Sodium

Schwarzeaugen

I've been (deliberately) ignoring my sodium stats on MFP, but actually decided to look today. I was really surprised that I'm super over!

One of the interesting suggestions I heard from people is to turn off the air conditioning and sweat it out, of course staying hydrated in the process.

Any other suggestions to lower sodium? I can't seem to find too many foods that are both low-sodium AND low-calorie.

27strange

Are you eating quite a bit of fast food / processed food / prepacked food? This stuff is high in sodium. If so, I would suggest adding more fresh fruits and vegetables. Also, how's your potassium level? Potassium works in the body to offset sodium, so getting in bananas, cantaloupe, fresh veggies is a good way to add potassium. How much water are you drinking per day? Getting lots of water will help you to wash out the sodium.

Jorra

Fresh fruits and veggies, lean meats, pretty much anything that doesn't come from a box or can. Processed foods have way too much added sodium. One way to reduce the effects of extra sodium is to eat more potassium, they work together in the body.

Jorra

-_- double post

MissAnjy

I wouldn't recommend sweating it out by shutting off your a/c.
Drink a lot of water to help flush it out.

dreanance

I'm sure if you improve your diet you won't really have to "sweat it out".

Yogurt, milk, fruit, veggies, whole wheat bread, rice, quinoa, low fat cheese, oatmeal are all healthy foods without much sodium.

Avoiding fast foods/processed foods/processed meat will be important.

Jorra

Yogurt, milk, fruit, veggies, whole wheat bread, rice, quinoa, low fat cheese, oatmeal.

Low fat anything has more sodium, especially low fat cheese. Low fat foods use more sodium to make up for the lack of flavor from the fat.

penultimateokgo

I say the same thing as above. Processed food has horrible sodium content. Fresh fruits and veggies are awesome low-cal low sodium options. Those lean frozen dinners aren't as healthy as people might think they are.

One tip I always follow is stick to the outer perimeter of your grocery store. For all of the grocery stores I go to, all of the essentials like veggies, fruits, meats, and dairy, are on the outer perimeter and the junky processed stuff are on the middle shelves in the aisles.

Look for low sodium options for the processed foods you do get. And drink lots of water.

dreanance

True, I eat very little cheese so I don't notice it and never go over on sodium. If it really is a concern after cutting out all the other processed foods a small amount of full fat could be an option.

Schwarzeaugen

Haha, I didn't really consider shutting the AC off, especially since my area is in a heat advisory, but I like the suggestions. I'm going to eat more bananas to get that potassium!

Jorra

Haha, I didn't really consider shutting the AC off, especially since my area is in a heat advisory, but I like the suggestions. I'm going to eat more bananas to get that potassium!

Check out http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=90 to see other better sources of potassium! I get a lot of mine from tomatoes, greens, and yogurt. Potatoes and milk are also great sources.

Car0lina82

Hello Schwarzeaugen, I had a quick look in your food diary and the one thing I noticed is that you tend to consume plenty of packaged stuff, i.e. anything that has a brand name-- these are bound to have sodium (and/or sugars, additives, preservatives, colorants, plus a bunch of other things that aren't very good for us.)

I'm not sure how easy or difficult it may be for you, but I would recommend you make your own meals as opposed to buying stuff that's already made. Even in the cereal we eat, it's much better to go for generic rolled oats instead of Frosted Flakes and the like.
Good luck and let me know if you need any ideas or recipes. I love practical meals made from scratch!

Schwarzeaugen

That's a good idea (making my own food). I started MFP about 2 weeks ago, and I'm currently in a position of trying to use what I have in my pantry before I hit the grocery store. I never really noticed that nearly all my foods are brand packaging haha. More generic sounds good to me.

temptress75519

Sodium is evil and you won't know it until its gone. I got wise to sodium about a year ago and found that reducing it to under 2300 a day makes you sleep better, have "better libido", exercise more effectively and much more. It was like I had a ton of energy!

I didn't know that water flushed it out though and I also didn't know about the potassium thing. Good to know because sometimes it really is hard to stay under the wire.

thetorontokid2

Told youuuuuuu ....