Trying To Reduce Sodium? Here Are 5 Ready-Made Meal Services That Are Low In Sodium

Have you been thinking about cutting down your sodium intake? Been wanting to try pre-made microwaveable meals to save time but do not want to check every single food label out there?

We hear you, and we’ve done the work for you.

We’ve compiled 5 Australian meal delivery services that provide lower sodium packaged meals AND cost around $10 per meal. So you can jump straight in to try one (or two) without having to do too much unnecessary shopping around.

How to choose low sodium foods

The number one thing to watch when reducing sodium in diet is packaged foods. Many packaged foods contain a lot of sodium to enhance taste and in some cases to preserve the food.

When checking a food package, look for the Nutrition Information Panel and read the ‘Per 100g’ column and see how much sodium (mg) it has.

According to the Heart Foundation, products containing 120mg or less of sodium per 100g are the best to choose, so try to get as close to this amount as possible when choosing packaged food, including meals provided by meal delivery services.

1. CORE Powerfoods

Most of CORE Powerfoods’ meals provide 150mg or less of sodium per 100g. Their range includes Thai curry meatballs, American-style beef chilli, Portugese-style chicken, and vegan meals. You can choose packs with no rice and only vegetables.

Their pizzas contain around 300mg sodium or less per 100g, which is lower than most frozen and takeaway varieties.

2. Soulara

Soulara provides 100% plant-based meals such as curries, stir-fries, pasta, buddha bowls, and noodles. They prove that vegan meals can be appealing, diverse, and nutritious when they are well-planned.

Most Soulara meals provide 200mg or less of sodium per 100g.

3. Macros

Macros focuses on meeting your protein needs at whatever training stage you are in, catering for gluten-free, dairy-free, nut free, paleo, plant-based, and low-carbohydrate diets.

Most of Macros’ meals provide 200mg or less of sodium per 100g.

4. Dineamic

Burrito plates, curry laksa, pasta, tagines, ragouts, and classic beef fillet with root vegetables are some of the offerings from Dineamic. Using herbs and spices, Dineamic packs flavour while sticking to 200mg or less of sodium per 100g for most of their dishes.

5. My Muscle Chef

My Muscle Chef has ensured that most of their meals contain 200mg or less of sodium per 100g, even their dishes with added cheese! (which usually bumps up the sodium). They also cater innovatively for plant-based diets, offering 10 vegan meals of which only one of them is a curry, a rarity for vegan meals!

You know that eating less sodium is good for you, but why?

It is important to be aware that you need some sodium in your diet, as it is needed for your muscles and nerves to function well and for your blood pressure to be maintained.

According to the Heart Foundation and the National Health and Medical Research Council, you need approximately 500mg sodium at the very least and 2,000mg sodium at the most per day.

Calculate sodium (mg) to salt (g) conversion

When you eat consistently more than 2,000mg sodium a day, the balance of sodium in your blood is tipped. This means that when your blood is being filtered by the kidneys, the kidneys are unable to remove excess water that your body does not need, and the excess water in the blood vessels create a higher pressure.

A higher blood pressure means your arteries compensate by growing thicker to contain it, which narrows the arteries and causes a higher pressure, and the cycle continues. When the arteries eventually become too narrow, blood is unable to travel to your organs to provide them with oxygen and nutrients.