Help to much salt

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RoxyannR
RoxyannR Posts: 4 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Been track my food intake for a week and I am staying with in my calorie count everyday. My problem is salt. I am eating 3 to 4 times the salt I should everyday. Does anyone know a way to cut salt and still have the taste in your food. I also think this is why I drink 3 to 4 diet cokes and 2 to 4 quarts of Crystal Light a day. My mouth is always dry.

Replies

  • MichelleSilverleaf
    MichelleSilverleaf Posts: 2,028 Member
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    Read labels, see which entries are your biggest contributors to your salt intake. Make changes accordingly.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    Home cooking, and drink water.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 17,959 Member
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    As someone said above, the starting point is to work out what the high sodium items are and work out how you can alter or replace them. It's too hard to advise, in a vacuum, as we have no idea what you're eating. The solution could be completely obvious, or it might take a bit more finessing. If you'd like some specific advice, you might want to open your diary to public.
  • HDBKLM
    HDBKLM Posts: 466 Member
    edited August 2017
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    My guess would be that you're eating a lot of highly processed foods, perhaps of the 'instant' variety? You'd be shocked how much sodium is in some of those. So the thing is that while sodium is a component of salt (sodium chloride), sodium≠salt per se. I think that's why @kommodevaran recommended home cooking. You'd he equally shocked how much actual salt you can add to stuff you've cooked from scratch before it hits the same sodium levels as a store-bought (packet of dry stuff, microwave meal) version of the same dish. The sodium is coming from the preservatives and not directly related to the 'saltiness' you actually taste in the food.

    Of course, you haven't made your food diary public so again I'm just guessing, but if I'm right the next issue is time, since you may be using quick-prepare foods because you have a busy schedule. So maybe you'd respond by starting to prepare big batches of stuff at the weekend and portioning stuff out over the course of the week? Or maybe you do it because it's easier to track the calories that way rather than entering in full recipes to the website. You can work out a system as far as that goes, I suppose. Entering a recipe can be a pain once but if you eat that recipe a lot it's only annoying the first time.

    The added benefit of not craving all that diet soda if your mouth isn't so dry can also only help your health and weight loss efforts.
  • Old_Cat_Lady
    Old_Cat_Lady Posts: 1,193 Member
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    Google: DASH diet recipes.
    It involves cooking your own foods. Worth the time. That thirst could be many things. Before going to the doctor try drinking water for one full day.
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
    edited August 2017
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    Try potassium salts such as "lite salt" or "no salt". If you're eating prepackaged foods, try making home cooked versions of these.

    I doubt the diet soda is contributing to dry mouth considering it is mostly water (it has very little sodium, and it won't help/hinder your weight loss efforts, either).
  • __TMac__
    __TMac__ Posts: 1,665 Member
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    Table salt is unlikely to be your problem, especially if you can't readily identify the sources. You'd already know it if you were putting that much salt in things yourself.

    Packaged and restaurant foods are almost certainly the issue. Read your nutrition labels and check restaurant websites.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,988 Member
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    RoxyannR wrote: »
    Been track my food intake for a week and I am staying with in my calorie count everyday. My problem is salt. I am eating 3 to 4 times the salt I should everyday. Does anyone know a way to cut salt and still have the taste in your food. I also think this is why I drink 3 to 4 diet cokes and 2 to 4 quarts of Crystal Light a day. My mouth is always dry.

    Please change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,831 Member
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    I'm going to copy what I just wrote on the thread about high blood pressure:

    Okay, losing weight and exercise are key ... to everything ... I'm going to ignore that for the moment and talk about what hubby and I are doing.

    1. Getting regular BP measurements from the doctor (about 4 times a year)
    2. Taking our BP medicine as prescribed every day, even during those dread times we have to adjust to a new med.
    3. Keeping track of our sodium intake and striving toward keeping our daily sodium less than 1500 mg/day.

    Happily, you can set your MFP diary to show you your daily sodium intake. It means being careful to choose diary entries that have the sodium listed -- some member input ones don't.

    We've buy, salt-free peanut butter, Mrs. Dash and Penzey's salt-free seasonings, unsalted tortilla chips, etc. We bought online: salt-free baking powder, baking soda and even dill pickles. We use unsalted butter.

    I make salt-free "breakfast sausage" from ground chicken and pork and a lot of seasonings. I don't automatically add salt to cooking and have started using a salt grinder so I only put in a tiny bit when I do.

    We're not always within our sodium limits but most days we are well-below 1500 mg. and we are not feeling deprived. We reserve most of our sodium for CHEESE. We love cheese! Wallace of "Wallace & Gromit" is our hero.

    Good luck in your low sodium adventures!
  • RoxyannR
    RoxyannR Posts: 4 Member
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    Thank you everyone for your help. Many things to think about and finding way to change them.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
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    For the average person, it is now thought that 3000-5000 mg of sodium per day is ideal. Are you exceeding that? If not, you may not have to worry about it.
  • Aerona85
    Aerona85 Posts: 159 Member
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    nvmomketo wrote: »
    For the average person, it is now thought that 3000-5000 mg of sodium per day is ideal. Are you exceeding that? If not, you may not have to worry about it.

    This! Unless you have health conditions that mean you need lower, the common advice has been raising salt allotment as they didn't have any scientific backing to the numbers they had before. Regardless of what intake you are shooting for, make sure you are getting enough potassium and enough water.

  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    nvmomketo wrote: »
    For the average person, it is now thought that 3000-5000 mg of sodium per day is ideal. Are you exceeding that? If not, you may not have to worry about it.

    I'd blow up like a water balloon if i consumed that much :worried:
  • MichelleSilverleaf
    MichelleSilverleaf Posts: 2,028 Member
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    Christine_72 wrote: »
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    For the average person, it is now thought that 3000-5000 mg of sodium per day is ideal. Are you exceeding that? If not, you may not have to worry about it.

    I'd blow up like a water balloon if i consumed that much :worried:

    Same, too much over what I'm given through MFP always seems to make my ankles swell. Thing I think a lot of people forget is that the recommendations are just that, general recommendations. Obviously that number is going to differ for a lot of people based on factors. I don't think it was ever intended as a hard and fast number.
  • VeronicaA76
    VeronicaA76 Posts: 1,116 Member
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    MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »
    Christine_72 wrote: »
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    For the average person, it is now thought that 3000-5000 mg of sodium per day is ideal. Are you exceeding that? If not, you may not have to worry about it.

    I'd blow up like a water balloon if i consumed that much :worried:

    Same, too much over what I'm given through MFP always seems to make my ankles swell. Thing I think a lot of people forget is that the recommendations are just that, general recommendations. Obviously that number is going to differ for a lot of people based on factors. I don't think it was ever intended as a hard and fast number.

    Very true. If you happen to live in a very hot climate and tend to sweat a lot, you lose salt with sweat and need it replaced. Best thing is to go by your personal physician's or local registered dietician's recommendation. If you can't get to one, listen to your body. I can have over my recommended amount and no effect, I also live in the desert and tend to sweat a lot

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