Chicken Breast/ High Sodium

Look at the food's label. If it is a deli item, look it up on the food producer's website. Do not trust that the MFP database entry is correct, since much of it is user-entered data and there are a lot of people who enter wrong information.

That being said, lunch meat is generally high in sodium. Is this sliced chicken breast or sliced chicken breast lunchmeat?

Calories are the bottom line for weight loss. Eating more fat is fine. Sodium is fine as long as you do not have a medical problem, though it can cause water retention.

A) check the label for accuracy

B ) some companies will inject raw chicken with a sodium solution. Raw chicken by itself is usually around 3-5% sodium. Much higher than that and they've added something.

If you are concerned about sodium, you're better off with regular chicken breast, not chicken lunch meat. You can cook it yourself or I sometimes buy precooked rotisserie chicken breast from Costco for convenience. (It's higher in sodium than homemade, but much less than lunch meat).

That being said, unless you have a health issue,there's no reason to avoid sodium. It may cause water weight fluctuation, but doesn't affect fat loss.

I used to get Boar's Head, and they offered a low sodium variant of their deli meats. I just looked it up on their website and it's still pretty high at 700 mg for 4 oz. I'm going to assume that the meat is heavily salted in order to lengthen shelf life.

I put chicken breast in my salad every day and that only has 180 mg per 4 oz. I get it fresh from Walmart and cook a couple of pounds on Sunday and Wednesday nights. Might be a better alternative if you're worried about sodium intake.

It's just the fact that it's deli meat. I grill my own chicken instead.

kschwab0203 wrote: »

I usually eat a turkey wrap for lunch. In an effort to switch things up and not get bored with my food, I bought the sliced chicken breast from the deli at my local grocery. I didn't realize it until logging it in that MFP says that 4 oz. of sliced chicken breast has 1100g of sodium!!! How can this be?!?!? I thought chicken was super healthy and low in all that kind of junk (fat, carbs, sodium, etc).

Is this right???

Also, does it matter if you go over your fat or sodium if you are saying within your calories? Will you still lose?

These are not junk!! Where did you get that idea from?
You can die if you don't eat fat. Fat is good for you. You can die if you don't eat any sodium either. Unless you have been diagnosed with high blood pressure you don't have to limit sodium. Electrolytes (sodium including) are a good thing. I for example have lowish blood pressure and so I was told to increase my sodium intake. But in general it is not junk. Carbs aren't junk either.
C'mon people! Stop spreading this nonsense!

Lunchmeats are generally brined before cooking to retain moisture, even when it is a whole "unprocessed/reconstituted" piece. Brine is saltwater and a lot of that salt stays in the meat.

I'm wondering if either you or he entry made a typo? 4oz is approx 113 grams. It can't have 1100 grams of sodium. If it was 1100 mg that's pretty normal for deli meat I think.

I just cook up a big batch of chicken and dice it up then measure it out in 100 gram bags and freeze them. Instant lunch meat

There is a world of difference between a home-cooked chicken breast and chicken LUNCHMEAT.

Its processed. What were you expecting? Deli meat is full.of nitrates. Real chicken breast would be the way to go

kschwab0203 wrote: »

I thought chicken was super healthy and low in all that kind of junk (fat, carbs, sodium, etc).

Is this right???

Also, does it matter if you go over your fat or sodium if you are saying within your calories? Will you still lose?

Its called flavor. I might be disappointed if it did not contain sodium, also the carbs are something to give that honey roasted, or other flavors etc.. also it might not last long from a preservation standpoint once I bring it home to eat on for a week.

eta: you can look for luncheon meats that are "packed in water" that has a lot less also there are brands of ham, turkey, chicken, roast beef that use about 33% - 40% less sodium when packaged, just have to look for it. Walmart's brand Prima Della has a lower sodium version, also I think Sara Lee has lower sodium too (at the deli counter)..

PAV8888 wrote: »

For everyone's reference, even non luncheon meat items such as chicken breasts or fish get brined (especially when frozen to protect the quality of course not because it ads extra weight wink wink).

Read all labels and even then assume half are lying.

Good reminder. I try to look for the little blurb on the label about the solution that the chicken is frozen in. I never thought to look at fish labels.