Do you watch your sodium intake? Am I the only one with VERY horrid sodium levels in my diet?

Verity1111

Because I seriously probably double the recommended intake and I only eat 1200-1500 calories. I rarely am below 3,000 and I have hit 4,500-5,000 a lot. Lol. My blood tests etc are all good. Should I worry about it or chill since I don't have any bad signs from it when I see my dr? Also, am I the only person with this issue? I assume not but it's always nice to know lol. It is all from sauces or prepackaged stuff, cheese, etc. I don't use actual table salt sprinkled on my food.

New_Heavens_Earth

My sodium is about that high on weekends due to my hubby's cooking and his penchant for fast food meals on top of that. Every Monday I'm 4 lbs heavier than Friday, drops off by Thursday, then repeats.

Annie_01

I used to have that same problem until I started cooking most of my meals. I rarely buy packed meals. I do however eat my cheese.

I have HBP so I had to cut back. I didn't have a choice. I won't give any advice on what you should do if you have no health problems. I remember reading once (can't remember what study) that sodium does not cause HBP...it just exacerbates it once you have it. Poor diet, overweight and lack of exercise are 3 of the leading causes. However...some people are prone to HBP regardless of those 3 reasons. If you have a family history of HBP then you might be concerned.

You are right...most sodium comes from highly processed foods, fast foods and especially foods consumed at nice restaurants. Face it...food taste better with sodium!

livingleanlivingclean

I don't watch mine, but it's probably through the roof as I sprinkle salt liberally on most things (including my coffee)... I eat very little packaged food though, and cook most things from scratch so wouldn't get a huge amount from food.

deannalfisher

I try to keep mine under 3000 but I take in 2800-3100cal a day

30kgin2017

I dont look at mine now but I have low blood pressure and drink a lot of water (live in tropics). If it gets too low I start seeing stars so sometimes I deliberately add salt to my food. When I have monitored my intake previously its always been low, I don't add sauces etc to my food and growing up salt was 'bad' for you so I was used to no/low salt in my food.

My husband and children all love their salt and soy sauce and will often add it to food after I've served it up, it still blows my mind when they do it.

lightenup2016

Mine is generally below 2000, but I have the occasional day that's it's 2500-3000. This happens mostly if we make homemade pizza or if we go out to eat. Over Easter weekend, I ate a crap ton of food, and my sodium was approx. 4300 Saturday and 5500 Sunday (!).

ETA: After Easter weekend and all the food/sodium I consumed, I was up 6 lbs! By today I was already back down 4 lbs, so I know at least 4lbs of that weight was water, and probably a little more. This is the main reason I do try to limit sodium to about 2000 mg/day, is so that I don't get the big water weight gains from it. But my blood pressure has always been on the low side, so I don't feel like I need to watch sodium from a medical perspective. Others might need to.

Sabine_Stroehm

I don't watch it generally, but I limit fast food, and heavily processed convenience foods etc. Much of that stuff is a sodium bomb. Soy sauce is my biggest sodium source, I'd bet.

PAV8888

Ha! That was interesting.

So I do watch it and try to "minimize" it without having any particular reason to.
I certainly seldom if ever SEEK to add salt to anything.

Over 39 months of MFP records (Nov 2014 to Feb 2018) I've averaged 1369mg per 1000 Cal, or 3845mg a day.

Current average is closer to 1414mg per 1000 Cal, or 4166mg per day.

Danp

My sodium is usually the one metric that turns red on a regular basis. But, for now, I'm OK with that as I have more important measures to focus on that will have a bigger impact on my weight loss.

so I ignore it for the most part... For now.

AnnPT77

I love salt. My blood pressure is fine, I don't excessively retain water, or anything like that. I frequently exceed the MFP default sodium goal, despite eating few multi-ingredient commercial prepackaged meals or prepared foods, even without recording salt I add from the shaker. (The salt is in miso, sauerkraut, kim chi, cheese, etc.) I don't much worry about it.

TonyB0588

Verity1111 wrote: »

Because I seriously probably double the recommended intake and I only eat 1200-1500 calories. I rarely am below 3,000 and I have hit 4,500-5,000 a lot. Lol. My blood tests etc are all good. Should I worry about it or chill since I don't have any bad signs from it when I see my dr? Also, am I the only person with this issue? I assume not but it's always nice to know lol. It is all from sauces or prepackaged stuff, cheese, etc. I don't use actual table salt sprinkled on my food.

A lot depends on what types of food make up your 1200-1500 calories. MFP set me at 1900 calories, and I hardly ever get near my Sodium limit. This past holiday weekend was an exception because I went out with a group of friends and family for barbecued breakfast and lunch, and that stuff put me at double the recommended Sodium intake.

Normally you wouldn't need to worry about it too much if you don't have a health issue. but prevention is better than cure, so you might consider reading through your daily MFP diary to see which foods are pushing your numbers so high.

ladyreva78

I have low blood pressure and start feeling horrible if my sodium intake drops below 2000. Around 3000 is my happy spot.

Means I have to add quite a bit of salt to my cooking post cooking: one member of my family has HBP and heart arrhythmias and the other one HBP and kidney insufficiency. Any cooking I do (which is pretty much most these days) has to be low sodium...)

I kept on passing out at the slightest movement. Doc ordered some tests and prescribed a higher sodium diet.

mazcor536

I try to keep mine below 2000mg. I really notice a huge fluctuation on the scale after too much sodium, not to mention the bloat (insta-muffintop!).

netitheyeti

I don't really watch mine to be honest.. my blood pressure is normal, or sometimes on the low side...
The one thing I do hate is the bloating if I have a really high carb high salt day
My numbers are occasionally red for sodium, on a 1200-1300 cal diet

TavistockToad

Nope, my blood pressure is fine, i have never even considered watching my salt. i rarely use it when i cook and we eat at home the majority of the time.

i always expect to retain a couple of pounds of water after a takeaway or eating in a restaurant.

workinonit1956

I have/had high blood pressure and have found that if I keep my sodium below 1200/day my pressure stays within normal limits. I love salt and used to use it liberally, but I’m now getting used to not using the salt shaker and certain processed foods.

tinkerbellang83

Bear in mind that the sodium logged in a lot of the database entries is actually incorrect, people wrongly assume when entering foods that the salt content on the nutrition label is the total for sodium when in fact only 40% of table salt is sodium.

workinonit1956

tinkerbellang83 wrote: »

Bear in mind that the sodium logged in a lot of the database entries is actually incorrect, people wrongly assume when entering foods that the salt content on the nutrition label is the total for sodium when in fact only 40% of table salt is sodium.

Very true. I google sodium contents (although I don’t eat many processed foods).

FlyingMolly

tinkerbellang83 wrote: »

Bear in mind that the sodium logged in a lot of the database entries is actually incorrect, people wrongly assume when entering foods that the salt content on the nutrition label is the total for sodium when in fact only 40% of table salt is sodium.

I’m not sure I understand—are you talking about packaged foods, or people’s recipes? I’ve never seen salt content listed on a nutrition label; only sodium.

tinkerbellang83

FlyingMolly wrote: »

tinkerbellang83 wrote: »

Bear in mind that the sodium logged in a lot of the database entries is actually incorrect, people wrongly assume when entering foods that the salt content on the nutrition label is the total for sodium when in fact only 40% of table salt is sodium.

I’m not sure I understand—are you talking about packaged foods, or people’s recipes? I’ve never seen salt content listed on a nutrition label; only sodium.

In the UK and Ireland you'll often see salt rather than sodium, like below, then people enter the 0.33g into the database entry for sodium :

https://instagram.com/p/BhJcvk2gEdQ/embed/

mom23mangos

My sodium levels are sky high. I don't care. I have very low blood pressure and frequently black out/see stars when standing up, so I can't imagine what it would be like if I ate a low sodium diet. I'm sure I retain a lot of water from it, but oh well.

yirara

FlyingMolly wrote: »

tinkerbellang83 wrote: »

Bear in mind that the sodium logged in a lot of the database entries is actually incorrect, people wrongly assume when entering foods that the salt content on the nutrition label is the total for sodium when in fact only 40% of table salt is sodium.

I’m not sure I understand—are you talking about packaged foods, or people’s recipes? I’ve never seen salt content listed on a nutrition label; only sodium.

Aye. Salt is NaCl, or sodium chloride. Thus in the UK the sodium and the chloride get listed together, in many other countries only the sodium, which is a smaller number

stanmann571

I get plenty of water and my BP is within acceptable parameters. So no, not really, not yet. Maybe someday, maybe not.

Pipsqueak1965

I've just checked mine - it averages out around 1100-1200 on 1700 calories per day (average). I don't really eat any pre-made sauces/food though.

busyPK

Mine is sky high. Hasn't stopped me from losing weight, but I do retain water for a few days after a very high sodium day. Doctor says it's fine and I'm healthy.

Verity1111

Thanks guys! I was just curious if I need to worry or if it is OK as long as my body doesn't show symptoms associated with too much sodium. I appreciate all of the input Guess I will just ignore it for now!

cwolfman13

I'm hypertensive so I watch mine.

briscogun

MFP has me set for 2,300mg of sodium per day, and I always seem to go over it for some reason, and that's without EVER adding salt to ANYTHING I eat. Ever. I don't really like salt or the taste of it. Not sure how I end up there almost every day but its the one category that usually ends up red, even if its just a 100 or 200 mg over.

fb47

Verity1111 wrote: »

Because I seriously probably double the recommended intake and I only eat 1200-1500 calories. I rarely am below 3,000 and I have hit 4,500-5,000 a lot. Lol. My blood tests etc are all good. Should I worry about it or chill since I don't have any bad signs from it when I see my dr? Also, am I the only person with this issue? I assume not but it's always nice to know lol. It is all from sauces or prepackaged stuff, cheese, etc. I don't use actual table salt sprinkled on my food.

I go over like crazy, but I don't worry about it, I drink a lot of water and my health in general is good.

Lounmoun

Verity1111 wrote: »

Because I seriously probably double the recommended intake and I only eat 1200-1500 calories. I rarely am below 3,000 and I have hit 4,500-5,000 a lot. Lol. My blood tests etc are all good. Should I worry about it or chill since I don't have any bad signs from it when I see my dr? Also, am I the only person with this issue? I assume not but it's always nice to know lol. It is all from sauces or prepackaged stuff, cheese, etc. I don't use actual table salt sprinkled on my food.

If you don't have a medical issue it probably is not a problem. If you are concerned speak to your doctor about it.

I sometimes hit 4,000-5,000 sodium. I like foods that happen to be higher sodium like cheese, bread, canned tomatoes, ham, olives, pickles, mustard, salted butter, etc. When I was younger I would salt my food a lot.
I try to keep it closer to 2000 because I feel better when I do. Prelogging helps me not go quite so high.
https://www.ucsfhealth.org/education/guidelines_for_a_low_sodium_diet/