sodium, again

Dfracassa

I have recently begun noticing how much sodium I take in every day, and while it's not the same each time, the numbers do seem really high, to me. I know we need salt throughout our days, and I know some people are more sensitive to it than others (I don't know where I fall in those two groups, honestly, but I feel fine and medically I am average), but I also know that drinking a lot of water, every day, helps to flush this stuff from the system. I drink a LOT of water each day (10-12 cups, 8oz. each) and I exercise regularly. Am I doing all right with my salt intake? Am I average, anyway, in your opinions?

Dfracassa

Bump for myself, because I'd like to know what people think! Sorta.

c_faulkenburg

I actually just posted something similar to this. Anyway, sodium is in a lot of processed foods. A lot of sodium. I imagine that it helps keep food fresher and more shelf stable. I looked at your profile and it says something about wanting to have kids in a couple of years, my sodium intake made me retain a ton of water, and I had Cankles. If you work on eating more foods from scratch rather than relying on prepackaged foods (like making your own soup rather than using a canned version) you will eliminate a lot of the excess from your diet. Sodium is necessary for your cells to complete certain chemical processes, but modern Americans eat WAYYY too much of it.

Dfracassa

I actually just posted something similar to this. Anyway, sodium is in a lot of processed foods. A lot of sodium. I imagine that it helps keep food fresher and more shelf stable. I looked at your profile and it says something about wanting to have kids in a couple of years, my sodium intake made me retain a ton of water, and I had Cankles. If you work on eating more foods from scratch rather than relying on prepackaged foods (like making your own soup rather than using a canned version) you will eliminate a lot of the excess from your diet. Sodium is necessary for your cells to complete certain chemical processes, but modern Americans eat WAYYY too much of it.

Thank you! You're absolutely right. I try to eat (try is the key word) more whole foods, or at least purchase the store-bought versions, but sometimes my worse nature wins out.

XXXMinnieXXX

Under 3000 is the guidelines. This last week you only went over once so I reckon your fine...That's if your logging everything. Some very low days in there at 6-800 calories!

Zara :-)

themedalist

Reactions to sodium vary from person to person. I retain fluids very easily from too much sodium so I try and stay within the American Heart Association's recommendation of 1500 mg/sodium per day or less. It really helps keep my blood pressure in the normal range.

In addition to limiting sodium, you might focus on boosting your intake of potassium. That's easy to do when you focus on eating foods from scratch, especially lots of fruits and veggies. Think of potassium as the "anti-sodium" as it keeps sodium in check and helps rid the body of extra water weight. You might track both sodium and potassium in your food log.

White potatoes and sweet potatoes are great sources of potassium. I eat them almost daily.

For a good listing of potassium rich foods see:

http://potassiumrichfoods.com/potassium-rich-foods-list/

You should aim for about 3500 mg of potassium a day. And please be aware that MANY foods in the MFP database will list potassium as zero, even though the food has potassium in it. Frustrating, but a reality since potassium isn't required in nutritional labels.

Good luck and good for you for tracking sodium!

Dfracassa

Reactions to sodium vary from person to person. I retain fluids very easily from too much sodium so I try and stay within the American Heart Association's recommendation of 1500 mg/sodium per day or less. It really helps keep my blood pressure in the normal range.

In addition to limiting sodium, you might focus on boosting your intake of potassium. That's easy to do when you focus on eating foods from scratch, especially lots of fruits and veggies. Think of potassium as the "anti-sodium" as it keeps sodium in check and helps rid the body of extra water weight. You might track both sodium and potassium in your food log.

White potatoes and sweet potatoes are great sources of potassium. I eat them almost daily.

For a good listing of potassium rich foods see:

http://potassiumrichfoods.com/potassium-rich-foods-list/

You should aim for about 3500 mg of potassium a day. And please be aware that MANY foods in the MFP database will list potassium as zero, even though the food has potassium in it. Frustrating, but a reality since potassium isn't required in nutritional labels.

Good luck and good for you for tracking sodium!

Thank you thank you! For some reason it never really occurred to me to track it until recently. I take this birth control pill that is said to raise potassium levels, though, so there's no need for me to take in any more than what I get, I don't think. This pill also is responsible for the body holding on to higher levels of potassium, so I know it's always there.

I appreciate everyone's input! Thank you all!

Dfracassa

Under 3000 is the guidelines. This last week you only went over once so I reckon your fine...That's if your logging everything. Some very low days in there at 6-800 calories!

Zara :-)

Thank you, Zara!