Kill my sodium level and possible Cholesterol

So looking over MyFitnessPal diary I see that on pretty much all days I am WAY over on sodium and my cholesterol level is really high. Cholesterol is over by 440 mg and my sodium is over by 2,272 mg. Any help here?

Replies

  • WholeFoods4Lyfe
    WholeFoods4Lyfe Posts: 1,518 Member
    Can you open up your food diary or share what you eat in a typical day? It is hard to make recommendations without knowing what you are eating.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,415 Member
    Well, study your FOOD page and cut back on those things that push you over.

    Cholesterol = animal products
    Sodium = processed foods, cheese, breads, deli meat, etc.
  • BuddhaBunnyFTW
    BuddhaBunnyFTW Posts: 157 Member
    edited August 2021
    I eat primarily vegan and my saturated fat averages about 2 grams with nearly no cholesterol. And I eat very low sodium because I like the natural taste of fruits and veggies.
  • dviolin1982
    dviolin1982 Posts: 17 Member
    Don't fry anything
    Don't use table salt
    Convenience foods - no

    It's hard to know because I can't see what is on your diary but... yeah.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    If you have medical reasons to need to watch these we can help you more easily if you change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

    I don't look at sodium or cholesterol at all.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    if you do not have high blood pressure (or borderline) there is really no reason to be concerned about sodium levels. same for cholesterol. i think i have mine tracking right now just because i was curious and never took it off. mine always seems high, but i dont have high BP (quite the opposite, in fact). even my doctor says its not something that i need to concern myself with at all.

    there are a lot of foods that are high in sodium that are very good at HIDING that sodium. many processed foods, cheeses, breads, deli meats or other highly processed meats, frozen prepared meals, restaurant meals, etc
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,091 Member
    Don't fry anything
    Don't use table salt
    Convenience foods - no

    It's hard to know because I can't see what is on your diary but... yeah.

    If you're frying in vegetable oil, you're not adding any dietary cholesterol.
  • Safari_Gal_
    Safari_Gal_ Posts: 1,461 Member
    edited August 2021
    wmische9 wrote: »
    So looking over MyFitnessPal diary I see that on pretty much all days I am WAY over on sodium and my cholesterol level is really high. Cholesterol is over by 440 mg and my sodium is over by 2,272 mg. Any help here?

    @wmische9 - If you want to cut back on sodium, I would read all labels. Sodium can add up really easy especially with prepared foods and take out. Make low sodium or no sodium choices.

    Maybe read through your diary .. what are the biggest sodium contenders?

    Good that you caught it so you can monitor it though. 👍🏻


    American Heart Association on sodium:
    https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/sodium/how-much-sodium-should-i-eat-per-day
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,210 Member
    I believe the USDA now regards dietary cholesterol as a nutrient of no concern, something like that. In Canada it's never been restricted. Anyway the body makes around 3 to 4 thousand mgs a day for bodily function and if you eat foods with cholesterol the liver will just manufacture less. Salt, well I think everyone pretty much exceeds RDA.
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
    I believe the USDA now regards dietary cholesterol as a nutrient of no concern, something like that. In Canada it's never been restricted. Anyway the body makes around 3 to 4 thousand mgs a day for bodily function and if you eat foods with cholesterol the liver will just manufacture less. Salt, well I think everyone pretty much exceeds RDA.

    Some recent research has indicated that high LDL is affected more by genetics than dietary cholesterol. However, trans fats have been shown to both increase LDL and triglycerides, and decrease HDL (one of the reasons s they’re now labeled separately on food labels) regardless of genetics.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,210 Member
    edited August 2021
    Psychgrrl wrote: »
    I believe the USDA now regards dietary cholesterol as a nutrient of no concern, something like that. In Canada it's never been restricted. Anyway the body makes around 3 to 4 thousand mgs a day for bodily function and if you eat foods with cholesterol the liver will just manufacture less. Salt, well I think everyone pretty much exceeds RDA.

    Some recent research has indicated that high LDL is affected more by genetics than dietary cholesterol. However, trans fats have been shown to both increase LDL and triglycerides, and decrease HDL (one of the reasons s they’re now labeled separately on food labels) regardless of genetics.
    Yeah, dietary cholesterol doesn't really effect serum cholesterol because it's the liver that distributes cholesterol to our cells in lipoproteins. Dietary cholesterol is not water soluble and why it doesn't just end up in our blood. LDL's are lipoproteins and carry cholesterol, triglycerides, fat soluble vitamins like vit E and CoQ10 for example. The more triglycerides take up the space in lipoproteins the less cholesterol is transported so the liver makes more lipoproteins to compensate and these are called very small dense lipoproteins sdLDL or pattern B which are considered very atherogenic. Pattern A are the more buoyant lipoproteins and carry more cholesterol and by default carry less trigs. Basically a person could have a base line LDL of 120 and 4000 particles and another person could have the same baseline LDL but with 800 particles which is considered less atherogenic. That's basically the reason why looking at just LDL as a health marker means almost nothing and why they look at HDL and triglycerides. If a person has high trigs you can pretty much bet they have pattern B and their HDL will be lower. Lifestyle and genetics to a smaller degree dictate how the liver is going to distribute cholesterol, and your right transfats are not good because they lower HDL ands mess with the liver's LDL production.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator
    Psychgrrl wrote: »
    I believe the USDA now regards dietary cholesterol as a nutrient of no concern, something like that. In Canada it's never been restricted. Anyway the body makes around 3 to 4 thousand mgs a day for bodily function and if you eat foods with cholesterol the liver will just manufacture less. Salt, well I think everyone pretty much exceeds RDA.

    Some recent research has indicated that high LDL is affected more by genetics than dietary cholesterol. However, trans fats have been shown to both increase LDL and triglycerides, and decrease HDL (one of the reasons s they’re now labeled separately on food labels) regardless of genetics.
    Yeah, dietary cholesterol doesn't really effect serum cholesterol because it's the liver that distributes cholesterol to our cells in lipoproteins. Dietary cholesterol is not water soluble and why it doesn't just end up in our blood. LDL's are lipoproteins and carry cholesterol, triglycerides, fat soluble vitamins like vit E and CoQ10 for example. The more triglycerides take up the space in lipoproteins the less cholesterol is transported so the liver makes more lipoproteins to compensate and these are called very small dense lipoproteins sdLDL or pattern B which are considered very atherogenic. Pattern A are the more buoyant lipoproteins and carry more cholesterol and by default carry less trigs. Basically a person could have a base line LDL of 120 and 4000 particles and another person could have the same baseline LDL but with 800 particles which is considered less atherogenic. That's basically the reason why looking at just LDL as a health marker means almost nothing and why they look at HDL and triglycerides. If a person has high trigs you can pretty much bet they have pattern B and their HDL will be lower. Lifestyle and genetics to a smaller degree dictate how the liver is going to distribute cholesterol, and your right transfats are not good because they lower HDL ands mess with the liver's LDL production.

    Yep. I think its like 1% of people who have familia hypercholesterolemia which is a condition in which dietary cholesterol affects serum levels. But the majority will not need to worry about consumption of animal products.

    In general, the most recent data suggest a balance of lean proteins and fibrous foods is a great common. The biggest thing to improve metabolic health is losing weight, exercise and focusing on whole foods.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,210 Member
    psuLemon wrote: »
    Psychgrrl wrote: »
    I believe the USDA now regards dietary cholesterol as a nutrient of no concern, something like that. In Canada it's never been restricted. Anyway the body makes around 3 to 4 thousand mgs a day for bodily function and if you eat foods with cholesterol the liver will just manufacture less. Salt, well I think everyone pretty much exceeds RDA.

    Some recent research has indicated that high LDL is affected more by genetics than dietary cholesterol. However, trans fats have been shown to both increase LDL and triglycerides, and decrease HDL (one of the reasons s they’re now labeled separately on food labels) regardless of genetics.
    Yeah, dietary cholesterol doesn't really effect serum cholesterol because it's the liver that distributes cholesterol to our cells in lipoproteins. Dietary cholesterol is not water soluble and why it doesn't just end up in our blood. LDL's are lipoproteins and carry cholesterol, triglycerides, fat soluble vitamins like vit E and CoQ10 for example. The more triglycerides take up the space in lipoproteins the less cholesterol is transported so the liver makes more lipoproteins to compensate and these are called very small dense lipoproteins sdLDL or pattern B which are considered very atherogenic. Pattern A are the more buoyant lipoproteins and carry more cholesterol and by default carry less trigs. Basically a person could have a base line LDL of 120 and 4000 particles and another person could have the same baseline LDL but with 800 particles which is considered less atherogenic. That's basically the reason why looking at just LDL as a health marker means almost nothing and why they look at HDL and triglycerides. If a person has high trigs you can pretty much bet they have pattern B and their HDL will be lower. Lifestyle and genetics to a smaller degree dictate how the liver is going to distribute cholesterol, and your right transfats are not good because they lower HDL ands mess with the liver's LDL production.

    Yep. I think its like 1% of people who have familia hypercholesterolemia which is a condition in which dietary cholesterol affects serum levels. But the majority will not need to worry about consumption of animal products.

    In general, the most recent data suggest a balance of lean proteins and fibrous foods is a great common. The biggest thing to improve metabolic health is losing weight, exercise and focusing on whole foods.

    You bet. Lifestyle is key with a good social hub of family and friends where exercise is considered mandatory and enjoyable with preparing and consuming more whole foods as the majority of your calories. We would be a much healthier Country and I suspect chronic diseases would move in the other direction. cheers.
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  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,210 Member
    Low carb frightens people is appears. Who would ever support a low carb diet for diabetes? Looks like the ADA does, imagine that.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,183 Member
    Low carb frightens people is appears. Who would ever support a low carb diet for diabetes? Looks like the ADA does, imagine that.

    I'm confused: Did OP say he was diabetic, pre-diabetic, IR or something like that in another thread? Or even what carb level he's pursuing now?

    For clarity: I have nothing against low carb diets for anyone who prefers them, and of course diabetics (and those heading that way) will need to be managing carb intake. (I'm not a low carb eater, personally - no need, and not my preference.)

    Here, in this thread, the OP is just talking about high dietary cholesterol and sodium.
  • MargaretYakoda
    MargaretYakoda Posts: 2,987 Member
    wmische9 wrote: »
    So looking over MyFitnessPal diary I see that on pretty much all days I am WAY over on sodium and my cholesterol level is really high. Cholesterol is over by 440 mg and my sodium is over by 2,272 mg. Any help here?

    Are you experiencing high blood pressure or any other symptoms that could be associated with high sodium consumption?

    And is your doctor concerned about the levels of cholesterol in your blood?
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,210 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Low carb frightens people is appears. Who would ever support a low carb diet for diabetes? Looks like the ADA does, imagine that.

    I'm confused: Did OP say he was diabetic, pre-diabetic, IR or something like that in another thread? Or even what carb level he's pursuing now?

    For clarity: I have nothing against low carb diets for anyone who prefers them, and of course diabetics (and those heading that way) will need to be managing carb intake. (I'm not a low carb eater, personally - no need, and not my preference.)

    Here, in this thread, the OP is just talking about high dietary cholesterol and sodium.

    Haha, I posted this in the wrong thread.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,183 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Low carb frightens people is appears. Who would ever support a low carb diet for diabetes? Looks like the ADA does, imagine that.

    I'm confused: Did OP say he was diabetic, pre-diabetic, IR or something like that in another thread? Or even what carb level he's pursuing now?

    For clarity: I have nothing against low carb diets for anyone who prefers them, and of course diabetics (and those heading that way) will need to be managing carb intake. (I'm not a low carb eater, personally - no need, and not my preference.)

    Here, in this thread, the OP is just talking about high dietary cholesterol and sodium.

    Haha, I posted this in the wrong thread.

    Wondered if that might be it - you're normally on point (which is not the same as saying I always agree with you 😉). Wrong thread: I've been there, done that.😆
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,210 Member
    Cheers. :)