Anyone on a Low Sodium Diet?

jamesfit99

According to the Mayo Clinic, the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend limiting sodium to less than 2,300 mg a day — or 1,500 mg if you're age 51 or older, or if you are black, or if you have high blood pressure, diabetes or chronic kidney disease. The 2,300 mg figure is far less sodium than the average American consumes in a day.

In my case, I have high blood pressure. For that reason I'm limiting my sodium to between 1000mg and 1500mg per day.

A little early to tell for sure, but so far it appears that these lower levels of sodium in my diet are translating into a decrease in blood pressure.

Wondering if anyone else is on a sodium restricted diet and how it's going? I've found the "Myfitnesspal" software very helpful in keeping track and planning my daily sodium intake.

That said, keeping under 1500 mg/day of sodium can be quite challenging unless you really pick your foods carefully, but it's not all bad.

The other night for example I was only at 1000mg of sodium so I treated myself to a slice of plain pizza! That's usually a big no-no on low sodium diet, but a slice of plain pizza has under 400mg of sodium and I had 500 mg to play with! Of course, pepperoni pizza (my favorite) would have been out with closer to 1000 mg of sodium.

-- James

2Bgoddess

I aim to keep mine under 1000, last few days I've been over, sometimes a lot. but 1000 is my target.

lax75

I try to stay under 1500 - my blood pressure has definitely improved since I started watching carefully. I'm generally under, occasionally between 1500 and 2000, and once every couple of weeks there's something particular - usually because of using light soy sauce in a recipe - I'll go over 2000. I find MFP really helpful in keeping track, although I do worry that it's under-reporting because not every listed food has a full nutritional profile. But I guess however much I'm getting is OK, because I really have seen an improvement.

I find the most helpful thing is to eat only my own cooking to the extent possible, or something like a salad if I eat out where I can see everything that's in it. I find it much harder to guesstimate sodium in a restaurant meal than to estimate the calories. But I have gradually been getting used to the taste of less salt and don't miss it as much as I used to. Things like lemon juice can add some oomph if you think something tastes too bland. (Not for pizza, obviously :-) but for vegetables and soups it can help.) Or try extra garlic, a splash of balsamic vinegar - anything with a strong taste of its own.

Good luck with your effort to watch the sodium - high BP is associated with so many health problems, it's really worth some effort to keep it at a healthy level. I'm a cancer survivor, and I didn't go through all that treatment just so something preventable could "get" me! <g>

opal24

My blood pressure is borderline high, so I am trying to watch my sodium and keep it to below 1500 if at all possible. I can't say that it appears to have made a difference to my BP yet, but I'm only just starting to exercise again after a long recovery from back surgery, so I'm hoping the combination of exercise and low sodium will have the desired effect. Glad to know it seems to be working for others.