Cutting Sodium..............Help

REDMANIV

Hello MFP family.....I currently do not have any issues with health related to my intake of sodium however a few of my MFP friends pointed out that my intake of sodium is very high....normally 4000 mg over the recommended daily allowance. Basically everything that I eat has sodium in it.

Does anyone have any tips that has helped them to cut their sodium intake?

If I start drinking a lot more water will that dilute the amount of sodium that my body has to deal with?

What exactly does the body do with sodium?

Thanks everyone

Fred R

corgicake

Without seeing your food log, I can't point out specifics but I can do a more general list...

-no salt added canned tomato products
-unprocessed meats for sandwiches, etc
-unsalted cheeses (hint: check the Mexican stuff)
-beware of premade soups
-unsalted peanut butter
-pickles and other condiments

Oatmeal packets can have salt added to them, but oatmeal by the tub and uncooked rice don't have that problem. Don't use my log for ideas on how to make low-sodium meals as I run mine higher in the summer to avoid getting more headaches, which happened in spite of eating a stereotypical american diet at the time. I could probably stand to lower mine some but without a doctor prodding me to drop my intake specifically I'm not eager to potentially go too low.

Edit: your body uses it to regulate the heart and everything else dependent on the body's electrical system. The other purpose is to manage how much water is in and outside of cells... too much sodium outside the cells causes them to lose water and shrink, and too little causes them to take in water and swell up like balloons.

thatonegirlwiththestuff

A small tip: If you are eating a lot of canned/pre-sliced items, rinse them off with water before eating. That can eliminate a lot of unnecessary sodium right there.

mlnick69

Buy fresh and cook your meals, it will eliminate a ton of your sodium intake.

REDMANIV

Thank you everyone for your replies. Doom on me for taking over two years to respond to you. For the past 5 months I have been deployed with my job. As a result many of my meals were prepared fresh and I have cut out a lot of pre packaged foods. Now that I am back home I am looking forward to seeing if I can keep my sodium intake under control. Thanks again!

Unknown

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Yi5hedr3

Eat low carb and your 4000/day will be just right!