Sodium

dcbassett1
dcbassett1 Posts: 1 Member
edited November 25 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm really struggling with reducing my sodium (salt). It seems to be in everything. Even healthy foods. I'm looking at 1800 mg/day. Any helpful suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated! Any useful books anyone has run across that may help!

Replies

  • Bshmerlie
    Bshmerlie Posts: 1,026 Member
    edited October 2015
    I use to stress about too much sodium but then I thought of it this way. The worst it can do is make you retain water. But so what. Are we really concerned with water weight? Yeah sure you'll have some weight fluctuations depending upon how much sodium you have but in the big scheme of things it all levels out. Just eat at a calorie deficit and you will lose weight.
  • beemerphile1
    beemerphile1 Posts: 1,710 Member
    I don't know what you eat but all processed/packaged food contains a large amount of salt. To cut salt you need to prepare your own foods.
  • minawill
    minawill Posts: 2 Member
    beemerphile1 wrote: »
    I don't know what you eat but all processed/packaged food contains a large amount of salt. To cut salt you need to prepare your own foods.

    I prepare my own meals and everyday it say I consum too much sodium
  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
    minawill wrote: »
    beemerphile1 wrote: »
    I don't know what you eat but all processed/packaged food contains a large amount of salt. To cut salt you need to prepare your own foods.
    I prepare my own meals and everyday it say I consum too much sodium
    Check out the ingredients you are using for what has a lot of sodium and make substitutions.

    I had been making soup with two cans of Low Sodium Chicken Broth thinking that it didn't have much sodium. It might have had less sodium than normal chicken broth but it still had a lot of sodium. Now I make soup with one can instead of two.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    Lots of great info here: http://sodiumbreakup.heart.org/sodium-411/

    I struggled so hard with salt. The only way I managed to get it under control was to make my own foods.

    It's hard, at first, to lower the salt. We are so accustomed to high-salt diets that food doesn't taste right without tons of salt. You get used it! Your palate changes! After a while, you taste thing you used to love and notice that they're way to salty now.

    Mrs. Dash is a great and easy way to add flavor without salt. It's in most grocery stores. Learning to kid foods and use herbs and spices is a huge benefit. Check out World Spice Market and Penzey's. They both sell good spices online.

    I now have a healthier diet that tastes better than the old one. Lots of work, but it was worth it!
  • rankinsect
    rankinsect Posts: 2,238 Member
    dcbassett1 wrote: »
    I'm really struggling with reducing my sodium (salt). It seems to be in everything. Even healthy foods. I'm looking at 1800 mg/day. Any helpful suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated! Any useful books anyone has run across that may help!

    Do you have a medical reason you even need to do it in the first place?

    Unless you have certain medical conditions (hypertension, chronic kidney disease, etc.) there is no evidence that reduced salt intake has any health benefits at all. Frankly even for hypertension, the evidence is all over the map for whether you should reduce salt, and if you do, if you get anything more than a trivial benefit.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    As many people have suggested, it is a good idea to find out what is right for you, medically / health-wise.

    Next time you have a physical, ask the doctor what he things about your sodium. That will answer the medical question. :)
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