Sodium Intake

bnixon9520

Hey everyone I’m new to fitness and I’m learning new ways to cook but somehow I’m still taking in way to much sodium, any suggestions on what I can do to have low sodium meals that still taste great.

Lietchi

I'm not going to answer your question directly, but rather ask:

- are you sure the food database entries you're using are correct? Some of them show the salt content under sodium, which isn't correct and inflates the number.
- do you have any reasons to limit sodium? Like high blood pressure?

A real answer though would be to prepare your food yourself. Packaged/processed food tends to contain more sodium, although some brands are creating low sodium versions of their products.
I've also heard dash seasoning mentioned for tasty home cooked meals.

DFW_Tom

IMO, the sodium worm is starting to turn when it comes to micronutrient nutrition. It will be slow, just like it has been for the change in guidance on dietary cholesterol. There are published studies calling for a change in daily sodium intake to between 3,000 and 5,000 mg. Double what it is now.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8468043/

Try replacing salt in home cooked meals with other spices that still provide some of the savory taste. It takes a while to get use to replacing salt with a straight up salt substitute. A mix of spices seem to work better and as Lietchi stated, the Mrs. Dash seasoning seems very popular. Canned and boxed goods - just about any processed ingredient, will have way more sodium content then the same ingredient prepared from whole foods.

neanderthin

Try cooking with whole foods where you control the salt intake and less on processed foods which for the most part are full of sodium.

kshama2001

I eat mostly meals I've cooked myself, but since I love salt (and without a lot of it have low blood pressure,) am usually over, sometimes way over, the MFP sodium target, especially when I make Thai food. Since I am eating healthily and salt is not a medical concern for me, I don't worry about it. 10 years ago I swapped out Sodium for Fiber, which is a more important thing for me to track.

But for those who do have a medical reason to limit salt, more cooking from scratch and less ultra processed foods is indeed the way to go.

penguinmama87

kshama2001 wrote: »

I eat mostly meals I've cooked myself, but since I love salt (and without a lot of it have low blood pressure,) am usually over, sometimes way over, the MFP sodium target, especially when I make Thai food. Since I am eating healthily and salt is not a medical concern for me, I don't worry about it. 10 years ago I swapped out Sodium for Fiber, which is a more important thing for me to track.

But for those who do have a medical reason to limit salt, more cooking from scratch and less ultra processed foods is indeed the way to go.

Yes, I am the same (though not experienced with Thai food!)

If I had other medical reasons to avoid it, I would, but having well seasoned food is very satisfying and helps me avoid overeating (which I care about more.)

neanderthin

DFW_Tom wrote: »

IMO, the sodium worm is starting to turn when it comes to micronutrient nutrition. It will be slow, just like it has been for the change in guidance on dietary cholesterol. There are published studies calling for a change in daily sodium intake to between 3,000 and 5,000 mg. Double what it is now.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8468043/

Try replacing salt in home cooked meals with other spices that still provide some of the savory taste. It takes a while to get use to replacing salt with a straight up salt substitute. A mix of spices seem to work better and as Lietchi stated, the Mrs. Dash seasoning seems very popular. Canned and boxed goods - just about any processed ingredient, will have way more sodium content then the same ingredient prepared from whole foods.

I've been hearing this for quite some time now and have read a few studies over the years that basically say the same thing.

springlering62

As others have said, preparing my own food gives me the opportunity to control salt content.

We cut back salt years ago, due to husbands high blood pressure.

I often cook with little or no salt and then add it back later to taste.

One caveat, however: as I lost weight and began to work out more, it took me a while to realize I needed more salt because I sweat like an undignified lady sow, and as hubs has joined me on MFP, his blood pressure has dropped anyway.

I still cook low’ish sodium but no longer worry about it. ‘Cause……weight loss cures or recombobulates a host of issues.