cut down on sodium! !!
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Sodium is in pretty much all pre-packaged/convenience foods (and sometimes in high levels). The easiest way to cut back is to simply cook food from raw ingredients and spice it yourself. There are lots of wonderful spices out there that aren't already pre-packaged in blends (many blends will have salt added already), so you can use "raw" spices. You can always add salt to food at the table, but you can't remove salt added during the cooking process!
Previous posters already pointed out that unless there is a medical condition or a recommendation by medical professional, it usually isn't necessary to reduce dietary salt. I'm not a huge fan of it myself (I find many foods too salty as is) and typically only add what is required for cooking (trust me: when the bread recipe says it needs salt, it actually really means it). I add little or none at the table before I eat (but I like using lots of different spices, fresh and dried, so the food is plenty flavourful). I don't do this because it is more healthy (or because it somehow makes me holier-than-thou), I just don't like salty food very much (except the netsu ramen from the noodle place down the road, I love that stuff).0 -
Hopefully not GMO kelp designed to grow in tablet form.tincanonastring wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »I had an issue with too little salt. Regular table salt is iodized to prevent iodine deficiencies. Since I don't eat convenience foods and my table salt is sea and Himalayan salt that is not iodized, when I stopped making Thai food on a regular basis I developed an iodine deficiency, which I remedy by taking kelp tablets.
Are those unprocessed kelp tablets?
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cwolfman13 wrote: »
I specifically excluded people with medical issues and said I've never heard of anyone with a dietary deficiency. The required amount for people without some medical issue is very small, like 1/3 or less of the 1500 advised for many people.
I've literally never seen or heard of a person who was hyponatremic due to a dietary deficiency of sodium. It's almost always illness and, in rare cases, too much water or too much sweating and too much water (like ultra-endurance athletes.)shadowfax_c11 wrote: »Sodium deficiency (hyponatremia) is a thing and it isn't something you want. We need sodium to live. Unless your Dr has told you that you need to watch sodium for health reasons don't get too caught up in trying to reduce it.
People going under the amount we actually need...never heard of a single case.
So you know everyone's medical diagnosis everywhere? Yeah... Didn't think so.
It's common on MFP to read people saying that nobody has to worry about their salt intake until it causes cardiovascular issues, but that's an MFP thing, not what experts advise.
This 2300 number is a maximum and isn't even advised by many. It excludes people who have a history of various cardiovascular issues, people over 40 and black people. That's a lot of people. Even backing out medical issues, that is still only white people under 40 years of age.
Is it possible that someone became hyponatremic because they didn't take in enough salt? Sure. But it's a freaking rare occurrence and one I've never seen or heard anyone mention.
I don't care if someone wants to eat 50,000g of sodium a day. Chow down. I'm not trying to make anyone lower their salt intake. I'm just saying that this idea of needing to make sure you get enough...it's not a problem for anyone I've ever heard of. Ever.
I'm sure that MFPers will now be coming out of the cracks to say, "I was hospitalized because I only ate 100mg a day for months!" but if it's happened, it's an exceedingly rare thing.
Hyponatremia is a medical issue by itself. Saying that you don't believe it can happen due to low sodium intake can lead people to believe that it never can, which is false. I have seen many people with this issue, usually right after starting a new "diet" plan.
Do you work in medicine? It is actually somewhat common, especially in those who drastically lower their sodium intake while increasing water intake at the same time. It can actually be fatal, and does not require "months of eating 100mg". It can actually happen within several hours.
Please stop giving misinformation because you "have never seen it".
I would also add to this excellent post that there are other issues that can occur as well which may not be as severe, but issues none the less...when I started out a few years ago, I greatly reduced my sodium intake due to my Dr. advise to help with my hypertension...at the same time I also upped my water intake and started working out...before I knew it, I was just cramping up all of the time...waking up in the middle of the night with charlie horses...cramping out in the middle of a run, etc. I increased my sodium and that fixed everything.
I'm not saying to just start sucking down sodium...but I do think the push to greatly reduce sodium intake has it's own very serious implications, particularly when coupled with more exercise and increased water intake.
Yup... I also had low salt issues. Drinking too much (water), never adding salt/eating lots of low salt foods, plus sweating a lot during workouts meant that I chronically had low blood sodium. I was tired, felt sick and dizzy. I had to up my dietary sodium and felt so much better after. Clearly not everyone has this issue, but it is good to be aware of the fact that salt, in moderate amounts, is something our bodies need.0 -
DeguelloTex wrote: »
Hopefully not GMO kelp designed to grow in tablet form.tincanonastring wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »I had an issue with too little salt. Regular table salt is iodized to prevent iodine deficiencies. Since I don't eat convenience foods and my table salt is sea and Himalayan salt that is not iodized, when I stopped making Thai food on a regular basis I developed an iodine deficiency, which I remedy by taking kelp tablets.
Are those unprocessed kelp tablets?
The kelp tablets are farmed like cranberries.
They cause a million baby otter deaths a year.
Think of the otters!
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kshama2001 wrote: »I had an issue with too little salt. Regular table salt is iodized to prevent iodine deficiencies. Since I don't eat convenience foods and my table salt is sea and Himalayan salt that is not iodized, when I stopped making Thai food on a regular basis I developed an iodine deficiency, which I remedy by taking kelp tablets.
That's a terrible thing to do.0 -
ceoverturf wrote: »tincanonastring wrote: »
I specifically excluded people with medical issues and said I've never heard of anyone with a dietary deficiency. The required amount for people without some medical issue is very small, like 1/3 or less of the 1500 advised for many people.
I've literally never seen or heard of a person who was hyponatremic due to a dietary deficiency of sodium. It's almost always illness and, in rare cases, too much water or too much sweating and too much water (like ultra-endurance athletes.)shadowfax_c11 wrote: »Sodium deficiency (hyponatremia) is a thing and it isn't something you want. We need sodium to live. Unless your Dr has told you that you need to watch sodium for health reasons don't get too caught up in trying to reduce it.
People going under the amount we actually need...never heard of a single case.
So you know everyone's medical diagnosis everywhere? Yeah... Didn't think so.
It's common on MFP to read people saying that nobody has to worry about their salt intake until it causes cardiovascular issues, but that's an MFP thing, not what experts advise.
This 2300 number is a maximum and isn't even advised by many. It excludes people who have a history of various cardiovascular issues, people over 40 and black people. That's a lot of people. Even backing out medical issues, that is still only white people under 40 years of age.
Is it possible that someone became hyponatremic because they didn't take in enough salt? Sure. But it's a freaking rare occurrence and one I've never seen or heard anyone mention.
I don't care if someone wants to eat 50,000g of sodium a day. Chow down. I'm not trying to make anyone lower their salt intake. I'm just saying that this idea of needing to make sure you get enough...it's not a problem for anyone I've ever heard of. Ever.
I'm sure that MFPers will now be coming out of the cracks to say, "I was hospitalized because I only ate 100mg a day for months!" but if it's happened, it's an exceedingly rare thing.
Hyponatremia is a medical issue by itself. Saying that you don't believe it can happen due to low sodium intake can lead people to believe that it never can, which is false. I have seen many people with this issue, usually right after starting a new "diet" plan.
Do you work in medicine? It is actually somewhat common, especially in those who drastically lower their sodium intake while increasing water intake at the same time. It can actually be fatal, and does not require "months of eating 100mg". It can actually happen within several hours.
Please stop giving misinformation because you "have never seen it".
You mean like people who have just started on a certain fitness website, are new to dietary restrictions, and who keep reading about how important it is to drink enough water? It's a good thing those people don't go onto forums and ask how to reduce sodium! They might get into trouble getting bad advice.
Not to mention water toxicity, which comes from drinking very high volumes of water very rapidly. It's entirely possible to hurt or kill your self by doing this. People coming in and being told to drink high volumes of water, without being told to spread that over the course of the day, could do serious harm in more than one way.
I've never heard of anyone dying from drinking too much water. Therefore, it's not a thing.
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I moved the salt shaker off the kitchen table so I don't add any extra.
I try and drink more water since I joined MFP0 -
maggdavis592 wrote: »I moved the salt shaker off the kitchen table so I don't add any extra.
I try and drink more water since I joined MFP
And.... here we are proving the point about new people coming to MFP needlessly reducing sodium and drinking more water. Actually, table salt is the least of your worries.0 -
I am high sensitive for salt and dont add salt to my food...at all.
Eat some low salt products like bacon for example ....the rest not... I just dont add salt to my own cooking.
Works perfect for me and got everything very stable at this moment. I eat high potassium ( lots of fresh vegetables etc) and hit those numbers above 3K to 4K a day!
But i wont recommend it for people to just do this! When you dont have a medical issue/reason to do so and you didn't consult your doctor than it is even dangerous and can have consequences.
When you eat a balanced diet ( yes processed and junk food next to healthy food) than your salt intake isn't an issue at all!0 -
maggdavis592 wrote: »I moved the salt shaker off the kitchen table so I don't add any extra.
I try and drink more water since I joined MFP
I've never owned a salt shaker. My parents find this extremely annoying and always buy the cheap ones from the grocery store when they visit me. My philosophy is that since I normally cook for myself I can season it perfectly when cooking and don't really need to add any more. (I am not concerned about using salt in cooking, and have never received medical advice to stop or had any test results that would suggest it was an issue.)
I use regular old coarse kosher salt, though, not the fancy colored or sea kinds. I do have bunches of pepper.
Growing up my mom got the non-iodized salt since she had read in some magazine as a teen that iodized salt was bad for your skin. Beats me, but when we studied about iodine in jr high I became convinced we would get goiters and tried to shame my mom. (I was annoying that way.) She ignored me.0 -
Alyssa_Is_LosingIt wrote: »DeguelloTex wrote: »
Hopefully not GMO kelp designed to grow in tablet form.tincanonastring wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »I had an issue with too little salt. Regular table salt is iodized to prevent iodine deficiencies. Since I don't eat convenience foods and my table salt is sea and Himalayan salt that is not iodized, when I stopped making Thai food on a regular basis I developed an iodine deficiency, which I remedy by taking kelp tablets.
Are those unprocessed kelp tablets?
The kelp tablets are farmed like cranberries.
They cause a million baby otter deaths a year.
Think of the otters!
0 -
shadowfax_c11 wrote: »Sodium deficiency (hyponatremia) is a thing and it isn't something you want. We need sodium to live. Unless your Dr has told you that you need to watch sodium for health reasons don't get too caught up in trying to reduce it.
Um, this is pretty rare and usually because of illness or medications. If you are eating food and not taking medication that depletes sodium it's pretty hard not to get enough. We really don't need much.0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »
I specifically excluded people with medical issues and said I've never heard of anyone with a dietary deficiency. The required amount for people without some medical issue is very small, like 1/3 or less of the 1500 advised for many people.
I've literally never seen or heard of a person who was hyponatremic due to a dietary deficiency of sodium. It's almost always illness and, in rare cases, too much water or too much sweating and too much water (like ultra-endurance athletes.)shadowfax_c11 wrote: »Sodium deficiency (hyponatremia) is a thing and it isn't something you want. We need sodium to live. Unless your Dr has told you that you need to watch sodium for health reasons don't get too caught up in trying to reduce it.
People going under the amount we actually need...never heard of a single case.
So you know everyone's medical diagnosis everywhere? Yeah... Didn't think so.
It's common on MFP to read people saying that nobody has to worry about their salt intake until it causes cardiovascular issues, but that's an MFP thing, not what experts advise.
This 2300 number is a maximum and isn't even advised by many. It excludes people who have a history of various cardiovascular issues, people over 40 and black people. That's a lot of people. Even backing out medical issues, that is still only white people under 40 years of age.
Is it possible that someone became hyponatremic because they didn't take in enough salt? Sure. But it's a freaking rare occurrence and one I've never seen or heard anyone mention.
I don't care if someone wants to eat 50,000g of sodium a day. Chow down. I'm not trying to make anyone lower their salt intake. I'm just saying that this idea of needing to make sure you get enough...it's not a problem for anyone I've ever heard of. Ever.
I'm sure that MFPers will now be coming out of the cracks to say, "I was hospitalized because I only ate 100mg a day for months!" but if it's happened, it's an exceedingly rare thing.
Hyponatremia is a medical issue by itself. Saying that you don't believe it can happen due to low sodium intake can lead people to believe that it never can, which is false. I have seen many people with this issue, usually right after starting a new "diet" plan.
Do you work in medicine? It is actually somewhat common, especially in those who drastically lower their sodium intake while increasing water intake at the same time. It can actually be fatal, and does not require "months of eating 100mg". It can actually happen within several hours.
Please stop giving misinformation because you "have never seen it".
I would also add to this excellent post that there are other issues that can occur as well which may not be as severe, but issues none the less...when I started out a few years ago, I greatly reduced my sodium intake due to my Dr. advise to help with my hypertension...at the same time I also upped my water intake and started working out...before I knew it, I was just cramping up all of the time...waking up in the middle of the night with charlie horses...cramping out in the middle of a run, etc. I increased my sodium and that fixed everything.
I'm not saying to just start sucking down sodium...but I do think the push to greatly reduce sodium intake has it's own very serious implications, particularly when coupled with more exercise and increased water intake.
I have also experienced the cramping, etc. from running. When I increase my salt it seems to lessen them. I love my salt, and I eat a lot of it, and I've had no issues thus far.0 -
kshama2001 wrote: »I had an issue with too little salt. Regular table salt is iodized to prevent iodine deficiencies. Since I don't eat convenience foods and my table salt is sea and Himalayan salt that is not iodized, when I stopped making Thai food on a regular basis I developed an iodine deficiency, which I remedy by taking kelp capsules.
That's a terrible thing to do.
My ex was a big fan of Thai food, so when we broke up, I made it way less. It feels like too much work if it's just me eating it.
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lemurcat12 wrote: »Alyssa_Is_LosingIt wrote: »DeguelloTex wrote: »
Hopefully not GMO kelp designed to grow in tablet form.tincanonastring wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »I had an issue with too little salt. Regular table salt is iodized to prevent iodine deficiencies. Since I don't eat convenience foods and my table salt is sea and Himalayan salt that is not iodized, when I stopped making Thai food on a regular basis I developed an iodine deficiency, which I remedy by taking kelp tablets.
Are those unprocessed kelp tablets?
The kelp tablets are farmed like cranberries.
They cause a million baby otter deaths a year.
Think of the otters!
Oh my goodness, I want to hold and pet those adorable little otters. My cats would probably welcome them!0 -
I hadn't had a table shaker for years, other than the coarse mill with sea salt that I use for cooking. My MIL actually bought me one that came in a cute little set with a holder. I try not to be insulted when people add salt to my food, since I do take a lot of pride in my cooking and do a lot with seasonings. I know that people do have different tastes, so if they want to add salt, that's their thing. My son-in-law adds salt to everything, but I'm pretty sure that's because he's a smoker and his tasting ability is affected.0
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ceoverturf wrote: »tincanonastring wrote: »
I specifically excluded people with medical issues and said I've never heard of anyone with a dietary deficiency. The required amount for people without some medical issue is very small, like 1/3 or less of the 1500 advised for many people.
I've literally never seen or heard of a person who was hyponatremic due to a dietary deficiency of sodium. It's almost always illness and, in rare cases, too much water or too much sweating and too much water (like ultra-endurance athletes.)shadowfax_c11 wrote: »Sodium deficiency (hyponatremia) is a thing and it isn't something you want. We need sodium to live. Unless your Dr has told you that you need to watch sodium for health reasons don't get too caught up in trying to reduce it.
People going under the amount we actually need...never heard of a single case.
So you know everyone's medical diagnosis everywhere? Yeah... Didn't think so.
It's common on MFP to read people saying that nobody has to worry about their salt intake until it causes cardiovascular issues, but that's an MFP thing, not what experts advise.
This 2300 number is a maximum and isn't even advised by many. It excludes people who have a history of various cardiovascular issues, people over 40 and black people. That's a lot of people. Even backing out medical issues, that is still only white people under 40 years of age.
Is it possible that someone became hyponatremic because they didn't take in enough salt? Sure. But it's a freaking rare occurrence and one I've never seen or heard anyone mention.
I don't care if someone wants to eat 50,000g of sodium a day. Chow down. I'm not trying to make anyone lower their salt intake. I'm just saying that this idea of needing to make sure you get enough...it's not a problem for anyone I've ever heard of. Ever.
I'm sure that MFPers will now be coming out of the cracks to say, "I was hospitalized because I only ate 100mg a day for months!" but if it's happened, it's an exceedingly rare thing.
Hyponatremia is a medical issue by itself. Saying that you don't believe it can happen due to low sodium intake can lead people to believe that it never can, which is false. I have seen many people with this issue, usually right after starting a new "diet" plan.
Do you work in medicine? It is actually somewhat common, especially in those who drastically lower their sodium intake while increasing water intake at the same time. It can actually be fatal, and does not require "months of eating 100mg". It can actually happen within several hours.
Please stop giving misinformation because you "have never seen it".
You mean like people who have just started on a certain fitness website, are new to dietary restrictions, and who keep reading about how important it is to drink enough water? It's a good thing those people don't go onto forums and ask how to reduce sodium! They might get into trouble getting bad advice.
Not to mention water toxicity, which comes from drinking very high volumes of water very rapidly. It's entirely possible to hurt or kill your self by doing this. People coming in and being told to drink high volumes of water, without being told to spread that over the course of the day, could do serious harm in more than one way.
I've never heard of anyone dying from drinking too much water. Therefore, it's not a thing.
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Need2Exerc1se wrote: »shadowfax_c11 wrote: »Sodium deficiency (hyponatremia) is a thing and it isn't something you want. We need sodium to live. Unless your Dr has told you that you need to watch sodium for health reasons don't get too caught up in trying to reduce it.
Um, this is pretty rare and usually because of illness or medications. If you are eating food and not taking medication that depletes sodium it's pretty hard not to get enough. We really don't need much.
You need to go back and read the whole thread......0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »shadowfax_c11 wrote: »Sodium deficiency (hyponatremia) is a thing and it isn't something you want. We need sodium to live. Unless your Dr has told you that you need to watch sodium for health reasons don't get too caught up in trying to reduce it.
Um, this is pretty rare and usually because of illness or medications. If you are eating food and not taking medication that depletes sodium it's pretty hard not to get enough. We really don't need much.
You need to go back and read the whole thread......
Fear mongering over too little sodium won't change the facts.0
This discussion has been closed.
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