Sodium...What to do about that sodium...

Seems like EVERYTHING has sodium in it. Everyday I'm at least around 200% - 300% of daily needs for that category. Anyone else struggling with high Sodium and what have you done about it?

Try to avoid processed foods when possible. That's the main source of sodium in food these days - preservatives in packaged food.

Even so I am still well over 200% if not 300% on a daily basis. I don't worry about it. You really should only worry about it if you have hypertension or are predisposed to it.

I stopped eating processed foods as well - deli meat was KILLING me!  My sodium is averaging about 1700mg per day.

Me too with the deli meat !!!!

I am also paranoid about putting salt in my meals, what are the guidelines on this, my fiance does a lot of cooking and I ask him enough about whats in it and I think the third degree over how much salt did he put in was nearly the breaking point the other week :)

So if he is as I suspect just putting to taste, currently I am not logging this should I and how much do you think it would be.

I too am very confused on the sodium issue especially as I am not fantastic on my water intake some days although I am trying to fix this.

thanks for any info peeps :)

When I first started on here I was horrified by how much sodium I was taking in- as everyone has said, there's sodium in the weirdest things you'd never imagine would be so salty.

A couple of days recently I've had to ADD salt to my dinner because my sodium levels were too LOW. Yesterday I had sushi and I was way over. I figure if I have mostly days that are low-sodium I can have some sushi every now and again- I have genetically low blood pressure anyway.

I eat very naturally and try to avoid processed food- deli meat went straight out the window, and I don't eat canned food and rarely eat other packaged food (except cereal and milk.) And unless I know I've had a low-salt day, I don't salt my food. You get used to it.

No. Because I don't eat processed/packaged foods. 

**HINT HINT!!**

It depends on what you're eating.  I eat a lot of shellfish, so my sodium levels tend to get high.  Make good food choices and drink water.

Just to add to the fun, the link between sodium and high blood pressure was based on the results of one study. A more recent, larger study which was published a couple of years ago came to the conclusion that there was no direct evidence of a link between sodium in the diet and high blood pressure.

Having said that, there IS a strong link between blood pressure and a bad imbalance of Sodium/Potassium levels. So it probably makes sense to cut back on sodium intake AND boost potassium intake at the same time - if all else fails use the lo-salt substitutes which often replace sodium chloride with potassium chloride.

Scientific American: It's time to end the war on Salt

Every few years the medics reverse direction on so many things, I've given up worrying about getting everything exactly on target.

There are small, easy steps that can be taken: use dry beans (not canned); get low-sodium canned tomatoes, salsa, pickles, and soy sauce, no salt added cottage cheese; look for lower sodium cheeses (this is always a hard one). Read labels.

Reduce portion sizes -- if the portion size is 7 slices of thinly sliced lunch meat, then use 3 slices; same with cheese, pickles, etc.

Try making as much of your food as possible, especially soups, stews, chili, salad dressings, marinades, etc. Increase other spices to replace salt. Taste your meal first, and then salt lightly if needed.

In recipes, reduce the salt by 1/4 or 1/2 (I tend to use approximately 1/4 of the salt listed in a recipe). However, in some recipes (such as breads/muffins), there's sodium in baking soda & baking powder, and I'm not sure how much that can be reduced while still producing the desired leavening.

I buy fresh vegetables to cook or eat raw rather than prepared canned or pre-packaged unless they are low-sodium versions. I buy frozen veggies only when fresh are not available and I always read labels for added sodium. I always avoid the frozen meals isle, canned goods and try to make fresh selections from the outside isles of the grocery store instead. Also, if available to you, shop from a local produce market. Foods at these markets is nearly always much fresher than your grocer and pack a stronger punch on nutritional value than "shipped in" produce. Eat fresh frozen when fresh isn't an option. Fresh frozen also have better nutrition often than the fresh "trucked in" versions because they are prepared and frozen when only hours old. Watch for fresh produce is marked "local" in your local grocer. These may be a bit pricier but will also be tastier and healthier for you. I also have a tendency to avoid produce trucked here from Mexico, Guatemala or other foreign countries because we don't know what chemicals have been used on the produce. FDA and cleanliness standards are not up to par in these countries and we are "taking their word" as to what chemicals  and handling standards were used. 

If you replace pre-pared goods with fresh selections, you'll find that your sodium is reduced to near nothing. I use a very tiny amount of salt now, less than 1/8 tsp per day, to season my fresh foods and that's plenty both taste and nutritionally. I taste first and then season if needed. I also read the labels on every food I consume, even items I don't think will have sodium. If you have to shop from the canned or prepared isles, look for "no-sodium" or "low-sodium" versions. Since I started eating only "clean" foods, my blood pressure has come down to normal without meds and my taste buds have altered and fresh foods taste good again. Give it a try!

Interesting replies to this topic. Being a retired Chef as well as Culinary Arts Teacher, I am well aware of the excess sodium in most prepackages foods. It seems that anything and everything you purchase these days, except fresh produce, has an excess of sodium in it, whether as a flavor enhancer, or as a preservative. Personally, I try cooking with "no sodium" as well as with "low-sodium" products, and increasing the potassium by eating more fresh fruits and vegetables. I bake all my own breads as the store-bought versions have way to many chemical additions to increase shelf-life. It definitely pays to read labels before purchasing and to compare different brands, as the sodium frequently varies quite a bit. 

I don't worry about it at all.  I don't have HBP and love salt. I buy kosher salt because it is all flaky and bursting with salt flavor when I bite down on it so I put a little on practically everything on my plate just so I can have that nice crunchy salty taste.

A side benefit:  It makes me thirsty so I never run short on my water drinking.  I don't even bother to log it because I must drink 10 or more glasses a day.

I will not eat anything that contains more than 400 mg. of sodium per serving, I do not use or add any table salt or other salts to my cooking, and I stay away from Chinese take out places.

There are a number of Asian style dishes I prepare at home myself with very little sodium content. There are some oriental markets near me, so I can get a number of fresh Chinese veggies. I use little bit of low sodium soy sauce occasionally and serve all the dishes with brown rice.

The only way to keep sodium intake low is to have your diet consist almost entirely of fresh meats and produce, which is not feasibly possible for a lot of people due to the financial impact it can have.  It's just not in the budget for a lot of us.

Being on a low carb diet, I do not worry about my sodium intake either.  It is not a concern, since the diet will regulate the sodium for you.  One of the first things that happens when you start a low carb diet is your body will drastically reduce the amount of water it retains.  This is why you see a rabid weight loss in the first two weeks on the diet; your body is dumping the excess salt and water from it that a higher carbohydrate diet causes.  It takes potassium too, so you will need to make sure you are getting enough potassium when doing low carb.  

Of course, as others have mentioned, I know longer eat any of those high sodium processed foods either.  There are just too many carbs in them.  A low carb diet pretty much requires you to eat mainly whole foods (whole fruits and vegetables and meat - GO MEAT!!).  I spend most of the time at the grocery store in the perimeter areas where the whole foods are kept.  The aisles are full of processed, high-carb foods. 

Do any of you have sodium tests run by your doctor?

I have....and my sodium has actually been TOO LOW on two of my tests.  I also at home have a tendency to have low blood pressure, sometimes under 100 for the top number. 

I have the reverse problem and am working on adding sodium to my diet!

Let your sodium tests, your blood pressure and your doctor be your guide.....not just the randomness of what everyone tells you you should do.

Like everyone said, limit your intake of processed foods; food from boxes, cans, cartons, and that includes just about all deli meats etc... all have added sodium as it is a preservative, and because the food is so highly processed, they add salt to give it taste... personally I like salt on very few foods, eggs, pretzels, corn on cob. I grew up in a family that put the salt shaker on the table for every meal. I married someone (30+yrs ago) who never salted food growin up. I converted to his way years ago and now find most packaged foods taste awful because of the salt. I once ate a choco-chip cookie a friend's wife made and i said "she puts salt in her receipe doesn't she" and he insisted she didn't because he couldn't taste it and that you did not put salt in cookies receipes. I told him to go home, read the toll-house receipe on the bag and to ask his wife if she used salt. He came back to work the next day and confessed she did. He couldn't taste it because he had a salt laden diet... things actually taste better once you clear your palette of the salt! 

Main source of hidden salt for me is cheese.   Not that I eat that much of it anymore....

The current dietary guidelines recommend eating less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day. If you are African American, 51 years of age or older, have high blood pressure, diabetes or chronic kidney disease, you should further reduce sodium to 1,500 milligrams per day.

To reduce my sodium, I have started reading package labels more carefully.  Be careful, in some cases, when they lower the sodium, they increase the sugar.  I rarely have cheese anymore, except for white cheeses as they tend to have both fewer calories and less salt.

I've started making my own condiments and salad dressing so I can control the salt (and sugar) content. 

Soup was a big culprit in my previous diet.  Restaurant-made and canned soup both have tons of sodium. :(

My all-time favorite potato - tater tots - has TONS of sodium.

Luckily, I didn't have a fast food habit to break.  Fast foods are loaded with sodium. 

Frozen dinners, even if called healthy, are sodium overload culprits.

My husband's blood pressure has gone down a lot since I started cutting sodium from my diet.  :)  He's even reached the point where he has to push away an over-salted item when we go out to eat.

Folks can argue over which study is right, but for most people, it won't hurt you to lower your sodium. 

Original Post by wordsmithmkuk:

Just to add to the fun, the link between sodium and high blood pressure was based on the results of one study. A more recent, larger study which was published a couple of years ago came to the conclusion that there was no direct evidence of a link between sodium in the diet and high blood pressure.

Having said that, there IS a strong link between blood pressure and a bad imbalance of Sodium/Potassium levels. So it probably makes sense to cut back on sodium intake AND boost potassium intake at the same time - if all else fails use the lo-salt substitutes which often replace sodium chloride with potassium chloride.

Scientific American: It's time to end the war on Salt

Every few years the medics reverse direction on so many things, I've given up worrying about getting everything exactly on target.

Thank you so much for posting this.