Not enough salt?

AndyStanford

So I was looking at my diary last night, and I saw that both my sodium & potassium levels are way below my goal amounts (20% of what they should be for the week).

I used to add a lot of salt to my meals, but over the course of my 20s I cut back a lot, to the point where I rarely add salt to anything (fries and pizza are it), but should I be a little more relaxed about it, and what sort of health implications could there be if I'm not taking enough?

darrensurrey

You'll get cramp as a first sign of problems.

What's your daily goal? Most people have far too much salt which leads to water retention.

darrensurrey

Had a quick look at your food diary - you could add sodium to one of the columns but I suspect your food has more than enough salt to ensure you don't have any problems.

AndyStanford

My goal sodium is apparently 2500 mg, which feels like a lot to me.

Calorie goal is 1900, with a 1lb/week loss

Also added sodium to my diary. I don't tend to cramp up much, once a month at most, and weirdly it's usualy just after a very salty meal (within 12 hours or so)

Firefox7275

Goals for sodium are a maximum not a minimum! I highly doubt there is 1mg of sodium in your sweet and sour chicken, nor 0mg in your granola nor 0mg in your blue cheese - check the full nutrition information for the products you are choosing, a lot of people don't add the minerals because it's a percentage which is confusing.

AndyStanford

That makes more sense if they're a maximum, thanks.

The vast majority of the foods in my diary have been added by others, and I haven't been checking every detail of the nutritional info against the packaging, but I guess I should do. The sweet & sour chicken is definitely accurate according to the packaging though, as I added that myself and added all the details I could.

Some things are more difficult to be certain of though, like loose fruit & veg, or cheese/meat from the deli counter, so I'm just taking the best generic item I can find in the database when I fill in the diary.

marycmeadows

sweet & sour chicken is LOADED with sodium, sorry to tell ya.

but yes, the sodium on here is a max, not a minimum. You do need SOME sodium though, so don't go too low.

Firefox7275

That makes more sense if they're a maximum, thanks.

The vast majority of the foods in my diary have been added by others, and I haven't been checking every detail of the nutritional info against the packaging, but I guess I should do. The sweet & sour chicken is definitely accurate according to the packaging though, as I added that myself and added all the details I could.

Some things are more difficult to be certain of though, like loose fruit & veg, or cheese/meat from the deli counter, so I'm just taking the best generic item I can find in the database when I fill in the diary.

You must have got the units wrong for the sweet and sour, trust me there is NOT 1mg of sodium in any ready meal or prepared sauce, I have worked in laboratories and know exactly how tiny that is.

ETA found it on Mysupermarket - its 0.7g salt per 100g or 1.4g salt per half can which is classed as 'high' in the UK. That is equivalent to 0.56g or 560mg sodium. Assuming their information is current.

AndyStanford

I'll check next time I'm in the supermarket, the can has gone for recycling already.

I'm willing to accept the possibility that I misread it as I was entering it in a hurry.

Of course, I only actually ate about 10% of the sauce as my lunchbox split on my way to work, leaking sauce into my bag