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How to avoid so much sodium

Cooperhind972
Cooperhind972 Posts: 2 Member
in Food and Nutrition

I’ve been logging my diet and i’ve noticed that my sodium intake is double what it should be. I eat very healthy but I would like to get this number down as too much sodium poses risks to my health.

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Answers

  • Cooperhind972
    Cooperhind972 Posts: 2 Member

    any ideas or recommendations on how to get high protien carbs and fat without taking in so much sodium?

  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,761 Member
    edited March 5

    Are you tracking your food? If so, first look through your day and note the highest sodium items. Then check against an independent database (USDA, for instance, or the label if it's packet) and make sure the amounts of sodium listed by MFP are accurate. If yes, start looking at alternatives or lower sodium versions of those things.

    It's a bit hard to give advice on reducing sodium when we don't know what you're eating that's making it high. Knowing that is the starting point of meaningfully reducing it.

    Whole foods, meats, oils, veggies, fruit, nuts, grains etc tend to have low sodium, and sodium gets boosted from processed foods, sauces, seasonings. If you're eating a lot of processed food, look to those first to identify culprits.

  • totameafox
    totameafox Posts: 820 Member

    by not eating processed foods. I make my own meals. I don't add salt. My seasonings don't have salt added. I had to do a little research for those. While sauces and soups that I use to cook with do have a bit more salt than than they would if i made them from scratch, I deal with it because I hate cooking and making sauces and soups from scratch is a step too far. But if you like cooking, you could get by with what comes naturally in the food itself by making it yourself.

  • yakkystuff
    yakkystuff Posts: 83 Member
    edited March 5

    I was shocked too. Even eggs, especially cheese, commercial salsa and salad dressings. Add some ham and kapow!

    There are reduced sodium products for some foods, but i struggle with salt all the time too... it was even in my fav spice blends...

    And... as i switch over to reduced foods, i notice things don't taste like I expect. After awhile, it gets better if i intensify flavors with other spices and sodium free bouillons... have leaned into pepper(s)

  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 9,096 Member
    edited 6:35PM

    Be sure to look at it from other angles, too. Sodium guidelines are just that: guidelines.

    If you’re very active and/or tend to sweat a lot, affected by climate, have a job involving physical labor, you may actually need more than the recommended amount of sodium.

    I live in the Deep South. It’s hot here. I’m a sweater. I also do five or six hot yoga classes a week, walk the dog umpteen times a day, swim laps several times a week (sweat? In the pool? Honey, bathing caps are sweat machines!). I can literally be freezing my tushy off, and sweating like a pig at the same time.

    As a result, I often can’t get enough salt, and will seek salty snacks, or even resort to eating a sprinkle of salt out of my palm. If I could have a deer salt lick in my living room, I’d probably wear out the rug beating a path to it.

    Just a thought. You might not fit in the statistical box , either.

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