sodium! wth?!?!

PedalHound

So, I'm looking through my full reports for the first time and I'm HORRIFIED to see that I'm usually WAY over on my sodium! But the thing is, we eat literally almost no processed foods, really great whole foods, and this is still an issue! I read that a range of 1500mg to 2400mg is ideal for healthy adults. But, for example, I have a cup of cottage cheese every day and that's almost 500mg. We used refried beans tonight (although we haven't in ages) and 1 serving had almost 700mg! So now I'm feeling totally kicked in the gut. I was feeling so good about the way we were eating and now I feel like I'm back at square one and eating poorly. I had high BP at the end of my last pregnancy so I'm definitely concerned about sodium. Can anyone recommend some good low sodium whole foods??? TIA! :grumble:

PedalHound

So, I'm looking through my full reports for the first time and I'm HORRIFIED to see that I'm usually WAY over on my sodium! But the thing is, we eat literally almost no processed foods, really great whole foods, and this is still an issue! I read that a range of 1500mg to 2400mg is ideal for healthy adults. But, for example, I have a cup of cottage cheese every day and that's almost 500mg. We used refried beans tonight (although we haven't in ages) and 1 serving had almost 700mg! So now I'm feeling totally kicked in the gut. I was feeling so good about the way we were eating and now I feel like I'm back at square one and eating poorly. I had high BP at the end of my last pregnancy so I'm definitely concerned about sodium. Can anyone recommend some good low sodium whole foods??? TIA! :grumble:

shorerider

I have been keeping my sodium under 1600--and often under 1200--every day since I joined MFP. I have HBP, too, and diabetics are prone to heart disease, so this is vital to me.

One thing I have done is cut out all canned foods. The sodium content in those little cans is just absolutely ridiculous!

I also cut waaayy back on processed foods or prepackaged foods--such as deli meats (also ridiculous), and cheeses. I LOVE cheese, so this was hard but I limit myself to no more than 2 ozs. a day of something like cheddar or 1 slice of American, or a couple tablespoons of Parmesan on my pasta (which I have no more than 1x a week).

Cheeses will get you every time! Even some vegis are high in sodium--celery has a lot for instance. It's not as bad as cheese but it has quite a few.

Stick with the whole grain stuff, look for low-sodium stuff, too. BUT check the ingredients on the low-sodium stuff because they will often raise the fat content when they decrease the sodium :grumble:

Overall--just keep away from the preprocessed, prepackaged, canned stuff and cheeses and you'll probably be ok.

Also, don't add salt when cooking--put it on after you cook. Try adding other spices instead of salt. And watch what other spices you add, because I realized that some blends have sodium as well! :grumble:

PedalHound

argh.. thanks so much for your feedback.. The thing is that I don't use salt in cooking unless it's absolutely VITAL to a baking recipe for chemical reaction, but I'm not baking these days. I use fresh herbs or hot peppers but not processed seasonings.. I don't eat meat other than occasional grilled chicken breast, I don't eat cheese and I almost never eat canned goods as I'm very concerned with the bisphenol-A. This is why I was SO confused to see my sodium levels. Cottage cheese and whole grains seem to be the things that are HIGHEST in my diet when I look at the break-down of the day.
Maybe I should go back and do the math myself. Maybe something isn't adding up...

Thanks again so much for your input!!

shorerider

Usually the highest single amount of sodium I get in a day is from whatever bread or cereal I eat. Part of the baking process, I guess. It's hard to cut back on sodium but you can do it--overtime it gets easier.

I would double check the figures for what you're eating. There is some wrong info on some of the food, so I usually double check the figures if something I've pulled up seems really out of whack.

Before I started MFP 3 months ago, my BP was 140/85 (and that's on med :sick: ). I had it checked today by the nurse at the gym, and it was 120/70!!! I was so excited!

So, see, cutting back on sodium really does help.