Sodium- come on people, scare me!

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  • notthatthis
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    If you can, listen to this programme on the BBC i-player - Inside medicine broadcast on 16 th January. It is about the most extensive study of salt (sodium) yet achieved and their observations. It has taken into account nearly every other piece of research on salt and even names who the sponsors of the previous experiments that give favourable results to not control salt usage - especially in food production. Bit like the tobacco and alcohol industry publishing glowing reports on their vested interests.

    remember, on the whole experiments conclude with observations and then they ask if other people will run the experiment (peer review) in order to confirm the findings. Papers are just that untill they are peer reviewed and accepted as "such as we know at this time, then this is the gold standard"
  • notthatthis
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  • alexbusnello
    alexbusnello Posts: 1,010 Member
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    i don't want to be a jerk ... but ...

    http://lmgtfy.com/?q=risks+of+high+sodium+diet

    love this thing hahah
  • athenaheim
    athenaheim Posts: 496 Member
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    BOOOOOOOOO! Yu get scared lol. If you have to much sodium beside cholestrol you will retain more water which will probably dissapoint you on the scale.

    I have found this to be true. I have realized just how much sodium I have been eating and now I am trying to watch it.
  • alifer
    alifer Posts: 387 Member
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    Is there any danger of not consuming enough sodium? What level would that be?

    Your body needs sodium. Not everyone with low sodium has a disorder as one poster commented. I for one have spent my whole adult life buying low sodium options for most of my food, and I don't like to add salt to my food. After having routine bloodwork done a couple of years ago my doctor said I needed to eat more salt. She told me that I need more especially if I'm going to be working out and sweating.
  • LiftAllThePizzas
    LiftAllThePizzas Posts: 17,857 Member
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    i don't want to be a jerk ... but ...

    http://lmgtfy.com/?q=risks+of+high+sodium+diet

    love this thing hahah
    Except they are just bloggers and newspaper articles repeating what they've heard. Where are the studies to back up the claims being made?
  • JessieTangerine
    JessieTangerine Posts: 91 Member
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    Bump.

    I too like salt. Not sure how you can cook delicious foods without it.
  • notthatthis
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    Bump.

    I too like salt. Not sure how you can cook delicious foods without it.

    Preparing your own food and adding salt is very unlikely to cause problems. It is the food industry and their need to make crap palatable that is the problem. Listen to the podcast I linked to about 5 posts previous.
  • melinda200208
    melinda200208 Posts: 525 Member
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    Bump! Sodium is my enemy
  • FitBeto
    FitBeto Posts: 2,121 Member
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  • dianacannon89
    dianacannon89 Posts: 235 Member
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    i don't want to be a jerk ... but ...

    http://lmgtfy.com/?q=risks+of+high+sodium+diet
    bahahahahahaa How did you do that!!!?
  • Bakerchk
    Bakerchk Posts: 424 Member
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    Be scared... be very scared...

    I cut my sodium WAY down once I realized how much I was consuming. The culprit, deli sandwiches. A Subway sandwich contains around 1,200mg of sodium. SHESH! I try for 1,500-2,000mg a day.
  • pplf2001
    pplf2001 Posts: 133 Member
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    Is there any danger of not consuming enough sodium? What level would that be?

    Yes, if you have low blood pressure (like me) or other issues causing you not to retain salt properly, cutting out salt can be a real issue. If you are drinking a lot of water or sweating a lot, you should probably up things from the RDA to account for salt loss.

    Salt is not bad in and of itself, it is essential to proper body functioning. If you aren't eating prepared foods, sugary drinks, or processed items, you probably don't need to worry about sodium. Not having enough sodium can cause dizziness, low blood pressure, digestive issues and more.

    I have to talk far more than the RDA of salt every day in order to keep from being dizzy and to keep functioning properly. I think the mantra of "sodium is bad" is misleading for people eating a healthy diet.
  • dmpizza
    dmpizza Posts: 3,321 Member
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    When it comes to sodium levels, everyone is different.

    Some people have to worry about blood pressure.

    Other people(like me) have to worry about kidney stones.

    Many people here, try to keep it low to avoid bloating.
  • pplf2001
    pplf2001 Posts: 133 Member
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    Here's information on why salt is essential and what happens if you don't have enough salt:

    http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/minerals/sodium/
  • TrailRunner61
    TrailRunner61 Posts: 2,505 Member
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    You really should be concerned.
    In Nov of 2010, I had a small stroke due to high blood pressure at the age of 49! Luckily, I recovered except for some numbness by my left ear.
    I always dumped a ton of salt on my food, even already salted food, because I thought, wellll I have no reason not too, I don't have high blood pressure, I loved the taste, blah blah blah. I also thought that it would never happen to me..Well now I'm older and have horrible high blood pressure. At one point it was 190/109. I am on meds but was able to drop one after losing 40lbs. I'm still maxed out on one and will probably have to take it for life. I HATE that I have to take pills and should be happy that it is controlled with them but I wish I could go back..
    Since then, I still go over on sodium at times but I cut wayyy back and now I think that most everything is wayyyy too salty. Your taste buds get used to it so you keep pouring it on. The only way to reduce it in your diet is to prepare nearly all of your food. Prepared, canned, fast food and some frozen foods have a ton of sodium added to them. Our country is addicted to salt!
    I'll also add that my Dr. told me that my HBP was probably from my years of too much salt and heredity, although no one else in my family has HBP. Excessive sodium strains your kidneys and damages the walls of your blood vessels. Once they are damaged, there is no way to repair them. The meds I take are to relax the arteries and to lower my heartrate so the pressure in my vascular system is lessened.
    The amount of sodium one should not exceed daily is now 1500mgs.
    If I could only go back.. waaaaaaaaa
    Dump your salt shaker (not on your food!), prepare your own food with other flavors & without salt, order food at restaurants without it, rinse canned vegetables with water before using. I've found that most foods actually taste better on their own.
  • rose313
    rose313 Posts: 1,146 Member
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    It is so easy to go over on sodium. I hate table salt and prefer everything cooked without salt, and I STILL manage to eat 2500 grams of sodium a day. It is absolutely ridiculous especially considering I eat pretty healthy. I do love soup though so that's my weakness, and soup has tons of sodium.
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
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    Never track a single gram of sodium and have lost 311 lbs. I drink 125 oz. of water a day and have perfect blood pressure...... Best of Luck.....
  • VorJoshigan
    VorJoshigan Posts: 1,106 Member
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    I don't want to freak you out too much, but I probably average 6000 mg of sodium per day, I'm 83 lbs overweight, and I consistently come in at 100/70 BP.

    In other words, all the hullabaloo about sodium is WAY overdone for a lot of people. Salt is delicious and you NEED it, so unless your doctor says to stay away, be free.
  • tallieterp
    tallieterp Posts: 257 Member
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    I joined a research study in 2008 that looked at the effects of cutting sodium intake... i started at over 8000mg a day.... i cut it to 2000mg a day and lost 40 lbs.... when the research study was over I threw everything I had learned out the window went back to eating out a lot, eating processed foods etc... gained all the weight back and more and my rare migraines started happening every month or two...

    since December I've gone back to really focusing on my sodium intake which has also cut my calories big time (clean food tends to be lower cal) and I've dropped a little over 10 lbs in a month and have not had a migraine fully onset....

    its probably a bigger thing than we think