Sodium...everywhere...

SMC05
SMC05 Posts: 3 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
It's in everything I can find to eat...it's in most of my healthy foods...and it's the one area that I can't seem to stay under on in the course of day to day eating. What's the impact on weight loss if it's consistently high? I'm looking for recommendations on what I can do to reduce the sodium intake. Appreciate comments.

Replies

  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
    Assuming you don't have a blood pressure problem or other medical issue, the only consequence of eating a lot of sodium is water retention. So, it can affect your "weight" loss, but it won't affect your fat loss. It's not a number I really look at.

    ETA: On reducing sodium, well, there's going to be a lot of it in restaurant meals, fast food places, canned soups, and TV dinners. Salt is added to make the flavor tolerable. I suggest making your own meals if you want to avoid it.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    What are your "healthy" foods?

    If you're worried about sodium then eat less pre-processed foods and more whole foods...cook from scratch, etc. If you eat a lot of pre-packaged processed foods...even if they say "healthy choice" or some other nonsense, you are going to be taking in a lot of sodium.

    that said, and I wouldn't go nuts with it, but really it isn't the demon that many make it out to be. It is an essential mineral...if your active and don't get enough, you will cramp up like nobody's business.

    I'm generally right around 1800 - 2500 Mg and also get plenty of potassium. I am hypertensive and went for about 12 weeks really restricting my sodium...it did nothing for my hypertension and also made it pretty much impossible to workout as I would end up cramping up about a mile or two into my runs.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    What are these healthy foods that are so high in sodium? Most whole foods have sodium, but most are not high in sodium.
  • KateK8LoseW8
    KateK8LoseW8 Posts: 824 Member
    Cook your own food from scratch and you'll find your sodium intake drops dramatically.

    Source: former Healthy Choice addict turned home cook.
  • ElliottTN
    ElliottTN Posts: 1,614 Member
    I don't understand where all these people are finding this much sodium. Are you all just eating diet TV dinners or something?
  • chachabear79
    chachabear79 Posts: 14 Member
    It's in everything I can find to eat...it's in most of my healthy foods...and it's the one area that I can't seem to stay under on in the course of day to day eating. What's the impact on weight loss if it's consistently high? I'm looking for recommendations on what I can do to reduce the sodium intake. Appreciate comments.
  • eyecandyrayce
    eyecandyrayce Posts: 260 Member
    I rent a small room in a house and I am unable to cook my meals from scratch because the community kitchen is trashed. I refuse to be other peoples maid in order to have a healthy meal (when both sinks are full to the top with nasty dishes you kind of have to do dishes just to get to the sink and/or use a pan that is nasty and at the bottom). I mention this as a reminder to people with judgmental attitudes that not all situations are picture perfect and some understanding is in order. Try giving advice instead of making people feel bad.

    That being said, I do a lot of low calorie soups from the can and then eat protein and veggies at home. The soup is high sodium and boiling my chicken is done with salt and then the veggies are in steamer bags with sauce which is also a little high in sodium.

    In order to balance out the sodium, make sure you eat more potassium than sodium and drink LOTS of water. Feel free to google that.
  • chachabear79
    chachabear79 Posts: 14 Member
    I'm right there with you ,if it doesn't have fat sugar in it definitely has sodium and sodium believe it or not a huge problem , because it makes you retain water making it really hard to tell if you have lost weght. I've tried cutting down onthe salt and spices salt that I use and try to get reduced sodium foods whenever I can. also drink lots of water and that helps cut down on that water retention
  • TheRealParisLove
    TheRealParisLove Posts: 1,907 Member
    I keep my sodium down by cooking without salt and adding salt to taste. Cooking actually destroys the salty flavor even though the sodium is still there. Instead cook your foods without salt and salt at the table.

    I also like to add flavor using lime and lemon juice instead of salt. Vinegar is also a good way to increase flavor, but many commercial vinegars have quite a bit of salt added.
  • ElliottTN
    ElliottTN Posts: 1,614 Member
    I rent a small room in a house and I am unable to cook my meals from scratch because the community kitchen is trashed. I refuse to be other peoples maid in order to have a healthy meal (when both sinks are full to the top with nasty dishes you kind of have to do dishes just to get to the sink and/or use a pan that is nasty and at the bottom). I mention this as a reminder to people with judgmental attitudes that not all situations are picture perfect and some understanding is in order. Try giving advice instead of making people feel bad.

    No one is being judgmental. We are being curious. Put you victim card back in your purse for later use.

    p.s.
    Get a george foreman grill, I had one of those in my dorm room and you can make some damn near 5 star meals with those suckers.
  • sarafischbach9
    sarafischbach9 Posts: 466 Member
    If you're a healthy young person, then I don't think sodium will effect you too much. It might only be a problem if you are consistently having like 4000 mg or more on a daily basis, which will make you bloated.

    I think sodium is something to watch and monitor, but nothing to freak out over.
  • ThriceBlessed
    ThriceBlessed Posts: 499 Member
    I don't understand where all these people are finding this much sodium. Are you all just eating diet TV dinners or something?

    I like to eat cottage cheese for the protein, its very high in sodium.
  • ElliottTN
    ElliottTN Posts: 1,614 Member
    I don't understand where all these people are finding this much sodium. Are you all just eating diet TV dinners or something?

    I like to eat cottage cheese for the protein, its very high in sodium.

    Maybe that is the answer, I'm not a cheese person.
  • vienna_h
    vienna_h Posts: 428 Member
    Sodium is in everything PROCESSED. Not much sodium naturally found in real food. Cook from scratch and/or increase non-processed food and snack in your diet.
  • eyecandyrayce
    eyecandyrayce Posts: 260 Member

    No one is being judgmental. We are being curious. Put you victim card back in your purse for later use.

    p.s.
    Get a george foreman grill, I had one of those in my dorm room and you can make some damn near 5 star meals with those suckers.

    I don't recall claiming to be a victim. Nobody is doing wrong by me which is required in order to be one or even claim to be one. But I'll end this here as there is no point in continuing.

    Having a george foreman grill would still require I have some where to wash it. But it is a great suggestion that I will look into when I have my own kitchen again.
  • thedarkwombat
    thedarkwombat Posts: 123 Member
    I don't recall claiming to be a victim. Nobody is doing wrong by me which is required in order to be one or even claim to be one.
    That's the issue. You are being done wrong. You are a victim, especially how you went into so much detail about it. Tell those people to do their dishes and that you would like to cook in there from time to time. If they have an attitude, find somewhere else to live.
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    Sodium is in everything PROCESSED. Not much sodium naturally found in real food. Cook from scratch and/or increase non-processed food and snack in your diet.

    oh you mean processed stuff like celery, beets, carrots, meat, spinach etc?

    these things are naturally pretty high in sodiun
  • Stripeness
    Stripeness Posts: 511 Member
    What's the impact on weight loss if it's consistently high?

    You asked a couple of questions here. I'm picking this one to answer.

    Me? I have low-normal blood pressure and for 44 years now, have always liked lots of salt. I'm losing a little more than 2 lbs/week. Eating is healthiER, not clean, as I'm just making small changes to start.

    I also am hypothyroid and have very little TOM fluctuation. Which may be TMI, but is mentioned for a reason: there are MFPers whose experience is quite different than mine regarding the impact of any of these things on weight loss.

    *YMMV*
  • MorgueBabe
    MorgueBabe Posts: 1,188 Member
    Are you eating a lot of pre packaged froen meals?
  • NumbrsNerd
    NumbrsNerd Posts: 202 Member
    Cook your own food from scratch and you'll find your sodium intake drops dramatically.

    Source: former Healthy Choice addict turned home cook.

    Yep. This is what I'm finding!

    Healthy Choice meals have been replaced with homemade chili with all low sodium or no salt added products.

    Dinners are homemade with as little processed ingredients as possible.

    ETA: when I say processed, I mean packaged foods (potato mixes, pasta mixes, etc.). We used to eat A LOT of these in my household.

    I work full time and go to school part time. The only way I have time to cook my foods homemade is to do it all on Sunday and then just reheat all week long. It works if you're busy and have got a lot on your plate during the week!

    Good luck!
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    I keep my sodium down by cooking without salt and adding salt to taste. Cooking actually destroys the salty flavor even though the sodium is still there. Instead cook your foods without salt and salt at the table.

    I also like to add flavor using lime and lemon juice instead of salt. Vinegar is also a good way to increase flavor, but many commercial vinegars have quite a bit of salt added.
    Huh? No. Cooking does NOT destroy the salty flavor. Properly salted food doesn't taste salty.
  • acogg
    acogg Posts: 1,870 Member
    Slightly off topic but I notice that my friends in the UK and Australia rarely have entries that include sodium. Lots and lots of entries have zero sodium listed even though the food contains at least a little bit of sodium. All animals and plants contain some salt. The soil has salt in it. Salt is not bad and is an important part of a healthy diet. This presumes that you are healthy.
  • Satiable
    Satiable Posts: 121
    Having a george foreman grill would still require I have some where to wash it. But it is a great suggestion that I will look into when I have my own kitchen again.
    Could you use the bathroom sink to wash it? A lot of small businesses/studio apartments don't have a kitchen sink, and that's what they do. Just keep some dish soap etc. in your room.

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