Sodium intake driving me nuts!!

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  • tedgardner1
    tedgardner1 Posts: 2 Member
    Try checking sodium levels for foods in question on sites other than myfitnesspal. I have found some HUGE differences. I have no opinion as to which is correct.
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,807 Member
    tedgardner1 wrote: »
    Try checking sodium levels for foods in question on sites other than myfitnesspal. I have found some HUGE differences. I have no opinion as to which is correct.

    You've resurrected a REALLY old post.

    But yes, check the sodium levels against the label for example. I'm European and I've seen food database entries with the amount of salt listed under sodium so many times (European labels list salt, not sodium) which can give the impression that you're way over when you aren't really.

    FYI: not everyone needs to limit sodium intake. I have low blood pressure myself, I need to consume quite a lot of salt or my blood pressure gets too low (especially when standing up).
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,207 Member
    Yeah, I'm still confused about salt. The more I do research into salt consumption, the less concerned I get.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,412 Member
    edited September 2022
    I stay under 2300 on most days.

    What Lietchi said about checking against labels is important.

    I prepare all my own meals, but I do add a pinch of salt to most dishes - otherwise the taste is off for me. As long as I don't have processed meats/cheeses, and/or store-bought bread in more than one meal, I can make it work pretty comfortably.

  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    tedgardner1 wrote: »
    Try checking sodium levels for foods in question on sites other than myfitnesspal. I have found some HUGE differences. I have no opinion as to which is correct.

    I can't speak to sodium values in the MFP database, as I have no medical reason to track sodium, so I don't. Here's a post I wrote about iron values:

    I'm anemic and don't rely on food alone to get the iron I need, but do notice that many USER-created food entries have incorrect or missing iron counts. For example, manufacturers may list iron in grams, but MFP uses percents, and I have seen when people create an entry and do bother to fill in iron, they use the gram value rather than the %, resulting in a much lower number. Often people do not bother to fill in micros at all.

    I've never noticed a problem with micros on ADMIN-created entries, so try to use these as much as possible.

    Unfortunately, the green check marks in the MFP database are used for both USER-created entries and ADMIN-created entries that MFP pulled from the USDA database. A green check mark for USER-created entries just means enough people have upvoted the entry - it is not necessarily correct.

    To find ADMIN entries for whole foods, I get the syntax from the USDA database and paste that into MFP. All ADMIN entries from the USDA will have weights as an option BUT there is a glitch whereby sometimes 1g is the option but the values are actually for 100g. This is pretty easy to spot though, as when added the calories are 100x more than is reasonable.

    https://fdc.nal.usda.gov

    Use the “SR Legacy” tab - that seems to be what MFP used to pull in entries.

    Note: any MFP entry that includes "USDA" was USER entered.

    For packaged foods, I verify the label against what I find in MFP. (Alas, you cannot just scan with your phone and assume what you get is correct.)
  • westrich20940
    westrich20940 Posts: 914 Member
    How do you stay below 2500mg of sodium?

    -->You don't unless it's medically necessary. Is your blood pressure OK? Has your doctor told you that you have to steer clear of sodium? Do you have any health complications or symptoms due to sodium intake?

    No? Then literally don't worry. I mean, ask your doc real quick if you are worried but usually , unless told - there's no reason to freak out about it.

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