Do you watch your Sodium intake?
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JVCB
Posts: 73 Member
I was reading this article from the Centers for Disease Control, and was astounded to see that MFP was suggesting that my daily sodium intake be ONE THOUSAND milligrams OVER the recommended allowance for a person my age (the CDC recommends 1500mg). I thought others might be interested in reading the article too:
Article Link: http://www.cdc.gov/features/dssodium/
snip> The Institute of Medicine recommends 1500 mg of sodium per day as the Adequate Intake level for most Americans and advises everyone to limit sodium intake to less than 2300 mg per day, the Tolerable Upper Limit. Current dietary guidelines for Americans recommend that adults in general should consume no more than 2,300 mg of sodium per day. At the same time, consume potassium-rich foods, such as fruits and vegetables. However, if you are in the following population groups, you should consume no more than 1,500 mg of sodium per day and meet the potassium recommendation (4,700 mg/day) with food.
You are 51 years of age or older. <snip
Also this: "The vast majority of the sodium consumed is from processed and restaurant foods; only a small portion is used in cooking or added at the table".
Article Link: http://www.cdc.gov/features/dssodium/
snip> The Institute of Medicine recommends 1500 mg of sodium per day as the Adequate Intake level for most Americans and advises everyone to limit sodium intake to less than 2300 mg per day, the Tolerable Upper Limit. Current dietary guidelines for Americans recommend that adults in general should consume no more than 2,300 mg of sodium per day. At the same time, consume potassium-rich foods, such as fruits and vegetables. However, if you are in the following population groups, you should consume no more than 1,500 mg of sodium per day and meet the potassium recommendation (4,700 mg/day) with food.
You are 51 years of age or older. <snip
Also this: "The vast majority of the sodium consumed is from processed and restaurant foods; only a small portion is used in cooking or added at the table".
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I've been watching my sodium because I thought it was related to high blood pressure, and mine was moderately high, so I cut way back. When I went for a blood test recently, the results came back that I my sodium levels were too low. I have switched to Kosher salt because it is lower in sodium that regular salt. I rarely cook with salt and we eat very little processed or canned food. We do eat out a lot, however. My blood pressure is not borderline anymore and I'm hoping to get off the BP meds later this year.
I don't always go by MFP numbers, except for calories. In that way it helps a lot. Also, I think there is a way to change MFP recommendations for yourself and I would suggest you contact MFP. Or you can just monitor you totals yourself and no go by MFP numbers.
Thanks for the info and good luck.0 -
Thanks... you're absolutely right, everyone must take any Article (even by the CDC) with a 'grain of salt' (pun intended)... and factor in their own specific health issues. My DH has high BP, so we've cut down on salt a lot over the past years...and find that most food in restaurants is soooo salty we can barely choke it down!
And, yes, you can change your own Daily Goal for Sodium by manually overriding the MFP defaults in the "Goals" section. I've changed mine to 1500 and moved it to the front page Tracker, just so I can keep an eye on it. I'd like to at least keep it below 1800-2000 mg on most days... although I reserve the right to eat Chinese from time to time! :bigsmile:0 -
I watch my sodium levels. Right now I am using the MFP setting of 2500. In the last 2 months I've been able to get my blood pressure to drop into the normal range. My doctor was threatening me with meds and I don't want to take them. I think she will be happy when I see her next month with my progress.0
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The only reason I was watching it because as we all know, it causes weight gain! Phooy on that! Amazingly I have low blood pressure usually or right on target. How I managed that is beyond me. I know that exercising does help with so much of this stuff. I lowered my blood sugar levels, my bad cholesterol and raised my good cholesterol. So for now, I am a happy camper.
@lintino, congrats on lowering you BP, good going. Feels good, doesn't it? Keep up that good job.0 -
That was one of the first things I did with the MFP settings was adjust the level of sodium to 1500 mg. I also watch cholesterol and calcium.
It's very difficult to stay under 1500 mg of sodium, but it's something to aim for.
Sodium really is a killer0 -
When I was teaching my blood pressure was always high - and I was told to watch my sodium intake, even though I used very little salt when I was cookng and never salted my food! Now that I am retired, my BP is normal even though I am way overweight! I think stress has more to do with BP than salt - at least for me!:bigsmile:0
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That was one of the first things I did with the MFP settings was adjust the level of sodium to 1500 mg. I also watch cholesterol and calcium.
It's very difficult to stay under 1500 mg of sodium, but it's something to aim for.
Sodium really is a killer
I reset mine as well. I can't stay under the 1500 if I use any processed foods. Fresh vege, make your own bread, limit milk.0 -
Since tracking my sodium levels, I've been able to lower them quite a bit. First thing I noticed was my ankles not being puffy at night. :happy:
Was this due to just the reduced sodium intake, or a combination of diet / exercise / weight loss? Don't care, I'm just enjoying the end results. :bigsmile:0 -
@Wooken -- that's right, just enjoy the results.
I'm enjoying the results of my exercise by fitting into a pant suit that hasn't fit me in probably 4 years. I know it's not the scale because if I remember correctly I weighed about what I do now when it stopped fitting. It has to be the exercise. And it's very encouraging.
Got to walk outside today for the first time this year -- just wonderful! Can't wait to get the bikes out as the weather warms up. Maybe Spring will make it after all. :happy:0
