We are pleased to announce that on March 4, 2025, an updated Rich Text Editor will be introduced in the MyFitnessPal Community. To learn more about the upcoming changes, please click here. We look forward to sharing this new feature with you!

To much salt

KristyMarie88
KristyMarie88 Posts: 10
edited January 20 in Food and Nutrition
Ive been trying to stay away from alot of salt but its so hard to find stuff with out alot of sodium. I dont put table salt on anything anymore, but everything else seems to still have it. Any suggestions on food, tips etc about cutting back on salt?

Replies

  • pghlulu
    pghlulu Posts: 42
    Mrs. Dash is a good seasoning to use in place of salt - it has zero sodium and lots of flavor.

    A lot of fast food/restaurant food is high sodium. You might want to prepare as much of your food as you can yourself, to stay low on your daily amount.

    And drink lots of water to keep it flushed out. :smile:
  • willdob3
    willdob3 Posts: 640 Member
    Just avoid processed foods.
  • KristyMarie88
    KristyMarie88 Posts: 10
    Thanks for the responds.. I do stay away from eating out and i check all the labels to what im eating. I drink more than 8 glasses of water a day also. Ill have to try the Ms. Dash it sounds like a good alternative. and ill have to stay away from processed food as much as i can. Does salt make you bloat?
  • pghlulu
    pghlulu Posts: 42
    Yes, too much salt can make you retain water and bloat. If I go overboard on the salt, I get "puffy" so to speak. As long as you keep up the water, it will help with any bloating or prevent it.
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    Thanks for the responds.. I do stay away from eating out and i check all the labels to what im eating. I drink more than 8 glasses of water a day also. Ill have to try the Ms. Dash it sounds like a good alternative. and ill have to stay away from processed food as much as i can. Does salt make you bloat?

    Eat stuff that doesn't have labels, like fresh veggies.
  • shmoony
    shmoony Posts: 237 Member
    I understand completely. I never eat out, eat very little "processed" foods, and never add table salt to my food, yet my sodium is always high. I don't care about bloating becasue that's temporary and superficial, but I am more concerned with the long term health risks. There is sodium in almost every "healthy" food from eggbeaters, to whole wheat wraps, to lean poultry. to low fat dairy. It is very hard to eat over 2000 calories a day of low fat meals without going over my sodium unless I elimimate these things.
  • 1223345
    1223345 Posts: 1,386 Member
    Stay away from processed food.
  • andrewjuu
    andrewjuu Posts: 76 Member
    Salt is as or more prevalent in the typical american diet as just about anything. As others have mentioned, stay away from processed food. If you buy canned soup, for example, get the "Low Sodium" variety. Better yet, make your own soup using low sodium chicken broth as a base. Don't buy salted snacks such as potato chips or nuts. If you get the urge to eat chips or salty snacks, get the unsalted variety. For example, raw nuts are better than roasted & salted nuts. Never salt your food w/o tasting it first. 9 times out of 10, it is already salty enough. Once you wean yourself off the salt fix, you find you really don't miss it.
  • willdob3
    willdob3 Posts: 640 Member
    Thanks for the responds.. I do stay away from eating out and i check all the labels to what im eating. I drink more than 8 glasses of water a day also. Ill have to try the Ms. Dash it sounds like a good alternative. and ill have to stay away from processed food as much as i can. Does salt make you bloat?

    Eat stuff that doesn't have labels, like fresh veggies.

    I agree. I stick to whole foods like chicken & veggies & I never come close to going over on my sodium.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,120 Member
    Sodium is really only an issue if you have high blood pressure or are sensitive to it. Yes it causes the body to retain more water, but that's not harmful to the body. If it were, then doing resistance training should be too since it also causes water retention. The issue with most is that sodium affects scale weight and lots of people rely on that to see progress.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • barebon
    barebon Posts: 80 Member
    Just eat anything you can pluck pick Shoot or find in nature. I don't do canned veggies I go for raw or frozen. Search clean foods and there is a huge list and a ton of good recipes. I hardly ever cook now which is nice too. You can look at my foods I stay well under my salt intake most days.
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    Sodium has other effects on heath as well. It's gaining a new focus in the field of immunology, and not in a good way. A recent paper:

    Nature. 2013 Mar 6. doi: 10.1038/nature11868. [Epub ahead of print]
    Sodium chloride drives autoimmune disease by the induction of pathogenic TH17 cells.
    Kleinewietfeld M, Manzel A, Titze J, Kvakan H, Yosef N, Linker RA, Muller DN, Hafler DA.
  • KristyMarie88
    KristyMarie88 Posts: 10
    I'll keep all of this in mind, seems like veggies and fruit is the way to go. I'll def be looking up a few things. thank youu!
  • melissatamburo11
    melissatamburo11 Posts: 1
    my problems sugars!! I swear all the good fruits are high in sugars but good in everthing else..
  • KristyMarie88
    KristyMarie88 Posts: 10
    I heard the sugars in fruit are okay cause its not the "fake" sugar
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,120 Member
    Sodium has other effects on heath as well. It's gaining a new focus in the field of immunology, and not in a good way. A recent paper:

    Nature. 2013 Mar 6. doi: 10.1038/nature11868. [Epub ahead of print]
    Sodium chloride drives autoimmune disease by the induction of pathogenic TH17 cells.
    Kleinewietfeld M, Manzel A, Titze J, Kvakan H, Yosef N, Linker RA, Muller DN, Hafler DA.
    So somehow Asian cultures have avoided this for millenias?

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
This discussion has been closed.

Categories