IMO it really depends on what kind you get. I dont worry too much about sodium, maybe i should, but i dont I just drink a lot of water. Progresso Vegetable Classics makes a few good ones, my favorite being lentil. It has like a gram of fat, 31 g of carbs with 7 g fiber and 11 g of protein. I add some chicken to that and there you go a nice complex carb high protein high fiber meal. Dont know about the preservatives factor but ingredients say water, celery, lentils, tomatoes or something, no high fructose corn syrup or stuff like that. They also make a pretty good black bean one also with even more fiber but a little less protein i believe. I use them regularly and just split the 2 cup can into 1 cup servings.