As much as I hated it!

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CaseyGabi
CaseyGabi Posts: 10 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So I've been on my clean/organic no salt diet now for a week. And I'm so happy to say that I've reached my goal in just a week. Starting weight 145.8. Weight this morning was 139.8! My goal is actually 135 before I start my weight training but I'm just happy I'm in the 130's. Yesterday was tough because I was experiencing a lot of muscle cramps. I'm a nurse and I know how important the blood sodium level is. So today, I'm eating the first bit of salt that I've had in a week. I'm hoping that maybe if I just cut back to adding a little bit to one meal per week, it will keep the cramps away. So I'm sautéing my cabbage in Coconut oil with garlic and onions and I added a pinch of salt. Does anyone have any recommendations on getting my sodium intake without table salt. I won't drink any sports drinks because that's WAY to much sodium. Is there a supplement y'all use? TIA!
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  • sofchak
    sofchak Posts: 862 Member
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    I applaud your efforts and congrats on the results, but I agree with the poster above. You need to find a balance. In my own experience, my GP said I ended up with hypothyroidism as a result of avoiding table salt - table salt, AKA the easiest way to get iodine into your daily diet. If you're going to look for a sodium supplement, make sure you also find an iodine supplement. In fact, better advice - go talk to a nutritionist or your GP before eliminating anything from your diet completely. Certain trace nutrients are very important. Good luck!
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
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    I just use salt. It is now being recognized that people without health issues do best with 3000-5000 mg of sodium per day. There's 2300mg of sodium in a teaspoon of table salt, so I find I need to add salt in order to get enough sodium.

    If you were cramping you were probably way too low in sodium and starting to get low in potassium and magnesium, as they were leeched out to make up for your low sodium/electrolyte levels. :(
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    Are you doing this for weight loss?? As already mentioned, too little salt will create more problems than too much! Barring any medical conditions that requires a low sodium diet.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    I kept my salt below 1500 almost every day for 5 months last year and gave myself hyponatremia. Now I want all the salt I can get, to the point of eating a dozen or so grains of pink salt before bed. I *hate* with a purple *kitten* night cramps.
  • Katiebear_81
    Katiebear_81 Posts: 719 Member
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    How are you planning on getting enough iodine in your diet? Table salt is usually how most people get iodine in their diets. If you don't plan on using salt, how are you going to meet that requirement?
  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,754 Member
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    Salt is important.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_salt
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,020 Member
    edited June 2017
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    CaseyGabi wrote: »
    So I've been on my clean/organic no salt diet now for a week. And I'm so happy to say that I've reached my goal in just a week. Starting weight 145.8. Weight this morning was 139.8! My goal is actually 135 before I start my weight training but I'm just happy I'm in the 130's. Yesterday was tough because I was experiencing a lot of muscle cramps. I'm a nurse and I know how important the blood sodium level is. So today, I'm eating the first bit of salt that I've had in a week. I'm hoping that maybe if I just cut back to adding a little bit to one meal per week, it will keep the cramps away. So I'm sautéing my cabbage in Coconut oil with garlic and onions and I added a pinch of salt. Does anyone have any recommendations on getting my sodium intake without table salt. I won't drink any sports drinks because that's WAY to much sodium. Is there a supplement y'all use? TIA!


    According to the USDA nutrient database, a dash of table salt (0.4 g) has 155 mg of sodium. https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/296?manu=&fgcd=&ds=

    The adequate intake of sodium for an adult female up to age 50 is 1.5 g (1500 mg) of sodium per day.*
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK56068/table/summarytables.t3/?report=objectonly

    That pinch of salt is only giving you 1/10 of the daily AI, and you're only taking it once a week, so unless your "clean/organic no salt diet" has significant other sources of sodium, you're probably not getting adequate sodium. (I say probably, because there's a great variation in the amount of dietary sodium people are able to adapt to, but I've never read anything that found people surviving on an average of 23 mg a day, which is what your weekly pinch of salt would get you).

    As for getting your sodium intake up without table salt, there's really not a lot of sodium naturally occurring in whole foods (that is, food as it comes out of the ground, off the tree, from the carcass, etc.). Whole eggs will give you about 70 mg of sodium each, and a roughly similar amount in a 3 to 4 oz serving of salt-water fish (that may vary, I'm just looking at a few varieties). Milk has about 100 mg of sodium per cup (8 fl. oz., or 240 ml) (at least, that's the number for fluid nonfat milk in the USDA database -- I can't see why different fat levels would affect it, but there's a limit to how much work I'm willing to do for you). Greens (beet greens, swiss chard) etc. have around 300 mg per boiled, drained cup (that's more than most people, even those who really like greens, are going to eat as a side dish -- I'd say half a cup or less would be more typical). So have a couple of eggs, a serving of fish, a couple glasses of milk, and a cup of cooked greens in the course of a day, every day, and you're in the neighborhood of 1100 1000 mg a day, which might be enough to stave off the cramps, but no guarantees.

    You could eat more foods to which the manufacturer or processor has added sodium (usually in the form of table salt), such as cured meats, cheese, commercial baked goods such as bread and crackers, most commercial condiments, etc.



    I have to admit I don't get the logic of preferring to get your sodium from some source other than table salt. Sodium is sodium. And you need some chloride too (AI = 2.3 g/day). And there they both are, neatly packaged as NaCl in table salt.



    *This AI does not apply to individuals who lose large volumes of sodium in sweat, such as competitive athletes and workers exposed to extreme heat stress (e.g., foundry workers and fire fighters). https://www.nap.edu/read/10925/chapter/8#270


    Edited to fix 1100, should be 1000
  • leanitup123
    leanitup123 Posts: 489 Member
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  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,831 Member
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    Set you diary to show you sodium per day. Then pick a good, healthy number. Put all your food in your diary. Aim for that number each day. I don't tend to over- or under-eat sodium so I quit watching that, whereas I'm usually under on fiber and over on saturated fat. When I say under or over, I mean under or over for the number I've determined healthy for me through reading reliable sources.
  • jennybearlv
    jennybearlv Posts: 1,519 Member
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    I don't get it. Why can't you just eat table salt? It's inexpensive and you can measure it out or weigh it if you need to be exact, plus like has been mentioned iodine is added to table salt. What exactly are you expecting from a sodium supplement that you aren't getting from table salt?
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited June 2017
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    CaseyGabi wrote: »
    Does anyone have any recommendations on getting my sodium intake without table salt. I won't drink any sports drinks because that's WAY to much sodium. Is there a supplement y'all use? TIA!

    Sodium supplements are basically just salt tablets. Why not add salt to your food when cooking (more if you are concerned about not getting enough)?

    If you are confused about how low salt/sodium you need to be, I'd talk to your doctor.
  • Poisonedpawn78
    Poisonedpawn78 Posts: 1,145 Member
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    CaseyGabi wrote: »
    experiencing a lot of muscle cramps

    This is one of the first signs of dehydration. There is no way you lost 6 lbs of fat in a week. you lost maybe 1-2 lbs of fat and more than likely 5lbs of water weight. You need to drink water. like right now.
  • Macy9336
    Macy9336 Posts: 694 Member
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    I agree with others that cutting salt is a bad idea. If you don't like table salt you can always buy sea salt ( with iodine) which does have a different taste to it. One way I get enough salt is by snacking on seaweed.
  • MelissaPhippsFeagins
    MelissaPhippsFeagins Posts: 8,063 Member
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    Kosher salt does not have anything added to it, if that's what you are looking for. (I use it due to an iodine allergy.)

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