greens. I hope you find something on here that helps you. Karen has written over 160 articles. There is a drop down box on liver living recipes in the upper right hand corner and they are fascinating to me. I wish you all the best, Dee

  18. Thank you for this, Very handy! I have Ménière’s disease which calls for a low sodium diet! Just to add to Wendy’s, a large bowl of chili is only 200mg sodium!

      1. Well, my face is red. I got on their website and sure enough… It makes me wonder where I got that info? When I was on less than 1,000 mg a day, Wendy’s was a fairly safe bet. I usually got a plain baked potatoe and spooned some chili onto it.

        I would hope that the chili contained less at some point and I was right. Then again, it could be that my hepatic encephalopathy kicked in and my numbers were wacky. Either way, thank you for pointing it out. I’ll change the post as soon as I can get on my desktop.

        Thanks for the comment!
        Xo Karen

  19. Me and my family went to drive thru of a fast food restaurant because we are so hungry but i thought that is a fast food but we experienced a slow food restaurant i take my order 20 minutes or more than that is so traumatic. That why it’s better to research first of where is the real fast food, but this article has a great tips.

      1. I eat a very low sodium diet, but when I crave fast food I go to Culver’s and order a hamburger with lettuce and tomato but no seasoning salt. I then throw away the large part of the bun to take the sodium level down farther. Sometimes I get a double and throw away the entire bun. I have never figured out the exact sodium count but since their meat does not have added sodium, it’s pretty low. You can also ask for fries without salt

        1. Thanks for sharing! I like your idea of tossing most of the bun. I’ve always tore off pieces of it just to get rid of extra carbs anyway.
          I love it when restaurants like Culver’s will hold the salt. It’s probably a full days worth at most places and this sure helps us to stay within healthy guidelines.
          Thanks for stopping by!
          xo Karen

  20. Thank you for your blog. I was recently diagnosed with hypertension, and talked my doctor into making lifestyle changes, due to the fact I eat an embarrassingly amount of salt. Thank you for the information and all the work you put into this.

    1. You’re really sweet. I love logging onto the dashboard and finding comments like yours. Kudos for making smart choices on your food. It’s amazing how quick you’ll get over salt. Watch for my low sodium cookbook. Sigh.. just a few weeks away.
      xo Karen

  21. Thanks for this posting! I have kidney disease and have managed to stay pretty stable for the last 12 years – mostly due to a low sodium, low protein diet. Fortunately I love to cook, but the eating out is always a struggle. The amount of sodium in restaurants & packaged foods is mind boggling! The choices you mentioned are still too high for me…but gives a good idea for those splurge times!

    1. Thank you so much for taking the time to write, very kind of you. Yes a low salt diet is very hard to manage. When I was trying to reduce salt I found out for myself. A snack had to be puffed rice, not as satisfying but crunchy! LOL

  22. Sharron L Stolpa

    I have Autoimmune Immune Hepatitis with Stage 4 Cirrhosis. I was just diagnosed in May, 2016. I had a horrible reaction to lactulose. What is the other one you talked about. With the lactulose I felt like I was giving birth to an alien. The stomach cramps were horrendous!

    1. Hello there! I’m so sorry to hear about your reaction to Lactulose. Did you start out on a low dose and slowly work your way up? I found if I took it on a full stomach it helped with the gas.
      There is an antibiotic that can help with the ammonia build up. Also I have hear that pro biotics can really help. There have been studies done on it. Inulin is a powder very similar to lactulose. When I use that I put it in some yogurt. I will find the name of the antibiotic and come back. Take Care, Dee

    2. Hi the antibiotic is called Rifaximin generic Xifaxan. It is expensive, some ins companies require a justification or prior approval. I hope this helps a little.

  23. What about Subway? Obviously the ham and other pork products are high in sodium. But what about the others? I’m a trucker trying to watch my salt intake due to massive water retention and elevated blood pressure.. subway is in most truck stops. As well as quite a few Denny’s

    1. I’m not a doctor however I would stay away from the processed meats and stick with tuna or chicken salad. You’re right the lunch meats do have a lot of salt. This will sound silly however try to drink more water. It can help flush your system too. Good luck to you!

  24. Thanks for the great info here. Last year my husband was diagnosed with cirrhosis, so it’s been a year of ups, downs, and a lot of learning. I joined a great Facebook group called shakinthesalt. Lots of good tips, recipes, support and shopping lists for various grocery stores. Finding options for when we eat out is always a struggle, and we do the best we can. He doesn’t need a transplant yet, so we are trying to keep it that way. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if restaurants had low sodium menus like they have for gluten free options?

    1. If you have a Cracker Barrel Restaraunt in your area, they do have a low sodium menus and the entrees are varied and delicious!

  25. These are all such good tips. I have CHF and should stick to less than 2000 mg per day of sodium however I do not cook yet all I have ever done is eat out. Just trying to find good solutions for great restaurant ideas. Thank you

    1. Thanks for dropping by! I’m glad you found what you needed to eat out some fast food. For sure, if you order fries, you’ll get them hot when you order low sodium.
      xo Karen

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