Sodium
Options
4031isaiah
Posts: 1,253 Member
I'm finally back on track eating Keto and logging it. I'm doing ok staying within a decent range for carbs, fat and protein but where I seem to be consistently way off the mark is with my sodium target. MFP set it at 2300mg per day and I'm lucky if I reach a third of that as a daily average.
Today, I made an extra special effort by adding salt to my homemade salad dressing, my tea, my eggs at breakfast and I ate two kosher pickles after dinner and even though it's the closest I've ever been to meeting the daily target, I'm still off by a bit.
Is the target unrealistic or can someone suggest ways to get more sodium into my diet without having to resort to eating straight salt.
Christie.
Today, I made an extra special effort by adding salt to my homemade salad dressing, my tea, my eggs at breakfast and I ate two kosher pickles after dinner and even though it's the closest I've ever been to meeting the daily target, I'm still off by a bit.
Is the target unrealistic or can someone suggest ways to get more sodium into my diet without having to resort to eating straight salt.
Christie.
0
Replies
-
I use bouillon cubes to make a cup of broth. It's quick and easy, and a nice almost zero calorie snack.0
-
It is difficult unless you're intentional about it. Broth is the gold standard. You get about 1000mg of sodium per serving and it's hypertonic (higher concentration of sodium than in blood, so you're not diluting your blood levels as something like Gatorade will).
Anything preserved with salt works -- jerky, lox, pickles, sauerkraut, kimchi, etc.
Fast food works well, too. A burger from McDonalds is loaded with salt.0 -
Bone broth is also usually a good source: "Bone broth is a source of minerals, like calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and potassium, in forms that your body can easily absorb. It’s also rich in glycine and proline, amino acids not found in significant amounts in muscle meat (the vast majority of the meat we consume). It also contains chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine, the compounds sold as supplements to reduce inflammation, arthritis, and joint pain. Finally, “soup bones” include collagen, a protein found in connective tissue of vertebrate animals, which is abundant in bone, marrow, cartilage, tendons, and ligaments. (The breakdown of collagen in bone broths is what produces gelatin.)"0
-
About a month ago I bought chicken broth and then totally forgot about it. I will try that.0
-
Bone broth is also usually a good source: "Bone broth is a source of minerals, like calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and potassium, in forms that your body can easily absorb. It’s also rich in glycine and proline, amino acids not found in significant amounts in muscle meat (the vast majority of the meat we consume). It also contains chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine, the compounds sold as supplements to reduce inflammation, arthritis, and joint pain. Finally, “soup bones” include collagen, a protein found in connective tissue of vertebrate animals, which is abundant in bone, marrow, cartilage, tendons, and ligaments. (The breakdown of collagen in bone broths is what produces gelatin.)"
I heard about bone broth on Dr. Oz a year or so ago but I didn't really pay much attention to it. I guess I should look into more. Where do you get your bones?
0 -
I use broth or add a tsp of salt to a small glass of water in the morning, otherwise I don't seem to get enough and the headaches of leg cramps come back.0
-
You get them from any butcher even butcher departments in grocery stores or just save up the bones from things you eat (chicken bones, pork chop bones, fish bones, etc) and store them in the freezer until you get enough to make your own. Here is a link to a recipe for beef bone broth:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/beef-bone-broth-51260700
Some grocery stores are beginning to carry and sell it. I've heard that Whole Foods is supposed to be rolling out their own brand of it sometime soon (this month maybe)?0 -
Regarding bone broth, I've heard of doing it in a pressure cooker, and ironically, on my last trip to goodwill, I saw two pressure cookers. Has anyone ever bought one secondhand or know what I should look for? i can't really afford $100 for a new one, so any advice would be awesome!0
-
Sorry to hijack,...
How long is bone broth good in the refrigerator?0 -
Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »Sorry to hijack,...
How long is bone broth good in the refrigerator?
Not sure about the fridge, but it does freeze well. Allow it to cool (but not so much that it gels) and pour into ice cube trays. Once frozen, you can remove the cubes from the trays and put them in a container. Then, when you need some, pull out the amount you need (standard ice cube trays usually hold about an ounce per cube) and thaw. It keeps for quite some time that way.0 -
Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »Sorry to hijack,...
How long is bone broth good in the refrigerator?
Mine soured in less than a week. I was so sad... They say to freeze it as soon as it cools to fridge temp if you're not going to use it quickly.0 -
I use my refrigerated bone broth up in 4-5 days, just like meat. But my meat and bone broth doesn't usually last that long before we use it up. Chicken lasts for about 3-4 days and beef for 4-5 days, fish for 2 days. I only refrigerate as much as we can use in a few days, and freeze most of it.
I sometimes make my own bone broth cubes by reducing much of the water out of it, pouring it into mini tart pans and freezing. Then I pop the frozen bouillon cubes in a freezer bag, ready to use in cooking, or add water to it and drink.0 -
I made chicken broth once using chicken feet. I had to go out of the way to find an Oriental store to get it. It was a strange experience I got to share with my little kids (a loong time ago!) who thoroughly enjoyed looking at them. But I must say, it was the best flavor and texture of any I've ever had.0
-
Yes, I agree, I love making broth with chicken feet too ! I use almost any animal part I can get. I make headcheese by boiling pig head, pig feet and pork hocks for hours, then picking apart the meat, and pouring everything into pans to gel in the fridge. It's meat jello ! Gelled broth with meat.0
-
Kitnthecat wrote: »Yes, I agree, I love making broth with chicken feet too ! I use almost any animal part I can get. I make headcheese by boiling pig head, pig feet and pork hocks for hours, then picking apart the meat, and pouring everything into pans to gel in the fridge. It's meat jello ! Gelled broth with meat.
I love headcheese, although never made it myself. Sounds like a project.0 -
KnitOrMiss wrote: »Regarding bone broth, I've heard of doing it in a pressure cooker, and ironically, on my last trip to goodwill, I saw two pressure cookers. Has anyone ever bought one secondhand or know what I should look for? i can't really afford $100 for a new one, so any advice would be awesome!
I bought mine off of amazon. It is the presto brand. It is under $50.00. Mine is the stove top rather than the electric. Most recipes you find are based on stove top version you have to make adjustments for the electric type. They are easy to use and you can make dishes in minutes rather than hours.0 -
Kitnthecat wrote: »Yes, I agree, I love making broth with chicken feet too ! I use almost any animal part I can get. I make headcheese by boiling pig head, pig feet and pork hocks for hours, then picking apart the meat, and pouring everything into pans to gel in the fridge. It's meat jello ! Gelled broth with meat.
I love headcheese, although never made it myself. Sounds like a project.
I forgot to mention that I add beef shank too. Here's what I do for headcheese:
Take equal parts pork head, feet, hocks, and beef shank. If you don't have access to head, increase the pig feet and pork hock amount. If you don't have enough feet, you might need to add plain gelatin at the end to help it gel. Don't forget that this has to be firm enough to cut, so it has to be way more gelatinous than when making regular bone broth.
Place meat in large soup pot, just cover with fresh cold water. If you put too much water in, it won't gel. Bring it to the boil, skimming off the scummy foam that rises and discard. Add a bunch of whole pepper corns and garlic cloves. Let it boil for several hours, maybe 5-6 hours. When meat is falling apart, you are ready for the next stage.
Strain the meat from the broth. Reserve the broth covered, while you deal with the meat. Using your clean hands, pick apart all meat from the bones and stuff you don't want to include in your headcheese. Discard what you don't want and arrange meat in glass pans or bowls.
Season the broth with salt and pepper, and a bit of crushed garlic. It won't need much seasoning since this broth is like double strength broth, very flavourful. If having to add gelatin, do it at this stage. You may need to reheat the broth. Pour broth over the meat in the pans and refrigerate uncovered until set, even overnight.
There should be a layer of beautiful white pork fat on top of the headcheese. It's up to you whether you scrape all or some of it off before you eat it. Once I scrape the fat off, I cover it when storing it so it doesn't dry out. But you don;t want condensation forming and hampering the gelling process.
I cut it into pieces like brownies. The smell of them in the fridge is so mouthwatering to me, I love it. A perfect snack or addition to your meal. I always make this for Christmas dinner, but it is good anytime. It would be great in the summer on a picnic. Enjoy !0 -
BAck to the OP's question...
Yeah, I agree. It's difficult to keep up with sodium on keto I find and I find also that my own requirements are even higher than mfp suggests. I am amazed at how much I actually needs. Makes the Beast nervous when he sees how much of it I eat. I based my requirements on symptoms or lack thereof.
I find if I eat bacon everyday I rarely have problems. But when I eat bacon I mean I eat anywhere from 12 to 24 slices at a time. I go through about 5kg in two weeks. This will keep me symptom free. However, I have to travel inconveniently to get a good price on said bacon so on the times when we're out, I go to the bouillon cubes. I can't be bothered to make broth. I do, however have bouillon cubes everywhere. In the glove box, at the Beasts house, at my dad's house, in my workshop. Cause when my body decides to dump sodium (i'm sure that's an unscientific definition) and symptoms arise, I need it pronto or I'm out of commission for a few days. Bouillon cubes make it easy to recover. The cubes I have are about 1200mg sodium each.
If I'm actually on the ball and know that I don't have bacon, I salt the heck out of everything. I put tonnes on my eggs and even in my BPC.
I should add that my biggest challenge other than keeping sodium up (I'm actually getting good at taking my cal/mag every day after some horrible episodes) is eating enough. I'm simply not hungry. So perhaps if I ate more I would naturally have more sodium? I generally have to top things up at the end of the day with BPC loaded with butter and coconut oil. So it may not be as crucial for you to have the cubes everywhere. Maybe just a boost from time to time? It's really a balancing act I think. If you're short one day and over another, it will balance out in the end within reason.
But yeah. Those are my sodium tactics.
Hope that helps!0 -
BAck to the OP's question...
Yeah, I agree. It's difficult to keep up with sodium on keto I find and I find also that my own requirements are even higher than mfp suggests. I am amazed at how much I actually needs. Makes the Beast nervous when he sees how much of it I eat. I based my requirements on symptoms or lack thereof.
I find if I eat bacon everyday I rarely have problems. But when I eat bacon I mean I eat anywhere from 12 to 24 slices at a time. I go through about 5kg in two weeks. This will keep me symptom free. However, I have to travel inconveniently to get a good price on said bacon so on the times when we're out, I go to the bouillon cubes. I can't be bothered to make broth. I do, however have bouillon cubes everywhere. In the glove box, at the Beasts house, at my dad's house, in my workshop. Cause when my body decides to dump sodium (i'm sure that's an unscientific definition) and symptoms arise, I need it pronto or I'm out of commission for a few days. Bouillon cubes make it easy to recover. The cubes I have are about 1200mg sodium each.
If I'm actually on the ball and know that I don't have bacon, I salt the heck out of everything. I put tonnes on my eggs and even in my BPC.
I should add that my biggest challenge other than keeping sodium up (I'm actually getting good at taking my cal/mag every day after some horrible episodes) is eating enough. I'm simply not hungry. So perhaps if I ate more I would naturally have more sodium? I generally have to top things up at the end of the day with BPC loaded with butter and coconut oil. So it may not be as crucial for you to have the cubes everywhere. Maybe just a boost from time to time? It's really a balancing act I think. If you're short one day and over another, it will balance out in the end within reason.
But yeah. Those are my sodium tactics.
Hope that helps!
I keep a smaller tupperware with pink himalayan salt in my purse. I just grab a "pinch" when I start feeling dehydrated/see symptoms or every second water bottle...0
