Is there a lot of salt/sodium in Indian food?

jrwms714
jrwms714 Posts: 421 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Just wondering if anyone knows the answer to this. I eat Indian food every so often, and truly love it. I have a salad and Bengain Bharta with whole wheat roti, and some of my husband's Vegetable Jalfrezi. I eat very little of the rice. (Forgive me if I am spelling some of this wrong.) I ask (as I do at most restaurants) to have no salt or at least no extra salt added to the dishes. I always gain 2 -3 lbs. the next day. I kind of figured that was salt and water retention, but my online research and the nutrition info on MFP say there's very little sodium in Indian dishes. Interested to hear what others know or experience.

Replies

  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,149 Member
    I would assume the food is heavy in sodium if it's from a restaurant or pre-packaged. I gain a few pounds after eating Indian food because I usually eat a few pounds of Indian food. IMO, the rice (if plain) probably has the least sodium.
  • ssbbg
    ssbbg Posts: 153 Member
    jrwms714 wrote: »
    Just wondering if anyone knows the answer to this. I eat Indian food every so often, and truly love it. I have a salad and Bengain Bharta with whole wheat roti, and some of my husband's Vegetable Jalfrezi. I eat very little of the rice. (Forgive me if I am spelling some of this wrong.) I ask (as I do at most restaurants) to have no salt or at least no extra salt added to the dishes. I always gain 2 -3 lbs. the next day. I kind of figured that was salt and water retention, but my online research and the nutrition info on MFP say there's very little sodium in Indian dishes. Interested to hear what others know or experience.

    I think most restaurant food is pretty salty. The MFP database has a lot of entries that lack sodium information or have wrong information. Many recipes say "salt to taste" and don't include salt in their nutritional breakdown.

    I don't think Indian food is particularly low-sodium- though that is a broad category with many sub-cuisines! I find restaurant Indian food to be saltier than how I would cook it.

    I'm not sure that asking for no added salt will really help. Some cuisines finish a dish with salt (and that could be omitted easily), but in my experience, Indian food usually includes salt from the start of cooking. Since many of the items are pre-cooked in large batches, I don't think it could be removed for a single customer.

  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    I'd love to blame the sodium content on my bloat and gain after Indian food, but it's probably just because I am a total gannet when it comes to that food.

    Is ghee saltier than butter?
  • Running2Fit
    Running2Fit Posts: 702 Member
    It's more the fact that it's from a restaurant as opposed to it being a specific cuisine. It may just be that however it's prepared it cannot be made less salty for a specific customer.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    Just a fun fact. Being a hot country it’s important to consume enough salt to replenish what is lost from sweating. So salty, yes.
  • HoneyBadger302
    HoneyBadger302 Posts: 2,070 Member
    I have the same thing when I order Indian. Or Buffalo Wild Wings. Even if my calories are right in line, the scale will jump - just as it does when I have super salty meals at home (doesn't happen too often, but did last night when I made a chicken dish with copious amounts of capers in it....).

    My biggest "tell" is if, during the night, I'm extra thirsty. If I need to down a couple big glasses of water during the night, and I'm not up to use the bathroom every hour, then I KNOW that water is all just being retained and half the time I won't even bother weighing myself that next morning because I know it's going to be way off.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Most restaurant food is pretty high sodium.

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