TOO MUCH SODIUM!!

Options
TooFine4MFP
TooFine4MFP Posts: 134 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Everyday I post my food diary, I notice I am go WAY over on Sodium, like over 1000mg too much! So I looked at my foods, and I realize anything frozen is going to have alot of sodium. I eat frozen dinners for lunch because its quick and easy. I see that my turkey bacon and lunch meats are high in sodium. What are some good lower sodium alternatives I can choose, or is there a food list of low sodium foods on the Web?:wink:

Replies

  • abricklin
    abricklin Posts: 156 Member
    Options
    I think all frozen/prepackaged foods will be high in sodium because salt helps preserve in addition to flavor the low fat meals. Can you make your own on weekends or evenings for a few days. You can do pasta with meat sauce, homemade macncheese, chicken with rice and veggies, etc. Basically anything in those little meals you can prepare, portion out, and bring with you.

    Low sodium = sticking to mostly clean, wholesame fresh foods and whole grains, not things from cans, pouches and trays.
    Make sure to drink more than 8 cups of water on the days that you do go over your sodium to help flush it out but the ideal solution is altering food choices to lower the sodium.

    Some days I am over too, but thats because we keep kosher and kosher meat is soaked in salt water first :(
  • Clew
    Clew Posts: 910 Member
    Options
    I came to the same realization about a month ago, lady. I was averaging 4000mg of sodium a day. YIKES! I cut that in half and lost 4 pounds in 5 days. WOOT! It definitely makes a difference.

    Pretty much everything pre-made like a frozen dinner, canned soup and even spaghetti sauce is loaded. I started just preparing my own food when I could and that helped a lot. There are several low sodium cooking sites out there - so if you like (or at least don't mind) to cook, you can make batches of stuff in your own kitchen that's WAY lower. I found a marinara recipe that was only about 40mg per serving. Much better than the 450mg or so serving from a jar I was getting!

    I still eat SOME processed stuff - it's hard not to when you work and have family and all that - but it sure did help! Good luck!
  • RachSuzanne
    RachSuzanne Posts: 74 Member
    Options
    I use left overs from the previous night's dinner for lunch. I am very lucky, I work close enough to come home for dinner, but most of this you could take in a cooler or drop off in the fridge if there is one at work.

    Also, I keep ingredients that I can slap together in no time. Black beans, diced tomatoes (del monte Zesty), fat free sour cream and low fat cheese over a bed of lettuce and ta-da...mexican salad. Then the next day I use some of the same ingredients but instead I'll have it in a tortilla or over tortilla chips. It depends on how much variation you really need to keep on track.
  • vwalczak
    vwalczak Posts: 62 Member
    Options
    How do you track sodium on your MFP food diary? Mine just does Calories, carbs, fat & Protein, but I've always thought it should do sodium b/c it's nearly an epidemic that we eat too much salt in this country! I read an article a few months ago in the Nutrition Action Health Letter about sodium, and they basically said we need governmental legislation to change how much sodium is in foods b/c it's so common it's almost impossible to avoid!
  • Tashia_HH
    Tashia_HH Posts: 99 Member
    Options
    The only way around low sodium is to cook the food yourself. Prepackaged foods are filled with sodium, as someone else said, so try to make as much food at home as possible and that should help.
  • jojospaghettio
    jojospaghettio Posts: 62 Member
    Options
    vwalczak, Go to the food tab and click settings. You can then add sodium (or any other nutrients you like) to keep track of in your food diary.
  • rockinright
    rockinright Posts: 241
    Options
    How do you track sodium on your MFP food diary? Mine just does Calories, carbs, fat & Protein, but I've always thought it should do sodium b/c it's nearly an epidemic that we eat too much salt in this country! I read an article a few months ago in the Nutrition Action Health Letter about sodium, and they basically said we need governmental legislation to change how much sodium is in foods b/c it's so common it's almost impossible to avoid!

    I really hate that people feel the d*** government has to do this stuff...if we give them power to do this, where will they stop? Slippery slope and all that...

    I support regulation on disclosing what is in food, but not so much this sort of thing, because it gets out of hand eventually.
  • jojoworks
    jojoworks Posts: 315 Member
    Options
    http://www.westmetrofire.org/docs/2007/wellness/mayoclinic_sodium.pdf

    very good info on this PDF

    personally I think the 2,500 "goal" set by MFP is too high. I strive to stay below 1,500 which isn't hard for me because I eat almost no processed foods, preparing most of my food at home.

    good luck!
    JoJo

Categories