Is sodium really bad?

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  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,583 Member
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    I'm Asian. I bleed sodium.:laugh:

    In reality, sodium in high amounts really only affects those who are sensitive to it or have high blood pressure. Of course a symptom of it is water retention if you aren't getting in enough water. But for many high sodium doesn't affect their health.


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  • bjohs
    bjohs Posts: 1,225 Member
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    my sodium is usually above MFP guidelines but i drink tons of water everyday.. so should I really be concerned with sodium content?

    Have your doctor run all the routine tests. If they come out normal, you're fine for now. But try to cut back a little at a time. The American Heart Association recommends no more than 1,500mg per day for a healthy heart. But our bodies do need sodium to survive... just not as much as people are having in all the processed food these days.
  • beachbumant_man
    beachbumant_man Posts: 48 Member
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  • toriaenator
    toriaenator Posts: 423 Member
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    not really important unless you have high blood pressure or bloating issues! but the cleaner / less processed you eat, the less sodium!
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
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    Sodium doesn't necessarily mean you get bloaty. What causes that is a combination of excess sodium and insufficient potassium intake. It's all about electrolyte balance.

    If you are bloating from the high sodium, try to balance your potassium intake by eating more foods that are potassium rich: potatoes, spinach, bananas, beans, starchy veggies. Also, try to limit your frozen, prepackaged, and restaurant foods.

    If you have high blood pressure, then you should talk to your doctor about what is an appropriate sodium intake. Otherwise, if you don't mind the water retention, don't worry about it.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    Why do people always say clean eating means no sodium? I use salt in my cooking. I make everything from scratch and routinely eat 2500-3500mg of sodium a day. Since when does clean eating mean bland food?

    Unless you are sensitive (a small minority) or have high blood pressure, there are no health risks to consuming salt. In fact, most of the research that's been done actually shows high sodium intakes actually have a protective effect on healthy people, protecting against heart disease and stroke, the things that the anti-sodium crowd blame salt for. Ironic, don'tcha think?
  • VMarkV
    VMarkV Posts: 522 Member
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    My understanding is that too much sodium and sugar in your blood is what causes scrapes and tears inside your arteries, vessels and all that..that's how people that are dietetic sometimes lose their sight, how plaque build ups have a place to stick and get larger over time(a blockage), and the fun thing about a blood vessel swelling so much it bursts and you have a stroke. Yeah that's extreme but a lifetime of abuse can lead to serious problems. I had to learn the hard way.
    No, that's from neoropathy/poor circulation from blood not being able to reach certain areas of the body. It's from a lack of oxygen being delivered from blood. Sugar/salt doesn't sit in the blood stream
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 9,969 Member
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    Why do people always say clean eating means no sodium? I use salt in my cooking. I make everything from scratch and routinely eat 2500-3500mg of sodium a day. Since when does clean eating mean bland food?

    Jump to conclusions much? I never said clean eating mean no sodium and didn't say clean eating means bland food. If someone wants to reduce their salt intake, reducing processed food does that by default and how much someone uses from there is up to the individual, personally I use a good amount daily, I think it's the most important mineral on the planet, but then again I'm a chef.
  • KristalDawnO
    KristalDawnO Posts: 154 Member
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    Most definitely it is for me. I'm a human water balloon.

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