Sodium
Options
Replies
-
I honestly ignore the sodium intake, unless you have a specific issue I wouldn't worry about it.0
-
SuzySunshine99 wrote: »Gallowmere1984 wrote: »SuzySunshine99 wrote: »snickerscharlie wrote: »Alatariel75 wrote: »TimothyFish wrote: »Shop the outside of the grocery store (fresh fruit, fresh meat, etc.) and avoid the center (canned vegetables, processed foods, etc.). The outside tends to be lower sodium, higher potassium, and generally healthier. The inside tends to be well salted to make it taste more desirable.
The outside of my grocery has the frozen foods, including ice cream and dessert, the bakery, the continental deli and the ready meals...
Mine too. It also has the candy/cookie aisle.
Always wondered where this weird "shop the perimeter" thing came from.snickerscharlie wrote: »Alatariel75 wrote: »TimothyFish wrote: »Shop the outside of the grocery store (fresh fruit, fresh meat, etc.) and avoid the center (canned vegetables, processed foods, etc.). The outside tends to be lower sodium, higher potassium, and generally healthier. The inside tends to be well salted to make it taste more desirable.
The outside of my grocery has the frozen foods, including ice cream and dessert, the bakery, the continental deli and the ready meals...
Mine too. It also has the candy/cookie aisle.
Always wondered where this weird "shop the perimeter" thing came from.
From people who think the rest of us are too stupid to look at labels and need very simple, nonsensical "rules" to follow.
Well, let's be fair: outside of MFP, how many people do you know who actually bother to do so? Capability and application aren't exactly a perfect circle Venn diagram.
The problem I have is that the advice should be "read the labels of the food you buy", not "shop the perimeter of the grocery store". I find the latter to be condescending and not helpful if people are looking to educate themselves about nutrition so that they can make lifestyle changes.
Especially if you live in a place where you'll find cookies and alcohol as standard at the perimeter...
1 -
snickerscharlie wrote: »Alatariel75 wrote: »TimothyFish wrote: »Shop the outside of the grocery store (fresh fruit, fresh meat, etc.) and avoid the center (canned vegetables, processed foods, etc.). The outside tends to be lower sodium, higher potassium, and generally healthier. The inside tends to be well salted to make it taste more desirable.
The outside of my grocery has the frozen foods, including ice cream and dessert, the bakery, the continental deli and the ready meals...
Mine too. It also has the candy/cookie aisle.
Always wondered where this weird "shop the perimeter" thing came from.
This is the most common place you find produce, meats, dairy. Obviously, they cant put a deli in the middle of the store, so it is assumed you would avoid the bakeries and deli's0 -
snickerscharlie wrote: »Alatariel75 wrote: »TimothyFish wrote: »Shop the outside of the grocery store (fresh fruit, fresh meat, etc.) and avoid the center (canned vegetables, processed foods, etc.). The outside tends to be lower sodium, higher potassium, and generally healthier. The inside tends to be well salted to make it taste more desirable.
The outside of my grocery has the frozen foods, including ice cream and dessert, the bakery, the continental deli and the ready meals...
Mine too. It also has the candy/cookie aisle.
Always wondered where this weird "shop the perimeter" thing came from.
This is the most common place you find produce, meats, dairy. Obviously, they cant put a deli in the middle of the store, so it is assumed you would avoid the bakeries and deli's
At my store the bakery and the deli are right in front of you when you walk in. Not quite the center of the store but close. When I shop I am greeted by the cookies, doughnuts and fresh breads. They also have the area where fresh tortillas are being cranked out by the thousands!0 -
Soups, frozen foods, prepackaged "snacks", deli meat, and fast foods are always high in sodium. And something people might not realize-CONDIMENTS (ketchup, sauces) are loaded with sodium.0
-
Sprouts unconventionally puts produce smack dab in the middle of the store, and all the box stuff to the corner. I like to shop there, as they have a lot of organic choices. Except decently-priced organic potatoes. I am still on the hunt for those.0
-
CasperNaegle wrote: »I honestly ignore the sodium intake, unless you have a specific issue I wouldn't worry about it.
I agree. Active people expel sodium like no tomorrow, and 2000-4000 mg sodium is just fine. If you are older, and have a significantly slower metabolism, for instance, then you need to watch it. Balance it out with potassium, they work hand in hand because potassium helps expel sodium from the body. Potatoes, meats, green veggies have high potassium content (my favorites are spinach and potatoes).
OP, you could also try hearty cereals with low sugar? Usually, those don't have a lot of sodium, and you could have almond milk or soy milk.0 -
SuzySunshine99 wrote: »Gallowmere1984 wrote: »SuzySunshine99 wrote: »snickerscharlie wrote: »Alatariel75 wrote: »TimothyFish wrote: »Shop the outside of the grocery store (fresh fruit, fresh meat, etc.) and avoid the center (canned vegetables, processed foods, etc.). The outside tends to be lower sodium, higher potassium, and generally healthier. The inside tends to be well salted to make it taste more desirable.
The outside of my grocery has the frozen foods, including ice cream and dessert, the bakery, the continental deli and the ready meals...
Mine too. It also has the candy/cookie aisle.
Always wondered where this weird "shop the perimeter" thing came from.snickerscharlie wrote: »Alatariel75 wrote: »TimothyFish wrote: »Shop the outside of the grocery store (fresh fruit, fresh meat, etc.) and avoid the center (canned vegetables, processed foods, etc.). The outside tends to be lower sodium, higher potassium, and generally healthier. The inside tends to be well salted to make it taste more desirable.
The outside of my grocery has the frozen foods, including ice cream and dessert, the bakery, the continental deli and the ready meals...
Mine too. It also has the candy/cookie aisle.
Always wondered where this weird "shop the perimeter" thing came from.
From people who think the rest of us are too stupid to look at labels and need very simple, nonsensical "rules" to follow.
Well, let's be fair: outside of MFP, how many people do you know who actually bother to do so? Capability and application aren't exactly a perfect circle Venn diagram.
The problem I have is that the advice should be "read the labels of the food you buy", not "shop the perimeter of the grocery store". I find the latter to be condescending and not helpful if people are looking to educate themselves about nutrition so that they can make lifestyle changes.
I agree with you 100%, and really, it doesn't appear that either piece of advice is being taken, even though we've done everything short of strapping the population in, A Clockwork Orange style, and making them watch loops of nutrition labels and produce aisles.0 -
Another high sodium food not mentioned above is bread and cereal. I was kind of shocked at that. I've been learning to cook to help lower my (and my husband's) sodium intake. I make dinner more often and leave the salt out of most of my recipes.1
-
WickedPineapple wrote: »Another high sodium food not mentioned above is bread and cereal. I was kind of shocked at that. I've been learning to cook to help lower my (and my husband's) sodium intake. I make dinner more often and leave the salt out of most of my recipes.
Yeah, I actually discovered my sodium issue after doing a carb refeed with bagels. Never again. I'll be sticking to potatoes and sweet potatoes from now on.0 -
I had the same struggle in the beginning. Best idea is reading labels. I have found sugar free pudding actually has less sodium then regular pudding. Also switched to low sodium soups. And there may be other chips that have less sodium. Just a matter of googling good items pr reading the labels at the store.0
-
When I first started low sodium I went to the store and read all the labels on the products that I would have normally bought. If the sodium was too high I then looked for an alternative to replace it with. I admit...it was a long and frustrating trip but it was time well spent.
Also if you will google "what is considered low sodium" you will find a chart telling you the different levels of sodium. Be careful of those things that say "reduced sodium" they only have to be 25% less than the original.
Foods that have 140 milligrams or less of sodium in one serving are considered low-sodium products. A “very low-sodium” product has 35 milligrams or less per serving, and any food that supplies fewer than 5 milligrams per serving is sodium-free.
Just make sure that your serving size equals the serving size on the package.1 -
Honestly, no one has told me anything about sodium, my blood pressure is always at normal levels, my doctor has only told me to cut out the soda and to focus more on meats than carbs because my liver function numbers were a little high. I just entered the stuff on food log and saw it in red and got worried.
My body has been able to make up for all my bad decisions for most of my life, now it's giving me warning signs, so I'm doing the major life change thing.0 -
It seems like every low calorie item I eat is packed with sodium. Yesterday I had 1,504 calories on a 2k calorie diet, but the sodium is off the charts at 3,420 mg (1,120 mg over). I'm not really trying to lose weight, I just want to lower my cholesterol and improve liver function. I'm ok with eating just about anything, have no food allergies other than being a little lactose intolerant (that really only happens when I drink milk, not triggered from cheese or other dairy products). Any suggestions for getting all the calories I need without all the sodium?
Processed foods tend to have a lot of sodium...it's a preservative that extends shelf life. Read labels...eat more whole foods...0 -
Lots of practice with low sodium, first having to cook that way for my parents and now for myself. Avid label-reader here (when I do weekly shopping with my friends, they have to wait for me to finish scanning ingredient lists). Yes to cooking with spices, acids and wine (and spiced rum!).
When I started, I also didn't know how to cook, and was reluctant to learn. But as I got more into it, and learned to be successful at it, a feeling of empowerment came along. It's really great to prepare something with your own hands and watch people enjoy it. And also to know that you determined what went into the dish, not someone or something else.
We're lucky these days too, because we have Google and Youtube as instruction guides. When I was learning to cook, my parents and I glued ourselves to PBS on Sunday afternoons and took notes from Lidia Bastianich ("The Italian lady Who's Mean to Lobsters"), Martin Yan (Mr. "Nice-and-Golden-Brown"), Jacques Pepin and Jacques Torres.0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.9K Introduce Yourself
- 43.5K Getting Started
- 259.8K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.7K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 400 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.8K Motivation and Support
- 7.9K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.4K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 988 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.4K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions