sodium

tslocum2001

How does MFP figure sodium, like it says pot roast has 906 but I don't cook with any salt? Does it assume or is that much sodium naturally in foods?

staciekins

If you bought the pot roast from a regular store, then yes it assumes it has just as many sodium as the processing plant puts in it. They load it up with sodium to make it "taste" better.

Cmuchoa

I am not an expert on this site yet but I am just assuming that somebody posted a recipe into the database and you picked that one to add to yr meal plan. I have added my own recipes and it tells me what the calorie intake is for each serving. I then pick from my own recipes and add to my meal plan diary for that day and this way I know exactly what I am eating.

suzi67

It all depends on the source "pot roast" came from on the database. If there is a star next to it, it has been submitted by another user. No star, by the MFP crew. I tend to use the non-starred entries as they are more accurate on all nutrients. You can't tell the difference if you are using the phone app, you have to be on the actual site. Otherwise, I would do up my own recipe in that section using the cut of meat and all other ingredients used and get an accurate number for everything. Mmm, pot roast sounds good right now...

TropicalKitty

Red meat has a sodium content. So depending on the size of your roast, it can get quite high. I'll try to find the info of just meat and edit this post.

It's also possible that you selected a recipe like someone else said.

Here's what I grabbed from the USDA nutrient database:
Beef, chuck, arm pot roast, separable lean only, trimmed to 1/8" fat, all grades, raw
New Search
Refuse: 37% (Bone and connective tissue 21%, sep fat 16%)
NDB No: 23603 (Nutrient values and weights are for edible portion)

The sodium content of 1lb is 336 - so a 3lb roast would have about 1000mg. So you could reasonably find the number you got if you put in the WHOLE roast. If you just put in a small portion, then it has to be a recipe with added salt.

I'd just make your own recipe in there so you can accurately track it.

PS - here's the link to the USDA database for future possible needs:
http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/

tslocum2001

thanks the input helps. I need to keep a better eye on my sodium and not assume since I don't add salt or cook with it my limits should be okay.

hpsnickers1

another good site for nutrition information:

Just search "nutritional data" and the site pops up first. Not positive on the full address: nutritiondata.self.com I think.

tslocum2001

yep it was a recipe cuz when I went from the one with a * which had 906 sodium to just the roast without star, it went to 86