Commercially Prepared Low Sodium Freeze Dried Meals

[Turley]

Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening,

Are there any low sodium commercially prepared freeze dried meals? It seems many have a very high sodium level.

Thanks

[John S.]

What is your definition of low sodium meal?

[Turley]

I guess lower sodium freeze dried meals would be more accurate as most are well over 1000mg/serving. So looking for sodium of 500mg or less (lower the better) and it seems that Mary Jane’s Farm and Good To Go meals have a few options to try.

[Bill in Roswell]

The volume of sodium is for the preservative factor. Note the date stamp on each package.

[JVD]

I would consider buying separate ingredients (online, local grocery stores) and putting together your own meals to get more control over sodium levels. I haven’t priced them out, but I bet this method is cheaper, too. It works for me.

[Matthew / BPL]

Yep ^that makes sense to me. Buy FD ingredients from Packit Gourmet and assemble your own meal.

Check out their Groceries section. I’ve been very happy with everything I’ve purchased from them in the past (FD meats and veggies. Their FD cheese is great too but probably doesn’t work because of sodium) https://www.packitgourmet.com/grocery/view-all-groceries/

 

[JCH]

I have never tried these, but the Nomad Nutrition meals are between 300 and 500 mg. Good-to-go are also in that range. Seems pretty difficult to find any commercial meals below 300 mg.

[Turley]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I’ve never heard of Nomad Nutrition and they, along with Good to Go prepared meals seem worth giving a try. In the future will definitely look into putting meals together utilizing freeze dried ingredients.

Thanks again.

[JCH]

Yep ^that makes sense to me. Buy FD ingredients from Packit Gourmet and assemble your own meal.

Perhaps beating a dead horse here…but seems to me that if you are going to go to the trouble of assembling meals from separately purchased ingredients, it might make sense to try dehydrating your favorite home recipes.  Yeah, they won’t last for decades like commercial FD meals, but vacuum sealed in a zipper bag with an oxygen absorber and kept in the refrigerator they are good for at least a year (my experience).

[DWR D]

I took a diet class from a Dietitian. She super stressed low saturated fats and low salt. I expressed my concern about backpacking food being high in salt. She said not to worry about it much as, 1) it’s not that many days of your life, and 2) you sweat out a lot of salt when backpacking… Still, I do try to avoid the packaged food with the highest salt…

 

[Roger Caffin]

She said not to worry about it much as,
Fine, but what if the packet has so much salt in it that you cannot stomach it?
We find many commercial products are in that class.

Cheers

[DWR D]

“Fine, but what if the packet has so much salt in it that you cannot stomach it?”

Then don’t stomach it… buy something else.

My reference was for a particular health issue that requires a particular low salt diet and a diet expert’s advice on that relative to just a few days of freeze dried / salty food. She was not suggesting to eat something that you don’t like…

[Turley]

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. I do not have any health conditions that require a low sodium diet, and some the higher sodium prepackaged meals (MH Chili Mac) actually taste, at least in my opinion, pretty good but it’s how the high sodium meals at dinner make me feel in the morning. Coming from the medical/nursing field I can see that a dietitian would say over the course of a few days, especially while being active, that a higher than normal sodium sodium intake is ok…..but for most of us we consume way more sodium in our diets that is suggested regardless of activity.

[Brad W]

I for one gave up on prepackaged meals for the sodium reason. Regardless of whether my body can handle high sodium for a few days-I feel like garbage after eating foods with high levels. Doesn’t matter if I just burned 5,000 calories or have been fasting all day, I get what I call ‘that salt feeling’. Bloated, puffy, sort of irritating feeling. Not enjoyable.

[DWR D]

“but for most of us we consume way more sodium in our diets that is suggested regardless of activity.”

Indeed… I always at as much salt as I wanted because I don’t have high blood pressure… but… in the Dietician class, she informed that there are studies now that indicate high salt may cause inflammation in you arteries and plaque build up that clogs your arteries… Basically, ALL prepared foods in the grocery store and restaurants are suspect because salt amplifies flavors and people buy more things that are WOW flavors… read the labels!

 

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

There are quite a few “better” choices out there now. I review them when I find them. The pandemic did interrupt my supply chains, but most of them are back in stock now. But it’s important to look at serving size/calories and then weigh in the sodium (because if you have to eat the entire 2 person bag to get a whopping 600 calories, but intake 1980 mg sodium…that’s not good).

https://trailcooking.com/2021/02/11/there-i-was-trying-to-eat-the-worst-freeze-dried-meal/ I wrote that last year in why I started writing and developing trail recipes long ago. I really reeeeeaaaaalllllyyyy do not like salt lick meals. The old school brands are primarily the worst offenders – they took food of the Chef Boyardee level and freeze-dried it.

For example, Peak Refuel is a newer brand and their quality is far better than Mt. House. It’s also lower in sodium.

But for low? Wild Zora meals. They are paleo/gluten free but can be served over or tossed with rice/pasta to add a lot more calories. You pay for what you get.

Now then, it’s very easy to make meals. I am doing a summer series this year of new recipes made with Thrive Life freeze-dried ingredients. Most of the meals are low sodium by nature (I use sodium free broth powder for example in the meals and the only sodium is either added in (sea salt) or via cheese. It’s very easy to make your own meals, and if you have a FoodVac sealer you can seal them up and be done.

[Andrew D]

Turley, I have started a freeze drying camping/backpacking food company recently and have been writing about my adventures of backpacking food for about two years on a different site than this.

Having a T1D with all the genetic predispositions family medical history, and a heart stent surgery in January 2022, sodium content in meals is big to me. I tend to want 700mg or less in a meal and have been attempting healthy meals while having a bit of flair to them.

It has been expensive, hard work, but I have also been interested in making custom meals for others. If you’re interested, let me know. I’m not sure if I’m allowed to publish my brand or my paid writing about things here, so I’ll leave the trailspoon elsewhere and let you wander alloutdoor and find my stuff. ;P

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

Drop me your link, I review a lot on TrailCooking. And lower sodium is huge.

[Roger Caffin]

BPL does have a commercial channel where I think you would be welcome. Have a look under ‘Forum’.
Postings under ‘Food’ would also be useful to Members.

Cheers

[Andrew D]

Roger, thanks for the guidance.

Sarah, I messaged you about trailspoon.com on your site last month. 🙂

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

Yes! December is my barely work month :-D

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