Ailis Travers never considered herself someone who paid much attention to sodium. Like many people, she equated salt with flavor and didn’t think twice about the amount she used—until her annual check-up showed a creeping increase in blood pressure. “I felt healthy,” she says. “But the numbers told a different story.”
Her doctor recommended a low-sodium diet, and that phrase stuck with her. At first, Ailis panicked. Would everything taste bland? Would she be forced into a life of plain rice and boiled vegetables?
Rather than go to extremes, Ailis approached the change like a curious student. She spent one afternoon reading labels at the grocery store and was shocked to see how much sodium was packed into even basic foods like bread and canned soup. “I had no idea how common it was,” she admits.
The solution wasn’t to throw out her entire kitchen, but to shop smarter. She began buying no-salt-added beans and tomatoes, plain brown rice instead of pre-seasoned mixes, and fresh or frozen vegetables instead of canned. She started using lemon juice, vinegar, garlic, and herbs to season her food—tools she’d always had, but never fully appreciated.
Within a few weeks, her cooking started to shift. The flavors were still there, just more layered. And her body responded. “I felt less puffy, more energized,” she says. “I didn’t even realize how heavy sodium had been making me feel until I cut back.”
Now, low-sodium eating doesn’t feel like a sacrifice—it feels like a reset. “It’s not about removing flavor,” Ailis says. “It’s about discovering it in new places.”
