Holy Sodium Batman!

PineappleMartini
PineappleMartini Posts: 54 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I changed my settings so that I track my sodium intake since I have high blood pressure. I had no clue that I am taking in that much sodium! I even changed most of my stuff that I buy to low sodium foods.

Now that I'm even more aware of my sodium intake I'm shocked at the sodium counts on food. Although, I guess I really shouldn't be shocked, if it's a processed food then I'm going to find lots of sodium in it to make it "taste good." I don't eat the frozen diet meals and things like that - I cook most of my own food and just make lots of extra for lunches.

Anyone else also working on limiting sodium? How do you do it? Should I just really up my veggie intake? I'm on two BP meds and I *really* want to get off of them but I'm having a lot of trouble eliminating sodium!

Replies

  • chrisb75
    chrisb75 Posts: 395 Member
    Up your potassium intake, don't buy prepackaged ANYTHING, and drink lots of water.
  • k8lyn_235
    k8lyn_235 Posts: 507 Member
    i am having a lot of trouble with that! i never used to pay attention to sodium, but high blood pressure does run in my family and i have noticed that the older i get, the more salt i want to add to foods. but it is definitely shocking to see how much sodium is in some food. it's really difficult for me to keep sodium low.
  • vjrose
    vjrose Posts: 809 Member
    I am on 1500 mg per day restriction and only occassionally go over 1,000, pretty much no processed food except for treats, that's what drives my sodium up occassionally, my diary is public feel free to browse.
  • kassied09
    kassied09 Posts: 397
    Shop and eat on the outside of grocery aisles is the best suggestion for this...So yes more fruits, veggies, and meats. Basically..packaged foods = sodium and sugar.
  • Kirsty_UK
    Kirsty_UK Posts: 964 Member
    Great job on working on your sodium - so many people just look at calories.

    After a while, you'll probably find that foods start tasting saltier, and then you can tell what's got a lot of salt in it - for example tinned soups.
  • maletac
    maletac Posts: 767 Member
    make all your own food.

    eat lots of veggies and fruits

    go white meat and good cuts (turkey chicken tuna, breasts oro white meat)
  • breakbad
    breakbad Posts: 13
    Absolutely no frozen meals! Lots of foods are high in sodium. If you have a lot of weight to lose, you may want to try Body by Vi......it's absolutely awesome!! I check sodium content on everything that I eat!!
  • Josie_lifting_cats
    Josie_lifting_cats Posts: 949 Member
    I just had to comment because your title is what I say every day that my diary shows I'm crazy over in sodium. :smile: I had to see who talks like me!
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
    Eliminate everything you possibly can that's prepackaged, and especially canned. For veggies, stick with raw where you can and cook them yourself, and/or "fresh frozen" with no salt added where you can't do raw.

    Replace your table salt (if you can't eliminate it) with one of the various salt substitutes, especially one that uses potassium for flavoring instead of sodium. You'll lower your sodium AND increase your potassium levels.

    Review any low-fat or low-calorie prepackaged foods - they generally use sugars and sodium to make them taste good, and you may need more of your intake from fats and proteins, so the full-fat versions may actually fit your diet better and cut your sodium at the same time.

    Exercise will flush sodium out of your system, as will extra water. But maintaining a high sodium intake for a long period is probably not very good for you.
  • MelissaL582
    MelissaL582 Posts: 1,422 Member
    Sodium is the devil. Lol! I started tracking two month into my journey and I was shocked. Even more now when I go out to eat, even Subway is packed with sodium. Boo... Yesterday, I had a 6 inch on wheat Spicy Italian with lettuce, onion, olive, banana peppers and honey mustard- the sodium 1885mg! Obviously the olive and peppers didn't help with that but hot dang!
  • countrywildflower
    countrywildflower Posts: 42 Member
    I also had a wake up call on the sodium. im just learning.
  • sundancer1966
    sundancer1966 Posts: 478 Member
    I suffer from the same problem, I track my sodium also, but have been failing misserably with my levels and it is taking me weeks to undo the damage done in one week of eating processed foods for lunch along with my salads. I don't have high blood pressure, but higher sodium adds water weight to me very quickly, I drink over 80 fl oz of water a day, and still retain if my sodium is too high.
  • ltlemermaid
    ltlemermaid Posts: 637 Member
    I am watching my sodium intake as well and have found these tips to be helpful:

    1. stop using canned foods--buy veggies frozen (check label and make sure no extras just veggies), or fresh.
    2. Limit/avoid pre-packaged foods-yes they are easy to grab and heat up but sodium is killer in these.
    3. Use different spices to flavor foods instead of salt. or use salt sparingly. I really like Trader Joe's 21 seasoning salute-no salt and so yummy.
    4. natural/fresh foods have sodium in them and I don't worry about that.
    5. Cook your own chicken/turkey breast (go for the all natural brands-yes they cost more but they are not injected with sodium/broth to be bigger) for sandwhiches-I do this when I have some around. You will be surprised how much sodium is in deli meats.

    6. If I know I am going to go over I drink a lot more water to balance it out.
  • PineappleMartini
    PineappleMartini Posts: 54 Member
    Thanks everyone! I have been cutting back on canned veggies and I'm now buying frozen and I buy fresh veggies when I know I'm going to eat it that day. I have a tendency to kinda waste fresh stuff by not eating it quickly so frozen is best for me. I don't use any extra salt on foods when I cook as I've always been sensitive to sodium and LOTS of foods already are too salty for me.

    I'm pretty sure it's the canned foods that are getting me. I'm used to easy cooking and nothing real complicated bc, well, I'm lazy and I have a two hour commute each day and meh... I've been grilling my chicken almost every day but I'm thinking of buying a grill thingy to grill some veggies too. I'm going to have to find a Trader Joe's here and get some of that seasoning I think.
  • k8lyn_235
    k8lyn_235 Posts: 507 Member
    btw - kind of a side note, but if you are on certain blood pressure medications they can increase the potassium in your body so you may not want to use salt substitutes (which contain potassium) until after speaking with your doctor or pharmacist. but, if you aren't on any meds then go ahead and use them! ha.

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