Is ham very high in sodium?

balancedbrunette
balancedbrunette Posts: 530 Member
edited January 7 in Health and Weight Loss
Just a general question i'm concerned about, lately i have been eating quite a good bit of ham on my soda bread and remember reading before too much sodum in the diet retains weight..

Also things like packaged chicken slices and turkey slices would these be very high in sodum? I was going for them for the protein value but does the sodium just cancel this out
thoughts,,,

Replies

  • ChinniP
    ChinniP Posts: 166 Member
    everything commercially packaged is higher in sodium that you want unless it specifcally says "low sodium:. The package should tell you. I try to stay under 2000 mg of sodium.
  • ChinniP
    ChinniP Posts: 166 Member
    High sodium will retain water which will show up on your scale. But more importantly, it is not good for your blood pressure.
  • Firefox7275
    Firefox7275 Posts: 2,040 Member
    Ham is high jn sodium, so are many breads.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Ham is very high in sodium as well as nitrates due to the curing process that makes it so delicious. You can get uncured ham from a good butcher, but it tastes completely different and is white instead of pink.

    Ham is right up there for me as one of my favorite meats, but I really have to watch it with the sodium due to having hypertension and excess salt just makes things worse for me.
  • balancedbrunette
    balancedbrunette Posts: 530 Member
    ok thanks for the replies, figured it was quite high and it never really crossed my mind until started questioning my sodium intake, need to take a look at the packet...maybe cut down on it a little even :).
  • crissy63
    crissy63 Posts: 4
    You can buy a lot of different meats that are uncured at Trader Joes.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    High sodium will retain water which will show up on your scale. But more importantly, it is not good for your blood pressure.
    Sodium is only a problem if you have high blood pressure. If you don't have high blood pressure, sodium doesn't make a lick of difference. I regularly consume well over 3000mg of sodium per day, and my BP yesterday at the doctor's office was 112/73.
  • LisaGirlfriend
    LisaGirlfriend Posts: 493 Member
    High sodium will retain water which will show up on your scale. But more importantly, it is not good for your blood pressure.
    Sodium is only a problem if you have high blood pressure. If you don't have high blood pressure, sodium doesn't make a lick of difference. I regularly consume well over 3000mg of sodium per day, and my BP yesterday at the doctor's office was 112/73.

    Hmmmm that's interesting. My blood pressure has always been normal/low. I gave up ham when I started watching macros on MFP and found that ham always put me over. Good to know...
  • susanswan
    susanswan Posts: 1,194 Member
    I suggest you use your sodium tracker in the MFP food diary. You will learn by looking at your sodium intake what to avoid if you don't want to eat too much of that. Pretty much anything processed or "ready" to eat in a package will have sodium added. Crackers, bread, tortillas, cheese, canned anything, even raw chicken breasts if you read the labels. Sometimes salt is listed and sometimes it is SODIUM you are looking at in the part where it tells you how many calories, servings, etc.

    The latest recommendation for health was to eat not more than 1500mg of sodium per day. That is a tough challenge if you eat anything I mentioned above. You can find some salt free versions or low sodium, but still it isn't much lower. I also heard that for the very same product that would sell world wide, there is more sodium in the American product.
  • susanswan
    susanswan Posts: 1,194 Member
    High sodium will retain water which will show up on your scale. But more importantly, it is not good for your blood pressure.
    Sodium is only a problem if you have high blood pressure. If you don't have high blood pressure, sodium doesn't make a lick of difference. I regularly consume well over 3000mg of sodium per day, and my BP yesterday at the doctor's office was 112/73.

    Hmmmm that's interesting. My blood pressure has always been normal/low. I gave up ham when I started watching macros on MFP and found that ham always put me over. Good to know...

    I think what the person means is they don't have a problem..... yet. I don't think you will find a doctor to tell you that eating that much sodium is "good" for you. It just hasn't caused a problem yet.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    High sodium will retain water which will show up on your scale. But more importantly, it is not good for your blood pressure.
    Sodium is only a problem if you have high blood pressure. If you don't have high blood pressure, sodium doesn't make a lick of difference. I regularly consume well over 3000mg of sodium per day, and my BP yesterday at the doctor's office was 112/73.

    Hmmmm that's interesting. My blood pressure has always been normal/low. I gave up ham when I started watching macros on MFP and found that ham always put me over. Good to know...

    I think what the person means is they don't have a problem..... yet. I don't think you will find a doctor to tell you that eating that much sodium is "good" for you. It just hasn't caused a problem yet.
    No. What I'm saying is that there is NO MEDICAL LINK between blood pressure and sodium consumption. If you have high blood pressure, sodium can exacerbate the symptoms. If you don't have high blood pressure, SODIUM DOES NOT CAUSE IT. Sodium causing high blood pressure is a 50 year old theory that's been disproven by scientific study. Oh, and 1500 is the recommendation for people with high blood pressure, it's 2300 for everyone else.

    Thanks for trying to pretend that you had a clue as to what I was talking about, though. I appreciate it when people try and spread myths on my behalf.:grumble:
  • Food4Fuel
    Food4Fuel Posts: 37 Member
    High sodium will retain water which will show up on your scale. But more importantly, it is not good for your blood pressure.
    Sodium is only a problem if you have high blood pressure. If you don't have high blood pressure, sodium doesn't make a lick of difference. I regularly consume well over 3000mg of sodium per day, and my BP yesterday at the doctor's office was 112/73.

    Hmmmm that's interesting. My blood pressure has always been normal/low. I gave up ham when I started watching macros on MFP and found that ham always put me over. Good to know...

    I think what the person means is they don't have a problem..... yet. I don't think you will find a doctor to tell you that eating that much sodium is "good" for you. It just hasn't caused a problem yet.
    No. What I'm saying is that there is NO MEDICAL LINK between blood pressure and sodium consumption. If you have high blood pressure, sodium can exacerbate the symptoms. If you don't have high blood pressure, SODIUM DOES NOT CAUSE IT. Sodium causing high blood pressure is a 50 year old theory that's been disproven by scientific study. Oh, and 1500 is the recommendation for people with high blood pressure, it's 2300 for everyone else.

    Thanks for trying to pretend that you had a clue as to what I was talking about, though. I appreciate it when people try and spread myths on my behalf.:grumble:
    This is dangerous advice, one of the most prevalent symptoms of hypernatremia (high blood sodium levels) is in fact hypertension, and a daily sodium diet of greater than 2500 mg has been linked to a 9% greater risk in cardiovascular disease. Ignoring sodium levels is an bad idea and to say that the link between hypertension and hypernatremia has been "disproven" is a dramatic exaggeration. Often the first thing regulated in a patient with hypertension is sodium intake.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    High sodium will retain water which will show up on your scale. But more importantly, it is not good for your blood pressure.
    Sodium is only a problem if you have high blood pressure. If you don't have high blood pressure, sodium doesn't make a lick of difference. I regularly consume well over 3000mg of sodium per day, and my BP yesterday at the doctor's office was 112/73.

    Hmmmm that's interesting. My blood pressure has always been normal/low. I gave up ham when I started watching macros on MFP and found that ham always put me over. Good to know...

    I think what the person means is they don't have a problem..... yet. I don't think you will find a doctor to tell you that eating that much sodium is "good" for you. It just hasn't caused a problem yet.
    No. What I'm saying is that there is NO MEDICAL LINK between blood pressure and sodium consumption. If you have high blood pressure, sodium can exacerbate the symptoms. If you don't have high blood pressure, SODIUM DOES NOT CAUSE IT. Sodium causing high blood pressure is a 50 year old theory that's been disproven by scientific study. Oh, and 1500 is the recommendation for people with high blood pressure, it's 2300 for everyone else.

    Thanks for trying to pretend that you had a clue as to what I was talking about, though. I appreciate it when people try and spread myths on my behalf.:grumble:
    This is dangerous advice, one of the most prevalent symptoms of hypernatremia (high blood sodium levels) is in fact hypertension, and a daily sodium diet of greater than 2500 mg has been linked to a 9% greater risk in cardiovascular disease. Ignoring sodium levels is an bad idea and to say that the link between hypertension and hypernatremia has been "disproven" is a dramatic exaggeration. Often the first thing regulated in a patient with hypertension is sodium intake.
    Yes, because it causes a problem for someone who has hypertension, of course if someone develops hypertension they would regulate sodium levels, just like is someone is overweight they have to reduce calories in order to lose it. You don't see normal weight people going on diets to lose weight they haven't gained, do you? Or non-diabetics supplementing insulin and counting carbs? There is NO CAUSAL LINK between hypertension and sodium consumption.

    Oh, and for the record, hypernatremia is mostly caused by dehydration, not by consuming too much sodium. Dehydration causes thicker blood, which increases areterial pressure, as the heart has to work harder to move the thicker blood through the circulatory system. In other words, to avoid hypernatremia, stay hydrated.
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
    High sodium will retain water which will show up on your scale. But more importantly, it is not good for your blood pressure.
    Sodium is only a problem if you have high blood pressure. If you don't have high blood pressure, sodium doesn't make a lick of difference. I regularly consume well over 3000mg of sodium per day, and my BP yesterday at the doctor's office was 112/73.

    Agreed x 1000!!! I have lost over 300 lbs and have never tracked a single gram of sodium or sugar for that matter.... edited to say I too have no blood pressure issues to speak of..... Diabetes (yes type 2) but hypertension issues (a big N.O.).....
  • Food4Fuel
    Food4Fuel Posts: 37 Member
    That's certainly not what I said. But like everything else, they must be consumed in moderation. There is a difference between regulation and elimination. Also sodium is not the only electrolyte.
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