Sodium

I would like to see responses to this... sodium is NOT my friend. :flowerforyou:

Hey Becky,

Hope this helps............

*****Low Sodium Foods*****
1-150 mg per serving
# Beverages Beer, wine, coffee, tea
# Fruit drinks, soda pop, Kool-Aid
# Breads and Cereals Breads, white, whole grain
# Cakes, cookies, crepes, doughnuts
# Cereals: cooked, granola, puffed rice, puffed wheat, Shredded Wheat
# Crackers: graham, low salt, melba toast
# Pasta: macaroni, noodles, spaghetti, rice
# Condiments Butter, margarine, oil
# Horseradish, mustard, spices, herbs, sugar, syrup, Tabasco, vinegar
# Dairy Products Cheeses: cream, Monterey, Mozzarella, Ricotta, low salt types
# Cream: half & half, sour, whipping
# Ice cream, sherbet
# Milk
# Non-dairy creamer
# Fruits and Vegetables All fresh fruits and vegetables
# Frozen fruits and vegetables (without sauces)
# Vegetables, canned: low sodium or rinsed
# Main Dishes All unprocessed meats, fish, and poultry
# Eggs
# Peanut butter
# Tuna: low sodium or canned that you rinse
# Snacks Low salt products
# Nuts, unsalted
# Popcorn, unsalted


*****Medium Sodium Foods*****
150-250 mg per serving
# Bread and Cereals Biscuits, rolls, muffins - 1
# Pancakes - 1
# Ready-to-eat cereals - 3/4 cup
# Saltine crackers - 6
# Sweet roll - 1
# Condiments Gravy - 2 tablespoons
# Ketchup - 1 tablespoon
# Mayonnaise - 2 tablespoons
# Pickles, sweet - 2 small
# Relish - 2 tablespoons
# Salad dressing - 1 tablespoon
# Soy sauce, low sodium
# Dairy products Cheeses - 1 oz
# Cottage cheese - 1/2 cup
# Pudding - 3/4 cup
# Vegetables Tomato and vegetable juice - 1/2 cup
# Vegetables, canned - 1/2 cup
# Snacks Corn chips - 1 cup
# Potato chips - 1 cup
# Snack crackers - 5-10

*****Low sodium food labels*****
Salt free: Less than 5 milligrams sodium per serving.

Sodium free: Less than 5 milligrams sodium per serving.

No Salt added: No salt added during processing; does not necessarily mean sodium free.

Very Low Sodium: 35 milligrams or less sodium per serving.

Low Sodium: 140 milligrams or less per serving.

Light in Sodium: 50% less sodium (as compared with a standard serving size of the traditional food), restricted to foods with more than 40 calories per serving or more than 3 grams of fat per serving.

Less Sodium or Reduced Sodium: At least 25% less sodium (as compared with a standard serving size of the traditional food).

Read the Nutrition Facts Label to compare the amount of sodium in processed foods - such as frozen dinners, packaged mixes, cereals, cheese, soups, breads, salad dressings, and sauces.

Read the Percent Daily Value (DV) on the Nutrition Facts Label to compare the amount of sodium among brands.

Choose those foods that have lower values. Compare the amounts you will eat to the serving size given. Always read food labels and do the math. The sodium content on the nutritional panel is based on the number of servings the package states. Example: a can of soup may say 770 mg of sodium but bases that number on 2.5 servings. 770 x 2.5 = 1,925 mg of sodium in that can of soup.

Ahhh sodium is my forever enemy! From what I have seen in my personal diet, processed and frozen food has the most. A frozen dinner can have 2,000 g in it! INSANE! I try my very best to keep my sodium low. Some days I don't go over or only by a little bit, some days I go over by 1,000.

Does MFP give you a set sodium level to maintain? i did not find one and they set everything else up so i was just assuming they would. i caught myself drinking a diet soda and noticed the sodium level. should i be cutting back on the diet soda because of the sodium? could anyone help me with this? please? id appreciate it very much. =]

Under "Food" change your settings, and alter "Track Nutrients" to count sodium....

Something else to consider is the benefit of watching your potassium also. Potassium helps your body get rid of excess sodium. (I'm not exactly clear on how it works, I even asked the Bio teacher at work to explain it to me, but I STILL didn't understand:ohwell: )

A while after I started tracking my sodium, I started tracking my potassium. :noway: My potassium was EXTREMELY LOW! :noway: The reason why: potassium is leached out during the processing of food. The further a food is from the field, the less potassium it has (and, typically, the more sodium!) I love strawberries (good for potassium), cantelope (GREAT for potassium) and milk (also good for potassium). Of course, there's the old stand by of a banana. Spinach is another fresh food that is good. Sweet potatoes (eat the skin, too, though), white potatoes (I know, Satan's food, but the skin has a lot in it), and a whole slew of others.

Keeping your sodium down, and getting your potassium up (which happen to work well together!) will help you out.

My only caution about potassium is that TOO much can be just as detrimental as too little. I don't know if it's physically possible to eat enough foods to maintain a high potassium level, but it CAN be bad if you do!

Hope this helps!

Only one thing to add CANNED SOUP - the devils hooch often has 50% + GDA sodium in one portion - just make your own - its easy and almost free as you can get rid of many leftovers in a stock pot!

J