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MyFitnessPal Community

Sodium intake

txbandman

MFP is my first time ever to track my food. According to the reports, I am always WAY over on my sodium. Is everyone seeing this? Should I worry about it or even pay any attention to it at all? Besides, yesterday I'm sure I needed to replenish my sodium after a 72 minute run where I was sweating like a madman. (A big, stinky madman).
Anyhow, thoughts?

Replies

btoeps74

I struggled with sodium at first too. As you said, you do lose a lot sweating but I still try to stay under just to avoid high blood pressure. It really isn't that hard now to stay under. Just be more proactive reading labels when shopping. You can look at my diary for some examples. I do go over once in a while, but rarely.

bpwparents

Personally I have noticed that my weight goes up with higher sodium levels so I try to keep my numbers lower. As far as sweating and replenishing sodium, I think you just need to worry about replacing the water. Also, if your sodium is high you might be eating too much processed food, which I realize that we all sometimes do, but it's still not the healthiest way.

sandy_gee

I used be to a horrible sodium fiend. Salt on everything. MFP is helping me keep track way better, and I don't go past 1500mg anymore... Usually closer to 1000. Beyond retaining water, I'm not sure what happens with it, I just feel better knowing I'm not clogging myself with sodium.

luckyjuls

Sodium is the toughest component for me to stay under in. Gosh, it's in everything. Like someone else said, it's definitely a lot more prevalent in processed foods so even though you shouldn't get rid of any one thing while on MFP, it's best to be mindful of quantity.

rblee2010

It gets easier, but the key is to read labels and try to avoid things that are high in sodium. I like can green beans, so I went to the no salt added and had to make it my mine for it to taste good, but I did. I try to stay away from frozen dinner as much as possible because it is so much sodium in them. What I have found out is that there is sodium in everything and it is very had to watch it all the time, but if you just take a proactive approach to reading labels.

haymancm

I noticed the weight dropping when I lowered my sodium to under 1500 mg/day. Eating less processed foods makes it possible. Upping my potassium makes it possible too. As far as my weight loss goes, I pay more attention to the sodium than the calorie intake.

zyxst

I feel if you don't have medical issues such as high blood pressure that sodium affects, don't worry about it. I can say that being forced to keep sodium under 2300mg/day makes going out to eat/drink with friends annoying as hell.

sgrubby

You may notice that highly processed foods and fast food contain the highest sodium levels. If you prepare all or most of your own meals with whole ingredients you can more easily control your sodium.

BhanGoes

I have been focused on my sodium intake while working with my physician to regulate my blood pressure without medications. She suggested that ~2000mg of sodium is a good spot for an otherwise healthy adult (meaning you don't have hypertension, kidney disease, or something like that...).

Just drink water when you're thirsty and your kidneys will regulate the amount of sodium in your blood stream.

Can you make your food diary public so we all can take a gander at what might be causing you to go way over?

rblee2010

I to notice that when I ate things high in sodium my weight went up and down if I had low sodium, so I try to keep the sodium down. which is beneifical on both side keeping the weight down and keeping the blood pressure normal.

Beezil

Unless you have physical ailments that would require you to have a low sodium diet, you really don't need to worry about it much. I personally have many people in my family with blood pressure issues and diabetes, among many other health issues, so I try to keep mine under 2,500mg most of the time. However, I also try to keep it low because I don't like being bloated with water weight, even if it is temporary, and I don't like the way I feel when I have too much salt. Keeping potassium / sodium balanced really makes a difference in how I feel day to day. No salt is bad though, you really do need some to help keep fluids balanced in the body. Just try to keep it around 2,500mg and I'm sure you'll be fine. Going over a bit isn't a big deal, like I said, unless you have health problems that are exacerbated by it.

missADS1981

the less packaged and processed foods you eat the lower your sodium will be. fresh foods are key. you would never realize how much salt is in some foods until you put them in MFP. switch to Mrs. Dash

txbandman

Unless you have physical ailments that would require you to have a low sodium diet, you really don't need to worry about it much. I personally have many people in my family with blood pressure issues and diabetes, among many other health issues, so I try to keep mine under 2,500mg most of the time. However, I also try to keep it low because I don't like being bloated with water weight, even if it is temporary, and I don't like the way I feel when I have too much salt. Keeping potassium / sodium balanced really makes a difference in how I feel day to day. No salt is bad though, you really do need some to help keep fluids balanced in the body. Just try to keep it around 2,500mg and I'm sure you'll be fine. Going over a bit isn't a big deal, like I said, unless you have health problems that are exacerbated by it.

Kinda what I was thinking - my typical BP is about 115/68, so the sodium that I evidently am taking in every day doesn't seem to be causing me any huge health problems. I mean, for crying out loud, yesterday's lunch (Olive Garden Soup & Salad) was more than my total target sodium for the day. I suppose that I do need to educate myself about foods that have high sodium (like lunch - I was certainly unaware of that), and like many of you said, stay away from the processed foods.
I really appreciate everyone's input on this. Just kinda freaked me out after that happened two days in a row of logging my food.
BTW, any of you, feel free to add me as a friend - I appreciate being able to tap in on your experiences!