Sodium

15in8

What are peoples thoughts on sodium? I tend to eat a lot of processed (lean) foods, but my sodium intake ranges from 2300 to 5000mg a day. The daily recommended intake is about 1400mg a day.

Short of the "Eat fresh fruits and vegetables, prepare your own meals" advice, does anyone with a busy lifestyle have products they consume that have a low sodium value? I am thinking of chunky soups and lean cusine style meals here. Also does anyone know anything about the effects of salt beyond the generic increases water retention and raises blood pressure?

athearenee

..well..
not anymore..
You took what I was gonna say ... before I said it...

I got nada

iKristine

Well, the recommended sodium is 2500mg, unless you've been guided lower for blood pressure or stroke (to name few) then it's 1500mg. So unless you mean your own recommended?

Processed foods are all high in sodium. That's just the fact. I could go into all the technical reasons of why chemically and commercially of why that is, but let's just say it's more advantageous for business to include it, than not.

I have a busy life, and am constantly struggling to keep my intake below 2000. But under no circumstance will I allow it over 2800. That is my benchmark where it effects my comfort and my standards of what healthy is.

The general rule of thumb in the medical community is to shoot to have your sodium at, or below your daily calorie intake.

The way I look at it is like this, would you swim in a saline lake if you knew there was a fresh water one nearby? Would you drive your shiney *kitten* truck through salt if you could avoid it? Yes it raises your blood pressure, because your body has to work harder to pump it through. What sort of effects does that contribute to in the long run, early wear and tear, kidneys are under more stress, higher risk or stroke.

Are those not good enough reasons?

If your compromising your health by eating processed foods already, why are you suddenly worried about your salt intake? You should really be more worried about all the chemicals, preservatives and poor dietary guidelines in the food you are eating under the psuedo guise of health. Supposed "health lean" instant meals are just as high in contribution to fatty liver disease as the original your supposedly saved from. They merely are less in calories. Meaning, you can eat more. Because in all reality, people don't eat less.

The closer your diet is to natural, is the best. Rule of thumb is never more than once removed. That's why veggies and fruits, whole grains, el natural foods are the choice if your wanting health.

"let food be your medicine and your medicine be your food" --Hippocrates.

miss_sarcastic

Too much salt is dangerous, and too little salt is dangerous. Sodium is a good thing, in moderation. Your body NEEDS salt. It's vital for many things (google sodium-potassium pump).

I rarely exceed 1500mg of sodium a day...somehow. Haha. I've always been more of a salty person vs. sugar/sweet person. I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, but I do still eat things like granola bars that aren't too high in sugar or sodium. Not sure what other specific advice people can give you outside of what you already said, though.

15in8

Sorry, got my figure wrong, In Australia, the recommended level is 1600mg (based on recommendations from the The National Health and Medical Research Centre) But since most people eat so far above their level, the guide is to aim for around 2300 initially then move from there. For Americans the CDC recommends less than 2300mg daily unless you are African American, have diabetes or hypertension, then it recommends no more than 1500mg daily. The recommendations for England are about the same.

As for being suddenly worried about sodium, it is more that I am on a journey of self education. So in that sense I am not suddenly worried about it, I am investigating sodium and the effects it has on me.

As for processed foods having chemicals, preservatives and poor dietary guidelines, I think this is where a lot of misinformation is spread. Because having chemicals is fine. Chemicals are everywhere, chemicals are the constituents of everything. Water is made up of chemicals. So I am thinking you are alluding to something else when you say chemicals. You are possibly referring to pesticides or something of the like? But fresh foods are just as susceptible to pesticides.

The preservatives I agree with, salt being one of the preservatives, and it is where I am first starting to investigate. There are others I know, and I will move to those as time goes on, and see what empirical studies can tell me. The poor dietary guidelines you refer to, I am unsure what you mean, unless you are alluding to processed lean foods giving the illusion of a healthy diet.

But your point about them being merely lower in calories is a good one and a good way to look at these foods. That is why I asked if anyone knows of any convenience foods that are lower in salt than others.

I am not trying to have a go at you here. I accept that fresh foods will always be best. But if I make a decision based on several factors I wont go into here that I will be relying on convenience foods for a little while, I will do so in the healthiest manner possible.

I know that trying to eat healthy can be taken to a logical conclusion of, why not eat fresh all the time, which can then mean, why not exercise everyday, why not ensure all vitamin and mineral content of food is based upon recommendations by official bodies and so on. Everyone will draw the line somewhere. But this post is not about fresh vs processed. It is after that decision has been made, how is health maximized.

Sorry if that came across as confrontational, it is not meant to be. But I will challenge points I want to further understand.

iKristine

Chemicals, in my use is referring to anything added out of convenience of for unatural purposes (or ingredients like sucralose which is by definition unatural). Such as food coloring to your store brand wheat breads. Breads that don't have enough wheat to even be the color of wheat, they instead have to add carmel "color" to give it the illusion of such. Extending shelf life with additives like calcium phosphate to kill bacterias in processing, which is actually counter productive to it's name. It actually acts to deplete your body of calcium in extended use. I'm also talking about foods fortified with vitamins. You've seen them, kellog bars, some cereals, etc. They are in fact so deprived of nutrition that they cannot be sold on the shelf by the poor standards, they need to be infused with such vitamins to be able to sell or market. When you turn the label, you see 5%, 10% DV. Which is poor standards considering that even the daily recommends aren't on par with other countries. It's really a **** boat. I'm doing my masters in Dietetics, and can tell you the message has only gotten worse as I've got here.

I did make a mistake in assuming your from the U.S. So some of this might not apply to your neck of the sticks.

Having chemicals however, I won't agree to be fine. That I worry is taking complacency a little far. Cancer is everywhere too, does that make it okay? Maybe is AUS your government didn't conduct nuclear testing that clouded half the country in toxics, only to later use agent orange that was designed to kill crops in Vietnam as a tool of mass destruction (to starve out the people which also lead to disfigurements for many generations) to only turn around and use those leftovers on the streets of home on trucks that sprayed into schoolyards. Too far?

I however, am a little sensitive to this as my mother died of environmentally caused cancer. I also did my undergrad in environmental education. I'm admittedly biased.

"I know that trying to eat healthy can be taken to a logical conclusion of, why not eat fresh all the time, which can then mean, why not exercise everyday, why not ensure all vitamin and mineral content of food is based upon recommendations by official bodies and so on" -- this is actually a straw man. Albeit a good one. Eating fresh doesn't necessarily lead to exercise. I can show many of those examples (laughs). However, when you feel good, you "want" to move. So it's a natural extension. I wouldn't take advice from my "official body". But that's also in the US. Other countries like Canada actually manage to do a really good job. Not sure about AUS, maybe there is a Agriculture or Nutrition professor in your area that would be knowledgeable on that matter.

I don't take what your saying as confrontational, and would like to expect the same in return.

I appreciate your concern about sound advice, and not jumping to conclusions based on ill advice. I however, came to these conclusions after years of school. But again, I'm American and other countries don't have the same short falls to look out for.

My advice that I can give, try to eat at least half your plate in veggies, a quarter in lean meats, and the rest a carb like potato, wheat bread, whole grain noodle etc.

Eat at least a couple servings of fruit a day. I use a blender to make smoothies pre workout. This I found is low sodium, high nutrition, moderate carb. But one shake and I'm done for the day. Avoid foods that have exhaustive ingredient lists, especially ones you cannot pronounce if at all possible. Buy local fruits and veggies whenever possible (this is probably the most strongest advice) as most local growers prioritize organic methods. And just remember you are what you eat. Do you want to be a cardboard box when your 60? Or do you want to be a spring chicken, unfried, with a steady diet of veggies?

If it won't rot or sprout, throw it out.

This wasn't a processed vs non processed discussion directly. But the sodium epidemic is a concern because of processed foods exclusively. So you can see the connection to it. I just don't have anything other to say than "don't want high sodium, don't eat the foods that contain them".

iKristine

Sorry, meant to edit

tinkermommc

Try to buy the items that lower in sodium. You're reading labels already so just add the sodium to what you're watching. Usually frozens are lower in sodium than cans but now with all the choices for 'lower sodium' or 'reduced sodium' it's not always the case. Sargentos has a string cheese that is lower sodium(sorry just found that one the other day). Watch fluid intake other than water because teas and other zero calorie drinks can have sodium in them. And when you do cook I've found that I can leave out the salt and put in a dash of cayenne in most dishes and never miss the salt! Good luck!!

For bad things from sodium, those are all I can think of but isn't high blood pressure increasing the likelihood of a heart attack enough?

ElPumaMex

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/483392-all-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-sodium-in-your-diet

15in8

Thanks, just discovered the search function