Question About Salt

vggb

My doctor has put me on a salt free diet, not low sodium, salt/salt free. So I am getting the hang of it and managing, but, I noticed that the food diary said that my two poached eggs (no salt added) has well over 200mg of salt. My question is, is that is what is naturally in an egg or is the food diary assuming salt has been added?

kimny72

The food diary is user created, so you need to check every entry you choose against the package info or the USDA published database to ensure all the numbers are accurate the first time you use that entry. Especially if you are managing a health condition that requires something be monitored carefully.

Vune

There is sodium naturally occurring in any animal product because animals need sodium to exist. A large egg has roughly 60 mg of sodium. It's possible the poached egg entry you used was accounting for salted water. Use the entry for raw eggs for more accuracy.

vggb

Thanks for the fast responses. I'll play with the food diary a little more and look for the raw egg. I will also try to go to the USDA database, it's not just eggs that I see this. I'm not too worried about naturally occurring sodium, just the added one, so was surprised at the high sodium count for an egg.

collectingblues

vggb wrote: »

Thanks for the fast responses. I'll play with the food diary a little more and look for the raw egg. I will also try to go to the USDA database, it's not just eggs that I see this. I'm not too worried about naturally occurring sodium, just the added one, so was surprised at the high sodium count for an egg.

That's confusing with your original post, then. If you're supposed to be no-salt/no-sodium, that should exclude *any* sodium, including that which occurs naturally.

What did your doctor *actually* say? Can you get clarification from them?

endermako

sodium is naturally occurring in many foods especially protein sources. I would get clarification with your doctor to see if he just meant salt seasoning rather than sodium itself.

New_Heavens_Earth

There's naturally occurring sodium in certain produce, too.

emmamcgarity

I’m interested in what your doctor meant. I’ve heard of lower sodium thresholds for high blood pressure patients (1500 for one friend, 2300 for my sister). I’m sure there are a variety of other reasons to restrict sodium. But I haven’t heard it described as you have above. I’m wondering if he meant it as a guideline for the labeling on packaged foods. I buy a lot of “no salt added” canned vegetables and “salt free” spice blends. I’d definitely recommend calling the doctor.

lynn_glenmont

vggb wrote: »

My doctor has put me on a salt free diet, not low sodium, salt/salt free. So I am getting the hang of it and managing, but, I noticed that the food diary said that my two poached eggs (no salt added) has well over 200mg of salt. My question is, is that is what is naturally in an egg or is the food diary assuming salt has been added?

The food diary does not tell you how much salt a food has. It tells you how much sodium it has.

vggb

Thanks for all the comments. From the research I have done regarding this, salt and sodium are the same. My doctor said anything canned or pre-packaged will have salt. She doesn't want me using it in my cooking either. I took her to mean salt/sodium and salt was the word she used with me.

I am using "salt free" spices and purchase the "no salt added" canned goods when I find them. My blood pressure has dropped already so I will continue. I have a strong family history of early heart disease (onset age 50) so I am following her instructions.

I am going back for a follow-up the first week of May, I will ask her for clarification then. I was going to ask about going to low-sodium/salt since I have dropped my bp numbers so quickly.

I guess I didn't go into the reason for the restriction because I didn't think people wanted to hear about my medical issues. I have developed high BP, high cholesterol in the last 5 years, I am 62 now. My dad died of heart failure at age 64, his first heart attack was age 54 and disabled him. All of his siblings died of heart ailment. My brother had his first heart attack at age 50. Atherosclerosis is what happens.

My diastolic numbers is what has my doctor concerned. She said they are too high,80-90's, and will cause the heart to work harder than it should which is not good. So I had the stress/ekg test which the cardiologist said there was no weakness and no reason at this time to do the catheter procedure to actually see the blood pumping through the heart.

My doctor wants to try and get it under control through diet so she said "no salt". I think it's helping

lemurcat2

vggb wrote: »

Thanks for the fast responses. I'll play with the food diary a little more and look for the raw egg. I will also try to go to the USDA database, it's not just eggs that I see this. I'm not too worried about naturally occurring sodium, just the added one, so was surprised at the high sodium count for an egg.

Yeah, to the extent possible try to log the whole foods you use and use the entries from the USDA (which you will be able to find on MFP once you get the hang of it). That will give you much more accurate information.

I think what you are doing makes sense (obviously my opinion is irrelevant, talk to your doctor as you are, but just saying). A no sodium diet would be impossible and not healthy, but low sodium (usually something like 1500 mg) is often hard to achieve without cutting out any added salt and packaged-type goods other than no sodium ones.

vggb

Thanks for your support lemurcat2, I'm learning a new way of eating but it will be alright.

collectingblues

vggb wrote: »

Thanks for all the comments. From the research I have done regarding this, salt and sodium are the same. My doctor said anything canned or pre-packaged will have salt. She doesn't want me using it in my cooking either. I took her to mean salt/sodium and salt was the word she used with me.

I am using "salt free" spices and purchase the "no salt added" canned goods when I find them. My blood pressure has dropped already so I will continue. I have a strong family history of early heart disease (onset age 50) so I am following her instructions.

I am going back for a follow-up the first week of May, I will ask her for clarification then. I was going to ask about going to low-sodium/salt since I have dropped my bp numbers so quickly.

I guess I didn't go into the reason for the restriction because I didn't think people wanted to hear about my medical issues. I have developed high BP, high cholesterol in the last 5 years, I am 62 now. My dad died of heart failure at age 64, his first heart attack was age 54 and disabled him. All of his siblings died of heart ailment. My brother had his first heart attack at age 50. Atherosclerosis is what happens.

My diastolic numbers is what has my doctor concerned. She said they are too high,80-90's, and will cause the heart to work harder than it should which is not good. So I had the stress/ekg test which the cardiologist said there was no weakness and no reason at this time to do the catheter procedure to actually see the blood pumping through the heart.

My doctor wants to try and get it under control through diet so she said "no salt". I think it's helping

Ah. So no ADDED salt. That's very different from "no salt".

vggb

"While sodium is a component of salt, they are not one in the same. In fact, sodium is a mineral found naturally in almost all foods. That said, when it comes to health and nutrition, it’s important to pay attention to both salt and sodium." I went back and found this so I was wrong. If I am confusing others, I just joined that club I definitely will get clarification, but in the meantime I will continue as I have been to be on the safe side.

She did say "no salt". She added anything canned or prepackaged will have salt so avoid those. It's all a learning process and family history dictates a life change. I'm learning how to cook/eat without it. It's getting easier.

Annie_01

This is a site that I used when I went low sodium...

http://thedailydish.us/

These are the recipes that I make on a continual basis...

http://thedailydish.us/main-dishes/chicken-curry/

http://thedailydish.us/main-dishes/low-sodium-kung-pao-chicken/

This lady has Meniere’s Disease and is on a strict low sodium diet. She lists a lot of products and other sites that might help.

I have found that for me personally that the spicier a dish is the less that the less salt I need to use.

This is another site that has some useful info...

http://www.sodiumgirl.com/

AnnPT77

vggb wrote: »

"While sodium is a component of salt, they are not one in the same. In fact, sodium is a mineral found naturally in almost all foods. That said, when it comes to health and nutrition, it’s important to pay attention to both salt and sodium." I went back and found this so I was wrong. If I am confusing others, I just joined that club I definitely will get clarification, but in the meantime I will continue as I have been to be on the safe side.

She did say "no salt". She added anything canned or prepackaged will have salt so avoid those. It's all a learning process and family history dictates a life change. I'm learning how to cook/eat without it. It's getting easier.

In the bolded, she overgeneralized.

Many packaged foods (especially complete ready-to-eat sorts of things) will have added salt, often lots of it. But canned/packaged ingredient-type things won't necessarily have added salt. Read the ingredients and the nutrition labeling, and you can easily figure it out. For example I have canned tomatoes in the cupboard right now that have nothing in them but tomatoes (though this will vary by brand).

vggb

I buy no salt added canned goods when I can find them. I have greenbeans and also corn with no salt added. I haven't found canned tomatoes w/o salt yet but would like to. I read the labels too, on everything. I'm not a big 'foodie' so I can go without a particular food while I look for the salt-free version or learn to make it from scratch and exclude the salt. I use salt-free spice on the meat I cook now too.

Annie-01 I bookmarked the sodiumgirl site, thank you.

AnnPT77

vggb wrote: »

I buy no salt added canned goods when I can find them. I have greenbeans and also corn with no salt added. I haven't found canned tomatoes w/o salt yet but would like to. I read the labels too, on everything. I'm not a big 'foodie' so I can go without a particular food while I look for the salt-free version or learn to make it from scratch and exclude the salt. I use salt-free spice on the meat I cook now too.

Annie-01 I bookmarked the sodiumgirl site, thank you.

Good, I'm glad you realized your doctor was over-stating the case.

FWIW, one of the no-salt tomato brands I buy is Jovial: Comes in a glass jar. I don't restrict salt, but this brand has an especially sweet/mild flavor that I like in some recipes.