Minimum salt and sugar

PWHF wrote: »

As I suspected I've gone through several of the regular foods I log that have 0 sodium and updated them with actual values. My typical daily intake has gone from way under to almost 2g over...

That is a real problem on MFP - people creating entries without the sodium # or other #'s they aren't interested in. When I create a Food entry, I enter all fields which the manufacturer provides, as kind of a contribution to the public square, since the only #'s I care about are calories, sodium, and protein.

Always check an MFP entry in detail before using. Always.

psychod787 wrote: »

If you have 2 properly functioning kidneys, sodium will most likely regulate itself.

When you have high blood pressure, sodium becomes one of the most important variables in your life, even if your kidneys are winning awards for excellence.

With salt i believe you will need a minimum to maintain a healthy balance but with sugar, the less the better

lgfrie wrote: »

psychod787 wrote: »

lgfrie wrote: »

psychod787 wrote: »

If you have 2 properly functioning kidneys, sodium will most likely regulate itself.

When you have high blood pressure, sodium becomes one of the most important variables in your life, even if your kidneys are winning awards for excellence.

Really? Being overweight is a far greater driver of hypertension in general. There is some evidence that sodium is an issue. There is also some that its not.

Sure, being obese is very bad for hypertension. So is excessive sodium. I'm pretty sure that is as close to "established medical fact" as anything out there. Not being a doctor, I won't argue the point, but having been told by several doctors over the years to reduce reduce reduce my sodium intake to avoid hypertension, I'll stick with that.

I know that when I have a very salty meal, my BP rockets up 15-20 points, and when I'm being really diligent about sticking to the 1500 mg my doc recommended, it's 10 points lower than when I get lazy and consume a more typical 2500-3000 mg. The relationship of BP and sodium is quite explicit in my little n=1 data sample.

Ok, the body likes to maintain a certain homeostatic range for sodium. If it didn't, we would all he dead from Hypernatremia. In general if someone has a few high sodium days, they will retain some water and then either sweat or piss it out. So i go back to my original statement. AS LONG AS SOMEONE HAS 2 GOOD WORKING KIDNEYS. Sodium is not the greatest thing to worry about. I am NOT advocating for someone to eat 5+ grams of salt a day, but a few days is not that great of a concern.

As OP has no hypertension issues. As little as 500mg a day will suffice.

PWHF wrote: »

lgfrie wrote: »

PWHF wrote: »

As I suspected I've gone through several of the regular foods I log that have 0 sodium and updated them with actual values. My typical daily intake has gone from way under to almost 2g over...

That is a real problem on MFP - people creating entries without the sodium # or other #'s they aren't interested in. When I create a Food entry, I enter all fields which the manufacturer provides, as kind of a contribution to the public square, since the only #'s I care about are calories, sodium, and protein.

Always check an MFP entry in detail before using. Always.

This

Now I've entered the sodium numbers that were previously 0 for my most regular foods I'm over double the recommended amount in MFP. Keeping this in check is going to be a real challenge. Turns out my protein shake on it's own is 1170 mg - that's getting on for 50% of my daily recommended right there. Anything processed or ready prepared is high and any meat substitute has ridiculous amounts of salt in it.

Should probably start a new thread (if there isn't one already) about how do you keep your salt/sodium in the green on MFP...

1170 is reaaaallllllly excessive for a protein shake. That'd be better called a salt shake with protein added!

You are quite right, almost all processed foods, including meat substitutes, are very high in sodium.

From personal experience, it isn't very hard to transition to a reasonable 2000-2500 mg/day. Meats and vegetables have just trace amounts of sodium, and many other foods are reasonable too, except for highly processed foods. Ready prepared meals can be OK; I get meals delivered from a local company, Mighty Meals, that are quite reasonable sodium wise. The most important thing to keep in mind is that you do adjust to having less sodium and once you've made the adjustment, it's easy.

For instance, I get premium no salt added tuna delivered from Amazon. First time I had a can, I couldn't believe how bland it was LOL But over a few weeks I developed a taste for it. Now, other tuna tastes like a can of salt with a little tuna squeezed in and this premium stuff is loaded with actual tuna flavor and the only tuna I will eat. Same with Boars Head turkey no salt added - at first it was like, "wow, that has no flavor" but later on I realized it actually tastes like ... turkey, just like on Thanksgiving, and not a salt stick with turkey flavoring. Your taste buds and mind do adjust. The American diet is soaked in salt and it isn't hard to readjust to normal foods that occur in nature.

Any doctor -- and really, that'd be "any" doctor, because they all agree on this, and I've literally never met a doctor who wasn't adamant about it -- would tell you that getting your sodium down to something like MFP's recommended 2300 mg/day is one of the best things you can do for your health and lifespan. The American Heart Association says 1500, which is harder. I strive for that number; sometimes I make it, often I don't. But in general, no more 1170 mg shakes, for that kind of sodium ingestion, you may as well have a big, fat salami sub, which will taste better and give you all the protein of the shake too LOL