How are you weighing salt?
Protranser
Posts: 517 Member
The nutritional label for this container of table salt says there's around 590mg of sodium in 1.1g of salt. I put the container of salt on my scale, and tare it so that at its full weight, it's 0 grams. I pour some salt out, to what I'd imagine is 1 gram, and the scale doesn't register the 1 gram. I keep pouring more and then I'm at 3 grams instead of 1. I guess my scale isn't really great at catching 1 gram?
If you're cooking and putting salt into your food (and watching your sodium intake,) how are you measuring your salt?
If you're cooking and putting salt into your food (and watching your sodium intake,) how are you measuring your salt?
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Replies
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By the pinch.0
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1tsp is 2325mg sodium.0
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galgenstrick wrote: »1tsp is 2325mg sodium.
If 1 tsp is 2325 mg sodium and 1.1 gram of sodium is 590 mg of sodium, then 1 tsp is 3.9 grams of sodium. I suppose I should just use a third of a teaspoon then?
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Sure. It depends on how much sodium you're trying to get. The recommended upper limit is 2300mg which you can easily hit by just eating homemade foods without adding salt to anything.
1/3 of a tsp of table salt is 775mg sodium.0 -
ok, thank you both for your suggestions
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galgenstrick wrote: »Sure. It depends on how much sodium you're trying to get. The recommended upper limit is 2300mg which you can easily hit by just eating homemade foods without adding salt to anything.
1/3 of a tsp of table salt is 775mg sodium.
OR:
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Liftng4Lis wrote: »galgenstrick wrote: »Sure. It depends on how much sodium you're trying to get. The recommended upper limit is 2300mg which you can easily hit by just eating homemade foods without adding salt to anything.
1/3 of a tsp of table salt is 775mg sodium.
OR:
And
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Ohhh, but I don't eat carbs and fats because I don't want them to turn into fat. . . .0
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Protranser wrote: »Ohhh, but I don't eat carbs and fats because I don't want them to turn into fat. . . .
Doesn't work that way. Excess calories from any source will be stored it fat. A calorie deficit is all you need to lose weight. Fat is required for brain function, skin health, hormone function, flavour and satiety. Carbs are a good energy source, and source of fibre. There is no need to cut out whole food groups.
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Protranser wrote: »Ohhh, but I don't eat carbs and fats because I don't want them to turn into fat. . . .
Doesn't work that way. Excess calories from any source will be stored it fat. A calorie deficit is all you need to lose weight. Fat is required for brain function, skin health, hormone function, flavour and satiety. Carbs are a good energy source, and source of fibre. There is no need to cut out whole food groups.
but, but... I have a friend who lost 30 lbs cutting all carbs and fats from their diet. Surely that's the way to do it, right???0 -
Protranser wrote: »Protranser wrote: »Ohhh, but I don't eat carbs and fats because I don't want them to turn into fat. . . .
Doesn't work that way. Excess calories from any source will be stored it fat. A calorie deficit is all you need to lose weight. Fat is required for brain function, skin health, hormone function, flavour and satiety. Carbs are a good energy source, and source of fibre. There is no need to cut out whole food groups.
but, but... I have a friend who lost 30 lbs cutting all carbs and fats from their diet. Surely that's the way to do it, right???
There is no way you can cut all carbs and fat. What would you eat? No fruit, no vegetables, no grains, no meat - because that will have fat in it, no fish (fat).
Some people cut carbs as a way to cut calories. Same with reducing fat. Just a way to reduce calories. I have lost 23 lbs so far and haven't cut anything out. Just planning, tracking, and portion control.
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This spiraled out of control quickly. Your scale may be trying to account for drift if the addition of salt is slow. Dump the 1/3 tsp at one time and see if it registers.0
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So, I ended up using a measuring spoon for 1/2 tsp.
The salt, filled to the brim of the spoon, came to 3 grams.
So yes, a third of that measuring spoon is 1 gram. Since I don't often add salt to my food, I now know how much sodium that amount is. Thank you all 0 -
Protranser wrote: »Protranser wrote: »Ohhh, but I don't eat carbs and fats because I don't want them to turn into fat. . . .
Doesn't work that way. Excess calories from any source will be stored it fat. A calorie deficit is all you need to lose weight. Fat is required for brain function, skin health, hormone function, flavour and satiety. Carbs are a good energy source, and source of fibre. There is no need to cut out whole food groups.
but, but... I have a friend who lost 30 lbs cutting all carbs and fats from their diet. Surely that's the way to do it, right???
I lost 50 lbs by cutting all foods from my diet!
Trust me, it works!
Let me sell you the supplement i lived on for the last year! Got it from Dr. Oz!0 -
Blueseraphchaos wrote: »Protranser wrote: »Protranser wrote: »Ohhh, but I don't eat carbs and fats because I don't want them to turn into fat. . . .
Doesn't work that way. Excess calories from any source will be stored it fat. A calorie deficit is all you need to lose weight. Fat is required for brain function, skin health, hormone function, flavour and satiety. Carbs are a good energy source, and source of fibre. There is no need to cut out whole food groups.
but, but... I have a friend who lost 30 lbs cutting all carbs and fats from their diet. Surely that's the way to do it, right???
I lost 50 lbs by cutting all foods from my diet!
Trust me, it works!
Let me sell you the supplement i lived on for the last year! Got it from Dr. Oz!
Oh, thank you so much. I was hoping there'd be an easier solution!0 -
Did I miss the sarcasm font here? Is this a joke?0
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Protranser wrote: »Blueseraphchaos wrote: »Protranser wrote: »Protranser wrote: »Ohhh, but I don't eat carbs and fats because I don't want them to turn into fat. . . .
Doesn't work that way. Excess calories from any source will be stored it fat. A calorie deficit is all you need to lose weight. Fat is required for brain function, skin health, hormone function, flavour and satiety. Carbs are a good energy source, and source of fibre. There is no need to cut out whole food groups.
but, but... I have a friend who lost 30 lbs cutting all carbs and fats from their diet. Surely that's the way to do it, right???
I lost 50 lbs by cutting all foods from my diet!
Trust me, it works!
Let me sell you the supplement i lived on for the last year! Got it from Dr. Oz!
Oh, thank you so much. I was hoping there'd be an easier solution!
It's really easy! Just subsist off the sunshine you stand in for half an hour every morning!
I'm horrible at etiquette as well. But i usually get the subtleties on here ;p there are definitely some people who...don't....0 -
On a note related note, my scale won't register one gram either....but for the most part, without a medical reason, there isn't much reason to worry about the sodium limit of foods when you're cooking fresh. It's the sodium in processed and fast/dining foods that can really throw you off.0
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Well...it all depends...table salt vs kosher salt vs sea salt...
All grains of salt are not equal...seriously...0 -
Blueseraphchaos wrote: »On a note related note, my scale won't register one gram either....but for the most part, without a medical reason, there isn't much reason to worry about the sodium limit of foods when you're cooking fresh. It's the sodium in processed and fast/dining foods that can really throw you off.
Thank you for that information. My diet currently consists of both types of food sources (fresh and processed) so I try to be as careful as I can when I have some direct control over how much sodium I take. When I was heavier I had a blood pressure issue that needed medication to address, so I am trying not to trigger any kind of latent blood pressure issue. It's probably superstitious, but it's what I do.0 -
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My method: zero added salt = zero grams. There is enough sodium in the food I eat without adding any.0
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kyrannosaurus wrote: »My method: zero added salt = zero grams. There is enough sodium in the food I eat without adding any.
Usually it's mine, too... but in case I've got a week with low sodium (probably an extremely rare case) i'd like to know how much salt I can reasonably add to my own food0 -
Protranser wrote: »
Thank you for that information. My diet currently consists of both types of food sources (fresh and processed) so I try to be as careful as I can when I have some direct control over how much sodium I take. When I was heavier I had a blood pressure issue that needed medication to address, so I am trying not to trigger any kind of latent blood pressure issue. It's probably superstitious, but it's what I do.
Superstitious? Perhaps throwing the salt over your shoulder instead of in your food?
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Labyrinthine93 wrote: »
Superstitious? Perhaps throwing the salt over your shoulder instead of in your food?
I prefer to spin myself around in circles :-)0 -
As a chemist, the math on this thread is driving me insane. Let me fix it for you.
"If 1 tsp is 2325 mg sodium and 1.1 gram of sodium is 590 mg of sodium, then 1 tsp is 3.9 grams of sodium."
No. No. No. No. And No.
1 teaspoon = 2325 milligrams sodium ( mg = milligram)
CONVERSION FACTORS: 1 milligram = 0.001 grams 1 gram = 1000 mg
1 = 0.001 grams / mg
Thus 1 teaspoon = 2325 mg x 0.001 grams/mg
1 teaspoon = 2.325 grams (the mg units cancel each other out)
The mass of salt isn't going to vary under household conditions by temperature. Nor is it going to vary much based on water absorption, so you can use the density of salt (that's 2325 mg / teaspoon) to calculate the mass of salt for any incidental household use.
1 teaspoon = 2.325 g
1/2 teaspoon = 1.163 g
1/3 teaspoon = 0.775 g
1/4 teaspoon = 0.581 g
1/8 teaspoon = 0.291 g (I've rounded each to the thousandth in significant figures, or mg)
This is a situation in which your measuring spoons, assuming you know how to properly level them, are perfectly adequate.
1/8 teaspoon = 1 dash = 0.291 g
1/16 teaspoon = 1 pinch = 0.145 g
1/32 teaspoon = 1 smidgen = 0.073 g
Incidentally I highly doubt your home scale is accurate to milligrams. Most scales are accurate to 0.1 oz, which is 2.84 g, and measure in 1 g increments. That's the reason you're having a lot of trouble measuring this particular item with your scale, its just not calibrated or sensitive to tiny masses. Even if you "weight" the salt by putting it into a small bowl to bring it over the 2.84 g threshold of sensitivity, you run into the problem of your added salt being less than the minimum mass the scale can accurately detect changes in.
TLDR: Don't weigh, measure.
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As a chemist, the math on this thread is driving me insane. Let me fix it for you.
"If 1 tsp is 2325 mg sodium and 1.1 gram of sodium is 590 mg of sodium, then 1 tsp is 3.9 grams of sodium."
No. No. No. No. And No.
1 teaspoon = 2325 milligrams sodium ( mg = milligram)
CONVERSION FACTORS: 1 milligram = 0.001 grams 1 gram = 1000 mg
1 = 0.001 grams / mg
Thus 1 teaspoon = 2325 mg x 0.001 grams/mg
1 teaspoon = 2.325 grams (the mg units cancel each other out)
The mass of salt isn't going to vary under household conditions by temperature. Nor is it going to vary much based on water absorption, so you can use the density of salt (that's 2325 mg / teaspoon) to calculate the mass of salt for any incidental household use.
1 teaspoon = 2.325 g
1/2 teaspoon = 1.163 g
1/3 teaspoon = 0.775 g
1/4 teaspoon = 0.581 g
1/8 teaspoon = 0.291 g (I've rounded each to the thousandth in significant figures, or mg)
This is a situation in which your measuring spoons, assuming you know how to properly level them, are perfectly adequate.
1/8 teaspoon = 1 dash = 0.291 g
1/16 teaspoon = 1 pinch = 0.145 g
1/32 teaspoon = 1 smidgen = 0.073 g
Incidentally I highly doubt your home scale is accurate to milligrams. Most scales are accurate to 0.1 oz, which is 2.84 g, and measure in 1 g increments. That's the reason you're having a lot of trouble measuring this particular item with your scale, its just not calibrated or sensitive to tiny masses. Even if you "weight" the salt by putting it into a small bowl to bring it over the 2.84 g threshold of sensitivity, you run into the problem of your added salt being less than the minimum mass the scale can accurately detect changes in.
TLDR: Don't weigh, measure.
Mind blown.
Thank you very much for that breakdown! So basically one teaspoon of salt per day is the ideal max intake for a person with a history of high blood pressure? so i could use two of these half-teaspoon measures of salt per day if i were cooking everything myself, provided that my ingredients don't already have high sodium0
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