Soooo Much Sodium

kevinf2380

It seems that everything I eat has a ton of sodium in it. I'm always like 1000mgs over my sodium goal. I like to incorporate some energy drinks when I do intense workouts for electrolytes. Many of those are loaded with sodium. Anyone have some hacks to get their sodium count down? I don't add salt to any of the foods I eat. My diary is public.

3dogsrunning

If you don't have a medical issue they requires you to monitor sodium you are fine.

People who are active often need more sodium than average. There is a reason that sports drinks have sodium in them, to replenish electrolytes after hard workouts.

If you are still concerned - eliminate those drinks since they seem to be your primary source of sodium. Or identify other items in your diet that contain sodium and eliminate those.

MelaniaTrump

I watch my sodium to potassium ratio 1:1.
Ex: If I eat 3,000 mg of sodium, I make sure I get at least 3,000 mg potassium.
I tried to find website, unable to provide link.
* I used to drink black coffee pre workout.
* When eating products out of a can (beans or corn), type drained and rinsed. Ex: Draining a can of corn and rinsing it cuts about 40% of sodium.

fr33sia12

Firstly check any foods you're adding from the database, as people enter sodium incorrectly or not at all. Secondly check any packaged, processed food you're eating for sodium. If you can try not eat too many as they can all have salt added. Try cooking more meals yourself that way you control the salt.
If anyone posts saying you don't need to worry about salt unless you have a medical reason, please consider that too much salt can raise your blood pressure which you won't know about unless you get it checked. There can be no symptoms for high blood pressure either, so you could be carrying on not bothering about salt and your bp is getting higher and higher.

JeromeBarry1

What's your goal? What's the matter with being over it?

kevinf2380

JeromeBarry1 wrote: »

What's your goal? What's the matter with being over it?

That's my question I guess is how much over the MFP goal is too much? My daily sodium goal is 2300mg.

dahliagrower11

The above posts all contain some good information. I took a quick look at your food diary and most of your sodium is from restaurant food (tacos, breakfast burritos, etc)...... the gatorade type drink only had about 150mg of sodium.

I pay attention to sodium as I have high BP. I have my sodium intake set to 1500 mg per day. I don't do "workouts" but do a fair bit of walking - so maybe not as much exercise as you. I find water is what my body needs most.

The extra sodium added to prepared foods is to keep it fresher tasting. If it's added to the bread product (taco, wrap, bagel etc) you need to look for options that have less sodium. I still get surprised when I buy something without looking at the label. I picked up bagels at Costco last week and was shocked that they contain almost 1000 mg of sodium per bagel.... the usual ones I buy contain 250-300 mg. Yikes!

In restaurants - it pays to have dressings, gravies, sauces on the side - even if you use it all at least you are aware that it's 1 tbsp or 6 tbsps .... salad dressing have anywhere between 50 mg to 350 mg of sodium per tbsp ....

When I eat at restaurants I find it a lot more difficult to stay within my sodium limit. But your question about how far over can you go.... who knows - but you could likely end up with diet-induced HBP if you are over the 2300mg on a regular basis.

I'm not an expert - but just extra conscious about the sodium choices I make. Take care.

ItsyBitsy246

I generally do my own cooking with fresh ingredients as much as possible, and don't add any/much salt. Not sure what is in the restaurant food I eat, but I only eat out once a week. So... cut out prepared and processed foods, and that will go a long way. I stopped tracking sodium because my daily total rarely got over 1500 mg/day.

cwolfman13

kevinf2380 wrote: »

It seems that everything I eat has a ton of sodium in it. I'm always like 1000mgs over my sodium goal. I like to incorporate some energy drinks when I do intense workouts for electrolytes. Many of those are loaded with sodium. Anyone have some hacks to get their sodium count down? I don't add salt to any of the foods I eat. My diary is public.

That's because sodium is an electrolyte.

Beyond that, just eat more whole foods if you're worried about it. Processed foods are high in sodium as it is a preservative...restaurant foods are also sodium bombs.

JustAnotherOneOfThoseGirls

as another said, check food packages - Many people log sodium at the same value as the salt content (1000mg salt has 394mg sodium), or they enter it wrong (don't covert g to mg etc.), so that would probably be a good place to start

Byrekyla

Energy drinks for electrolytes? The standard American diet should keep you plenty of sodium without adding with an energy drink. Potassium is good in orange juice. Maybe a cup of coffee and some OJ for electrolytes and energy?

JustAnotherOneOfThoseGirls

also, you only need to be replenishing electrolytes if you're doing very high intensity workouts (like competitive athlete training level) or if you're doing very long workouts (longer than 90 minutes)

pinggolfer96

5+ grams a day of sodium right here and no issues. As long as hydrating, active, and you don't have a health concerning sodium intake, you'll be fine