What do you have your daily sodium set at?

Faye_Anderson

Lots of people have said to cut sodium right down in my diet. Do you have your limit set at MFP's 2500mg or have your own daily limit setting? If so what is it and why?

Natihilator

Mine's at 2500mg, which is the general adult intake recommendation, as I just wanted to see where I was at when I don't really pay attention to my sodium intake. Just by paying attention I have noticed I'm consuming less salt now, which helps because it tends to bloat me up a lot

easfahl

I have mine set at 2000mg/day. I usually drink ~3 liters of water a day as well (even before MFP).

Faye_Anderson

I found this "The Institute of Medicine, part of the National Academy of Sciences, issued a report that lowered the recommended daily amount of sodium. Previously, the daily allowance was 2500 milligrams, but it has been lowered to 1500 milligrams per day. The report set the maximum intake per day at 2300 milligrams but recommended not exceeding 1500 milligrams."

Natihilator

I found this "The Institute of Medicine, part of the National Academy of Sciences, issued a report that lowered the recommended daily amount of sodium. Previously, the daily allowance was 2500 milligrams, but it has been lowered to 1500 milligrams per day. The report set the maximum intake per day at 2300 milligrams but recommended not exceeding 1500 milligrams."

Oh, didn't know that. There's no way I'd be able to do 1500 or less every day

Faye_Anderson

Mines 2505mg today, I know it's a one-off but 1005 over is a lot more than thinking I was 5 over :grumble:

_VoV

I found this "The Institute of Medicine, part of the National Academy of Sciences, issued a report that lowered the recommended daily amount of sodium. Previously, the daily allowance was 2500 milligrams, but it has been lowered to 1500 milligrams per day. The report set the maximum intake per day at 2300 milligrams but recommended not exceeding 1500 milligrams."

True, and I set my sodium level at 1500 mg. and am mostly succeeding at meeting that goal.

LeanMeanFitnessMachine

Lots of people have said to cut sodium right down in my diet. Do you have your limit set at MFP's 2500mg or have your own daily limit setting? If so what is it and why?

I have mine set to the MFP reccomendation of 2500mg. I haven't cut back more (although eventually I'd like to) because staying under 2500mg's is hard enough for me, and until I can become more accustomed to the change I think this is a reasonable and healthy amount to focus on staying under.

flyingwrite

Mine is at 1500. Today isn't a good example, but I generally don't have trouble staying within that range.

flyingwrite

Forgot the why. My dad was recently diagnosed with High Blood Pressure and Stage 3 Kidney Disease. He has eaten a lifetime of processed food full of sodium and he is only 56. Plus, I feel NASTY when I've eaten a lot of sodium.

muwchck

Right now mines at the MFP suggested 2500mg. I have a hard time staying under that some days, but that's cause I've only been watching my sodium about a week. I'm finding that most days I can stay under it since I don't add salt to anything. I also drink a lot of water (probably double what I actually remember to log) to try and make sure I'm not holding onto that sodium.

UpEarly

Oh, didn't know that. There's no way I'd be able to do 1500 or less every day

It's actually pretty easy to stay under 1500 if you do most of your own food prep. I make my own salad dressings, cook with fresh/frozen fruits and vegetables (instead of canned), I make my own stocks/broths/soups, I try to avoid buying meat that has been injected with saline, bake my own bread, etc.

After breakfast and lunch today, I had only had 239mg of sodium. For breakfast I had oatmeal with cherries and cream and a cup of coffee with milk. For lunch, I had a salad with spinach and romaine lettuce, swiss cheese, dried cranberries and homemade honey-balsamic vinaigrette. I also had Greek yogurt and a bowl of fruit salad (pineapple, blackberries and strawberries).

For dinner, I'll have something higher in sodium - pork chops in a tropical glaze with basmati rice and sugar snap peas.

My snacks are hot chocolate, popcorn and some key lime frozen yogurt. I should end the day with about 1400mg of sodium.

Of course, I don't go this low on sodium every day. The last two days, I made homemade pizza for dinner and ended up around 2300mg (the cheese and pepperoni were both high in sodium!).

Faye_Anderson

Thanks, I am going to change mine to 1500 and see how I manage, if 2300 is the recommended I would have thought MFP would be set at that :ohwell:

shirleycottrell

The report I heard today said 2300 for normal and 1500 if you have high blood pressure. When I first started tracking mine I was shocked. I can now keep mine down quite easily and my numbers are now in normal range

Natihilator

Oh, didn't know that. There's no way I'd be able to do 1500 or less every day

It's actually pretty easy to stay under 1500 if you do most of your own food prep. I make my own salad dressings, cook with fresh/frozen fruits and vegetables (instead of canned), I make my own stocks/broths/soups, I try to avoid buying meat that has been injected with saline, bake my own bread, etc. .

Keyword there being "if"

I actually do most of my own food prep and really try to limit processed foods (my diary is open if you want evidence lol), but can't always afford organic meats and foods, and while I can give up table salt, I need certain condiments like dijon mustard, frank's hot sauce and low-sodium soy sauce or else I would be a very cranky person and eating would be a chore which is not the lifestyle I want or need at this point.

jnbud2002

I find it hard to control my sodium right now. But with some encouragement from some friends on here, one step at a time and I'll get there. At least I'm doing the calorie thing and now I'm working on actually doing some exercise 6 times a week as opposed to the 3 days. I will conquer sodium!! I've been telling the hubs that we need to start to cook our own food to try and stay under. We'll get this! My sodium is set to the 2500

cjpg

I don't really cut out sodium nor do I log it. I just minimise my intake whenever I can. I don't feel as though it's hindering my progress and if it is, I'm still happy with a 1kg drop a week.

nsblue

mine is set for 2500 but i always am below 2000. can range from 1100 -2000 if i have a treat say for instance steak spice on my steak... water retention will be seen in the scale... i have learned to watch my food n learned what certain foods will act with me.

jennifershoo

1500mg for me. If I consume 2000mg or more, I feel really bloated for several hours. Maybe everyone is different. That's my own limit.

wftiger

The lower the better. A human body only needs about 500 mg per day. If you watch it, then you can stay below the limits. Just don't do a lot of eating out and stay away from processed foods especially lunch meats.

Also, the lower fat an item has (i.e., cheese) the higher the sodium usually (not always) is. So if you are watching sodium be careful of the reduced fat and fat free choices. If you take the fat out you have to add something and unfortunately salt is really cheap for them to use.

BTW - Stay below the 2300 max. I am not saying stay below 500. :-)