Sodium ALERT

graypink0130

:flowerforyou: I notice a lot of people aren't taking into consideration the amount of sodium in there foods...You would be surprised the effect sodium has on the way you look and feel.

I was eating 4,000mg of sodium a day when I calculated what I ate before I started this diet and nooowww that my sodium is under control you wouldn't believe how much skinnier I feel and look. My abdomen was bloated until I cut back on my sodium.

You want to be careful though not to cut back too much, you definately need it in your diet. But I truely believe you should watch your sodium intake just as much as your calories....you will notice a difference in how you feel and look!!:glasses:

graypink0130

:flowerforyou: I notice a lot of people aren't taking into consideration the amount of sodium in there foods...You would be surprised the effect sodium has on the way you look and feel.

I was eating 4,000mg of sodium a day when I calculated what I ate before I started this diet and nooowww that my sodium is under control you wouldn't believe how much skinnier I feel and look. My abdomen was bloated until I cut back on my sodium.

You want to be careful though not to cut back too much, you definately need it in your diet. But I truely believe you should watch your sodium intake just as much as your calories....you will notice a difference in how you feel and look!!:glasses:

B TOWN

hmmm... never really thought much about sodium... what foods are high in sodium? i'm i right in thinking mostly salty foods??

curvylady

How much sodium is recommended?

Karen.

1347debba

Thanks for the sodium alert , I checked and I was out of control on sodium.
SODIUM , is in almost everything, coffee , diet drinks , breads, cereals , it isn't just salty foods.Read the labels on everything. I too was shocked at all the diet things I consumed and then totaled up that sodium was keeping me from dropping weight.

MontanaGirl

A healthy person should get no more than about 2,300 mg of sodium per day, 1,500 if you have hypertension. Yes, sodium is in everything. Bread, cereal, pickles (I love pickled jalapeno slices but they have like 700 mg of sodium per serving!) processed meats, cheese, soups. Excess sodium can cause a 3 - 5 lb weight gain "overnight". Good news though - it goes away just as fast if it was a one time discretion. If you generally keep on track and go overboard - eat lots of fresh fruits and veggies and drink lots of water and that will help flush it out within a couple of days. Be especially careful a day or so before weighing in!!

banks1850

Also, prepackaged meals like WW meals and Healthy Choice...etc always have an abundant amount of sodium in them (usually between 600 and 1200 mg)

rayneenie

This is so true I was on the Michael Thurman 6 week Miracle diet a few years ago. My plan said that if i picked up a food (anything processed) that had more than 10mg of sodium per serving I could not have it. I still got the sodium my body needed I got it naturally, but was not adding the extra with processed foods. I droped 50lbs of water weight in 5 days. Now if I could just get my self back to no processed foods now.

may_marie

canned soup .. i've stop buying it because of that. i make my own now ( i know not everybody had time)
ho and i loveee feta cheese.. but its just insane salt in there.
but banks is right . essential everything prepackaged is high in salt, hence an other reason to home cook everything.

here's a couple interesting fact i found online

The US sodium RDA of less than 2,400 mg is higher than the UK Recommended Nutritional Intake (RNI) whose upper limit for sodium is 1,600 mg.

The National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences recommends an approximate daily range of 1,100 to 3,300 mg of sodium for adults.

The American Heart Association recommends that for every 1,000 Calories of food consumed, the sodium intake should be 1,000 mg and should not exceed the 3,000 mg limit.

The average intake in the United States is between 4,000 and 5,000 mg of sodium per day.

5% added while cooking, 6% added while eating, 12% from natural source, 77% from processed and prepared foods

salt is an important one for me, i watch is closely.
may

banks1850

This is so true I was on the Michael Thurman 6 week Miracle diet a few years ago. My plan said that if i picked up a food (anything processed) that had more than 10mg of sodium per serving I could not have it. I still got the sodium my body needed I got it naturally, but was not adding the extra with processed foods. I droped 50lbs of water weight in 5 days. Now if I could just get my self back to no processed foods now.

Did you say 50 lbs of water weight? Wow, that is an incredible amount!

watch48win

I just changed my food options to include sodium intake.

i'm going to keep my food options the same, just to see how much sodium I'm taking in each day.

I have a feeling that it is more than the daily recommentation

watch48win

one more question? Does MFP calculate sodium in grams? anyone?

banks1850

one more question? Does MFP calculate sodium in grams? anyone?

Milligrams I believe.

sindyb9

This week I really looked at everything, I did not know to keep track of anything else but calories (da). But now I feel better because I realized my sodium in take was way over what it should be and I have adjusted my foods and I feel less bloated as well especially after meals. This life style change is a learning one for me. :laugh:

arolsma

Thanks for the ALERT. Changed my food diary to watch my sodium intake.

graypink0130

Bump:):flowerforyou: This is something I think could help a lot of people...so I am bumping it up:):smile: :glasses:

Smilineyes

I too just changed mine to watch for sodium intake. Thanks for the alert!

MontanaGirl

Also - I thought of this later - canned tomato products tend to be high in sodium. Though the tomato is really good for you and the heat from processing releases more lycopene (sp?) so :ohwell: But if you use them you need to take into account the extra sodium.

rayneenie

This is so true I was on the Michael Thurman 6 week Miracle diet a few years ago. My plan said that if i picked up a food (anything processed) that had more than 10mg of sodium per serving I could not have it. I still got the sodium my body needed I got it naturally, but was not adding the extra with processed foods. I droped 50lbs of water weight in 5 days. Now if I could just get my self back to no processed foods now.

Did you say 50 lbs of water weight? Wow, that is an incredible amount!

Yeah the doctor was all for it though. My clothes were falling off. As soon As I went off the diet and started eating processed foods again I gained it all back.

TamTastic

It does take some work to eat less sodium but just pay attention to nutrition labels and you will quickly learn. For example, the 0 point soups by progresso ARE low in calories BUT super high in sodium! I try to keep my intake at less than 2400 mg.

Pom_love_2

Yikes!!!!!! I changed up my nutrition info on my food diary and went back a couple of days to look at my sodium intake....:sick:

THANKS for the heads up ALERT!

Waaaaay:noway: too much sodium in my foods. I absolutely have to start cooking from scratch again.:grumble:

watch48win

I didn't know that it would change for each day, so I went back and checked my sodium intake. Let's just say I was all over the place.

some days WAY over, some days WAY under, and some days right on the money...Hum..investigation will ensue... At least I'm not WAY over everyday....

Soniabruja

I have to say that I love salt!!!
I always tell my self : don't put salt on the table...the food taste delicious with out the salt!! but always use a BIT more...:devil:

But, from tomorrow I'm going to start a new goal: Use half of the salt or less in my cooking!!
WHO IS WITH ME?
I don't use salt for the kids food, so I could do the same for me!! and start appreciate food again in it natural way...

From tomorrow guys....Let me know if you do the same.....

Good luck with that
Sonia

MsLadybug

I have hypertension, so i have to watch salt. You can buy a lot of reduced salt or no salt added tomato products in cans. There are also reduced salt or no salt added beans, if you don't have time to cook your own from dry.

Also, watch out for sodium in bread. There is tons. I have switched to a low salt whole wheat bread which only has 70mg per two slices rather than the normal range of 270-330mg for regular bread. (If you are in Australia, this is Moore's specialty breads low salt wholemeal)

Pom_love_2

I have hypertension, so i have to watch salt. You can buy a lot of reduced salt or no salt added tomato products in cans. There are also reduced salt or no salt added beans, if you don't have time to cook your own from dry.

Also, watch out for sodium in bread. There is tons. I have switched to a low salt whole wheat bread which only has 70mg per two slices rather than the normal range of 270-330mg for regular bread. (If you are in Australia, this is Moore's specialty breads low salt wholemeal)

Do you find this type of bread at a health food store? I have never seen low sodium bread here (in the USA) in the regular supermarkets, in fact I didn't know there was such a bread! :noway:

MsLadybug

Do you find this type of bread at a health food store? I have never seen low sodium bread here (in the USA) in the regular supermarkets, in fact I didn't know there was such a bread! :noway:

No, I bought in a regular grocery stores (Woolworths and Franklins) in Australia. I think its domestically made.

lizard9800

There are also salt substitutes that you can buy to reduce your sodium even more.

Soniabruja

I was just in town, and I got 'Japanese Organic Hatcho Miso'.
(unpasteurized fermented soya bean puree)
I will use it instead of salt to enrich the flavor of soups, stews, beans, sauces.....

Pom_love_2

This is copy and pasted from the Campbell's website:
(Quote) Why the concern about sodium (salt)?
Increased sodium in the diet has been associated with an increase in blood pressure. This association varies by age, gender, race, and family history. The latest Dietary Guidelines recommend keeping sodium intakes to less than 2,300 milligrams per day, which is about one teaspoon. Individuals with high blood pressure, blacks, and middle-aged and older adults are advised to consume no more than 1,500 milligrams of sodium a day. For more information on this guideline, visit the Dietary Guidelines .

Other dietary factors can affect blood pressure. These include nutrients found in vegetables and fruits like potassium, magnesium, and fiber. Lifestyle factors, like smoking cessation, have been shown to moderate blood pressure. The recommendation for potassium intake for Americans has been recently increased from 3,500 to 4,700 milligrams per day to help combat high blood pressure among Americans. (Unquote)

Yet even their low sodium soups contain 480mg per 1 cup serving prepared. (that doesn't include the 25% less sodium, they have 680mg per 1/2 cup condensed). Nutritional values are sad as well.

The amazing thing to me is, the products endorsed byt he American Heart Association for heart health, do NOT address the sodium content of those foods. Many have almost 1,000mg per 1 cup serving (soup, which happens to have 2 servings per can, even the ready to eat soups). You'd think seeing a label with an endorsement for heart healthy food would also be low sodium, not so!

I'm so glad this was brought up, thank you again graypink0130 :flowerforyou: , I suspect this may be why many times after I eat I feel my heart pounding so hard. This was especially noticeable after chinese food, even wonton soup. (I tried ordering just the wontons as take out, and used low sodium chicken broth for the liquid, and I didn't experience the pounding in my chest so I wonder if the broth made the difference) My doctor never said anything about watching salt intake, but I'm on 2 different types of blood pressure medications...can't believe this wasn't mentioned. She only said lose weight and exercise more.

aslavich

Grrr... just added sodium to my food profile. Just after lunch and I'm already 359 mg's over the limit!!! What am I going to do the rest of the day???

fruit, veggies!!! Water!!!

:noway: Angela

Soniabruja

How do you add sodium in to your profile????:noway:
And how do you know how much are you taking???