What about Sodium?

There's a lot of sodium in processed foods, cured meats, and chips and other junk foods. You need to check the labels. Personally I try to avoid lots of sodium because it makes me retain water.

Going over your sodium won't have serious effects. You could consume double the daily value and be fine. It will just cause you to retain more water through the day and see that phantom weight gain (see the 50 posts a day about people who put on 2 lbs since yesterday).

Yes, it's coming from your snacks. And preprocessed foods. If you really want to get it down, you need to start cooking on your own and controlling how much salt goes in.

My level for sodium are very high and I am always a lot below the goals. Is this good or bad? I see sodium is related to salt and snacks.

My Carbs and Sugar are always very near the goal or a little above, even when my calories are below the goal calories.

I like to keep my sodium low. A lower sodium diet allows about 1500 a day,and I try to keep that as a goal even if we are allowed more. Eating out is horrible...I have started looking at nutrition at restaurants before we go, they are often 1000-3000 per meal!

A subway sandwich has 750!

Unless you have any medical problems that deals with sodium, it's really not a big deal.

I live in Texas and my sodium is around 4,000mg everyday, so I sweat most of it out.

Uh no. Chronic salt over-consumption can lead to heart disease. No doctor will ever say consuming over 2500 mg per day is ok. I live in texas too and get along fine working out outside on around 1200mg per day. The only people that need to increase their sodium intake are those that participate in extreme sports like marathons, iron man competitions, and similar. Once you hit about 40 the max recommended per day gets cut in half.

So yes, be mindful of it. Going over a couple of times a week won't lead to "chronic overuse" that panics the docs. Here's a wiki that does a good job of breaking down how salt can impact your health. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_and_cardiovascular_disease

Unless you have any medical problems that deals with sodium, it's really not a big deal.

I live in Texas and my sodium is around 4,000mg everyday, so I sweat most of it out.

Uh no. Chronic salt over-consumption can lead to heart disease. No doctor will ever say consuming over 2500 mg per day is ok. I live in texas too and get along fine working out outside on around 1200mg per day. The only people that need to increase their sodium intake are those that participate in extreme sports like marathons, iron man competitions, and similar. Once you hit about 40 the max recommended per day gets cut in half.

So yes, be mindful of it. Going over a couple of times a week won't lead to "chronic overuse" that panics the docs. Here's a wiki that does a good job of breaking down how salt can impact your health. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_and_cardiovascular_disease

Too little sodium is bad for you. I looked at OP diary. She MAY not be getting ENOUGH sodium. The best indicator is your blood pressure. I'm almost 50 years old and sometimes have to add 1 teaspoon of salt to my eggs in the morning to make sure I get enough sodium. I have VERY LOW BLOOD PRESSURE. If you have HIGH blood pressure, cut down on the salt. There are also different intake requirements based on your race. African-American's should have about half the RDA.

Originally the RDA for sodium was a MINIMUM. Then everyone started eating processed foods and they started exceeding the amount of sodium by 5 to 10-fold. The important aspect with sodium is that you need MORE POTASSIUM than sodium. The public does not consume enough potassium so the body is out of equalibrium an heart disease ensues.

When someone cuts out processed foods and starts drinking tons of water, you might have to start salting your foods. Check your blood pressure and check with your doctor. I am not giving medical advice. I'm merely telling you of my experience and what I have learned from nutrition classes.

I love it. Tasty! The average population shouldn't have to worry about it, but ask your doctor to make sure.

The sodium is really a maximum, not a minimum, so don't worry about being low. (There's also obviously a debate about how much being high matters.) Personally, I don't track my sodium since I don't eat that much canned, boxed, etc. foods (although I do buy lunch too often). But if I did it would be misleadingly low since I never add the salt I use in cooking. My guess is lots of people similarly don't add that, so if you do use salt your sodium levels are higher than you have in your diary anyway.

As for sugar, my quick glance at your diary suggests it's mostly from milk and fruit, so I wouldn't worry about it.

Unless you have any medical problems that deals with sodium, it's really not a big deal.

I live in Texas and my sodium is around 4,000mg everyday, so I sweat most of it out.

Uh no. Chronic salt over-consumption can lead to heart disease. No doctor will ever say consuming over 2500 mg per day is ok. I live in texas too and get along fine working out outside on around 1200mg per day. The only people that need to increase their sodium intake are those that participate in extreme sports like marathons, iron man competitions, and similar. Once you hit about 40 the max recommended per day gets cut in half.

So yes, be mindful of it. Going over a couple of times a week won't lead to "chronic overuse" that panics the docs. Here's a wiki that does a good job of breaking down how salt can impact your health. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_and_cardiovascular_disease

Too little sodium is bad for you. I looked at OP diary. She MAY not be getting ENOUGH sodium. The best indicator is your blood pressure. I'm almost 50 years old and sometimes have to add 1 teaspoon of salt to my eggs in the morning to make sure I get enough sodium. I have VERY LOW BLOOD PRESSURE. If you have HIGH blood pressure, cut down on the salt. There are also different intake requirements based on your race. African-American's should have about half the RDA.

Originally the RDA for sodium was a MINIMUM. Then everyone started eating processed foods and they started exceeding the amount of sodium by 5 to 10-fold. The important aspect with sodium is that you need MORE POTASSIUM than sodium. The public does not consume enough potassium so the body is out of equalibrium an heart disease ensues.

When someone cuts out processed foods and starts drinking tons of water, you might have to start salting your foods. Check your blood pressure and check with your doctor. I am not giving medical advice. I'm merely telling you of my experience and what I have learned from nutrition classes.

It is NOW considered a maximum. Sorry I left that out.

OP, sodium levels should be watched but it's also relative. If you have high sodium intake but are doing high impact exercise or drinking a lot of water than higher than recommended in your food journal is fine.

BTW... The food journal on this site doesn't account sodium loss as it should when you've exercised. For instance I burned over 4000 calories on Friday but the food journal doesn't increase the sodium intake despite rising everything else considered. Sodium is a needed electrolyte. Having too low can cause fatigue and water retention just as if you're taking in too much. For some reason the journal doesn't take that into account. Also, If you're drinking plenty of fluids then you flush a lot of the sodium, and other electrolytes away. Like I explained---it's all relative.

Now---if you're not drinking plenty of non-sodium fluids and not exercising then it's very important to keep it in check. I'm a living testament of someone who didn't in the past---which is why I know to darn much about it. Last year-I learned have 50% blockage and hardened arteries around my heart and brain very likely due to a unsubstantiated high sodium diet. My brothers too. Our mother, who didn't know better, raised us on canned, processed food for most of child hood, then we carried the same dietary tradition through adulthood.

Since the discovery--My family realized that most restaurants have very high sodium meals too. It's what makes their food taste so good. I had serious Taco Bell withdrawals.