sodium intake, hypertension and weight loss

I did Medical Weight Loss program which is also a low sodium diet. On their diet I was not allowed to eat anything pre-prepared aka frozen "lean" foods. I learned to cook my own meats with garlic or onion salt and used the salad spritzers which had a lot less salt than normal dressing. To reduce the sodium think 50's cooking. Fresh fruit, fresh veges, meat or beans for protein, and whole grains. Shop the outside of the supermarket, and don't even tempt your self with "inside".

Cheese amazes me... I never knew it was so loaded with salt!

Thanks for sharing your find on low -sodium cheeses.

It's one of the scary things about tracking macro nutrients, just how much hidden sodium there is in things. I've been tracking for the last week, making very little change in my diet, just reducing snacks, and seeing where calories and sodium are coming from. I hadn't realized quite how much processed meat I was eating, and cheese, all of which are awful for sodium and fat. I need to drop the cheese, processed meats, canned soup (get organized and make my own) and reduce bread consumption. Maybe go back to home made bread where I can control the salt added, although I find portion control very difficult with home made bread! I thought because I wasn't adding salt to the food I cooked or at the table I would be doing Ok. But it is not so.

I've had high blood pressure since the birth of my second child 13 years ago,(I had gestational hypertension which just never went away). My weight (including being 15 kgs lighter and much fitter than I am now) never made any diffence, but I've never really looked at salt intake, and it's probably about time I tried.

I've no idea if I'm salt sensitive-one of the aims of this tracking exercise I am doing at the moment is to see if I am. I know that my hypertension is not particularly sensitive to diet and exercise as I got down to recommended body weight and a pretty low percentage body fat with heavy (and I mean heavy!) weight lifting for several years and it made zero difference to the blood pressure readings. Then I had a herniated disc in my back and tore my ankle ligaments apart which stopped the exercise in its tracks and I put most of the weight back on again. And not a change in the blood pressure.

But it's not healthy to be this heavy and do this little exercise-I've got early signs of osteo arthritis in my knees and ankles and the extra weight isn't doing them any good. So I plan to gradually increase exercise and see what my back and joints can cope with, reduce the amount of junk I am eating, watch portion size, and track sodium and caffeine to see whether that makes a difference.

Same here - the processed foods and canned goods are loaded with tons of it. I wish the app allowed you to SET the sodium limits to 1500 or whatever your goal should be. I don't like it stating your goal. I am a new heart patient and need to not only monitor but learn to limit this number; and to me it is more important than my calorie intake!