Sodium

BarbaraCarr1981

I thought 1500mg was the healthy salt limit. My plan says 2500mg!!!! What do you guys think?

FredDoyle

I thought 1500mg was the healthy salt limit. My plan says 2500mg!!!! What do you guys think?

I'm sticking to 1500, but I HAD hypertension.

StinkyWinkies

I thought 1500mg was the healthy salt limit. My plan says 2500mg!!!! What do you guys think?

I'm sticking to 1500, but I HAD hypertension.

This ^^^ For I as well.

deb3129

When it comes to sodium, I think less is better. Your body only NEEDS between 180 to 500 mg per day, so you are unlikely to get too little.

krawl78

I set my limit at 1200 but rarely come close to that. I'm usually between 700 and 1000 mg a day.

caitlyn30

I say 1500, I have mine set at 2500 - but, if i do that I will actually gain weight. so, 1500.

FullOfWinToo

From mayo clinic...
Sodium: How much do you need?

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.

Keep in mind that these are upper limits, and less is usually best, especially if you're sensitive to the effects of sodium. If you aren't sure how much sodium your diet should include, talk to your doctor.

chivalryder

This is a pretty good explanation:

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/iyh-vsv/food-aliment/sodium-eng.php

Basically, it says 1500mg is the recommended intake (you still NEED sodium to function properly) and the upper limit for what you should take in is 2300 mg.

I would also suggest doing research on understanding why you should eat a certain amount of sodium. It is necessary for the body to function, and actually acts with potassium to transmit electrical signals to your muscles.

jealous_loser

I have mine set to 2000 mg. I try not to go over that, but it happens. I don't worry too much about it though.

ToughTulip

Mine seems to be around 4,000mg a day

Really low blood pressure, and some other problems.
If I don't have high sodium I get dizzy and sometimes feint >.>

Sodium isn't the devil, i never really watched it before either

FullOfWinToo

I set my limit at 1200 but rarely come close to that. I'm usually between 700 and 1000 mg a day.

That's amazing to me. I've just started keeping true tabs on sodium in the last week and have realized I am going to have to put a lot of work and attention into hitting this goal. I think it's going to make calorie and macro counting look like child's play!

MassiveDelta

I ate sodium once.... Its delicious

drmerc

I ate sodium once.... Its delicious

Na you didn't

cmcollins001

Mine seems to be around 4,000mg a day

Really low blood pressure, and some other problems.
If I don't have high sodium I get dizzy and sometimes feint >.>

Sodium isn't the devil, i never really watched it before either

I beg to differ:

jhc7324

Limiting my sodium is one of the reasons I started using this site. I have moderately high blood pressure, and my doctor wanted me to try to get it under control with diet/exercise before putting me on medication. After more or less ignoring it for a year I realized that unless I track what I'm doing there's no way to really measure how much I'm taking in.

I've set my macros to 1750 mg for Sodium. I've found that I can stay under that level only if I plan things out very well. There's so much sodium in all kinds of foods that were basically staples in my diet. My wife likes to cook with stuff like "chicken broth" and "tomato sauce" - any of those things that can be base type ingredients for dozens of different dishes will put me way over 2k sodium in a day, even if I'm eating basically none up until dinner time.

We've done a bunch of looking to find lower sodium alternatives, but unless you're really looking, a lot of the foods that are labeled "low sodium" are really just half the serving size (this is especially egregious with stuff like salad dressings). Serving size for most salad dressings is 2 tbsp, but I've found that a lot of the "low sodium" options will show something like 80 mg sodium, but in a 1 tbsp serving.

Bread is another big one. I don't really understand how, but essentially every bread product is full of sodium. That basically removes any type of sandwich/burger/sub from my diet, regardless of how healthy the "stuff" you put on it is. I've found a halfway decent no-sodium bread (Ezekiel Bread) that's usually in the frozen foods section of the grocery store that is a halfway decent (if different tasting) alternative. Basically, I only find it edible if I toast it though, so its definitely not for everyone.

For me, staying low sodium has been pretty tough, but hopefully worth it.

sexybeast1998

the recommended amount of sodium for a day is 2000mg but its better if u hav 1500mg

Erienneb

I set my limit at 1200 but rarely come close to that. I'm usually between 700 and 1000 mg a day.

That's amazing to me. I've just started keeping true tabs on sodium in the last week and have realized I am going to have to put a lot of work and attention into hitting this goal. I think it's going to make calorie and macro counting look like child's play!

Right? Mine is 2500 because I didn't change it and while I have a lot of days where I only have 1000-1500 there are days I double or even triple without even thinking. Basically you eat out once and it's gone. I'm so glad I don't have health issues where it's absolutely necesarry to cut down, and I can do it more as a process.

sarahg148

I set my limit at 1200 but rarely come close to that. I'm usually between 700 and 1000 mg a day.

That's amazing to me. I've just started keeping true tabs on sodium in the last week and have realized I am going to have to put a lot of work and attention into hitting this goal. I think it's going to make calorie and macro counting look like child's play!

Me, too. I just started noticing that most of my days are at about 3000mgs. Could be the reason why I can't lose as well...IDK. Will try to eat less or just drink more liquids to flush it out.

krickeyuu

Mine is set at 1600 due to HBP. I am trying to get off the meds. Basically, limiting your soduim means very little if any fast fodd, restaurant food or processesd food. This is a good thing for weight loss, I've discovered. I am eating so much more fresh food that I am full all the time on only 1500 calories. I also don't hold water like I udes to and I am way less bloated so I look even thinner. :happy:

bluechip777

i have low BP so salt works well for me!