My new nemesis...SODIUM!!!!!!

Okay..so I read on someone's post (somewhere) that 1000mg of sodium is about what you should be having a day. 

I eat a lot of soup which tends to up my sodium levels.  I try not to eat all of the broth once the veggies and noodles and stuff are gone, but how much sodium is too much sodium?

I drink A LOT of water so I'm hoping that will help balance it out...but...

Do others have this problem?  What do you do?

Actually it should be about 2500 mg per day. And I so hear you about the soup! I found that the Healthy choice soups have HALF the sodium as the Progresso soups.

Half the sodium!?!?!?!  And I'm off to the store!

progresso actually has some reduced sodium soups now. just found it last week. i fixed some minestrone last night.

Thanks watergirl, I'll look for them on my next adventure to the grocery store ; )

Wow....so I just checked my sodium level for the day (thanks food log analysis) and I'm at almost 5,000 mg.  SCARY!  Here's what I've eaten today....

2 Eggs; 1 piece of toast, yogurt

1 serving of pretzels

Campbells select Chicken and Egg Noodles Soup

1 pear

2 cubes of cheese with cantaloupe and honeydew melon

And I'm about to have (which I already logged) a tuna melt with tuna, miracle whip (very little), pickle relish, 1 piece of cheese, and two slices of bread.

Oh...and I've had 80 ounces of water today.  And I have an A- for my nutritional rating.

What, other than the soup, is making my sodium intake so high?

It's suggested to not go over 2500 mg of Na+; you can definitely have less!

Pretzels, soup, cheese, tuna, and pickle relish are high sodium items.

Sodium has been super hard for me too... I'm a student too, so I run out of time between classes to make food and it's easy to resort to Lean Cuisine or cans of soup.  I've been working on making food ahead of time... a package of chicken or a pound of hamburger, and then eating that throughout the week instead of resorting to something with a lot of sodium.  I try to keep my high sodium foods to one per day (ie a lean cuisine for lunch, then real chicken for dinner, or a salad for lunch then tuna for dinner), and cut out as many really salty snacks as I can.  I've managed to get my sodium from consistently about 3000 to down around 2200 a day or so, depending how good I am about it.

I dunno, just a few things that have worked for me.  Also, my name is Kimberly Ann too, I think that's exciting!

Well...It's nice to meet another Kimberly Anne!

After I realized how high my sodium was going to be I changed my mind about what to have for dinner, so I'm at 3100 for the day now.

For the past week on average I've been around 2900.  Looks like I need to make some changes.

I've never paid attention to sodium before!  I just assumed I was eating a normal amount. 

Thanks for the tips.  I'll definitely try them!

Yeah, I didn't pay attention to it either... then I found out it could make you hold on to water, so I tried to cut down on sodium to get off my plateau.  It didn't help with that much, but I do feel better eating fewer processed foods, so it's worth it in that respect :)

I just went to the store and tried to keep myself from buying high sodium foods.  The Healthy Choice soups do have half the sodium of the one's I was eating.

I always thought I could feel it when I was all bloated from salt...now I'm wondering how much salt I had then!

Thanks for all the help!

I have lot's of trouble with sodium, lots, I've just about given up trying to manage it...

Sodium is so high to manage.  My mother has turned into a sodium freak and asks me the sodium level in everything I eat, reminding me that EVERYTHING, even raw chicken is pumped with sodium.

I'm trying to be mindful of it, but I've already had about 3,500 mg of sodium, with little processed food!

I'm attempting a low sodium day.  I'll let you all know how it goes.  I don't like the foods I'm eating as much, that's for sure.  Makes me feel like I'm on a diet....ewww! 

If you are worried about sodium and you like soup, I would try the healthy choice soups.  I was very pleased to find out they have half the sodium of other soups.

I just can't believe how much sodium is in EVERYTHING!  GRRR

Instead of salt add black pepper or whatever your favorite spice is. Same goes if you're trying to cut back on fat. The spices will provide some flavour in place of salt/fat.

Spices good -)

Unfortunately I'm not adding salt to anything, I'm just eating foods that are too high in sodium.

If I ever decide to cook again though I'll definitely keep the spices in mind!

Drinking a lot of water is EXCELLENT; however, I'm not sure where you got the 1000mg information?  The RDA is 2400mg maximum, though most Americans eat closer to 4000-6000mg.  Because I have high BP, I watch my sodium and tried to keep it under the 2400mg.  My advice nurse recently told me that they're now recommending that people with hypertension stay under 2000mg, which I'm now trying to do.

Spices are defo the way to help alleviate the salt desire.  Though I'm not really a huge salt fiend to begin with, I do occasionally like to balance the sweet with savory.  I use garlic powder and onion powder instead of the salt versions when I cook.  And I use pepper and garlic powder on most everything I cook.  Mrs. Dash makes a nice no-salt spice combo that jazzes up things.  I like to put some in my rice when I cook it, and I use it on my meat, pork or chicken when I broil it sometimes.

Not all low-sodium things taste awful either.  Triscuits makes a low-sodium version.  Smart Balance brand margarine and microwave popcorn are excellent.  Trader Joe's carries unsalted blue corn chips that I like.  And you can buy unsalted nuts, too.

Portion size is key, as well.  I used to eat a whole chicken breast at a time.  Now I eat 3-4 ounces of any protein (chicken, beef, pork, fish) at any one time.  I fill up on veggies. 

If I buy canned veggies, I buy the "no salt added" version.  (I really only buy canned green beans and tomatoes.)

On the rare occasion I'm going to have canned soup, I buy the Campbell's "Healthy Request" versions, which, although still incredibly high in sodium, are much lower than their regular soup.  (Again, portion size is key, because I would eat a whole can of chicken noodle soup without putting the can of water in it...)

I check out restaurants - like Panda Express, which is near my office - and though all the dishes have  quite a bit of sodium, I picked the ones I like best with the lowest sodium counts.  (Chicken with Mushrooms and Black Pepper Chicken, in case you're interested.)  And I don't dip my potstickers, if I buy them, in soy sauce, but rather I gather up some of the sauce from the other dishes mentioned above.

Cheese is a huge source of sodium.  I still eat cheese occasionally, especially sometimes a string cheese right after exercising because the manager at Curves suggested some kind of protein right after.  But I eat a LOT LESS cheese than I used to.  (It's pretty high fat, too.)

I eat tuna and salmon in a salad a lot for lunch, so I know I have to watch sodium on those days.  I like corn chips with my tuna salad, so I get the unsalted blue corn chips at Trader Joe's I mentioned above for something fun.  (I do also sometimes eat other kinds of chips, but those are really good.  Terra makes vegetable chips and blue potato chips that only have 50mg of sodium per serving, too.)  I grew up ALWAYS putting diced dill pickle in my tuna salad, too, and now I only do that about every 3rd or 4th time I make it, because of the salt.

Fast and processed foods are always going to be high in sodium, but many places are offering healthier alternatives.   (I don't say "healthy" because any fast food salad that comes with cheese, fatty dressing and croutons isn't healthy.)  McDonalds has fruit and yogurt parfaits, a fruit-yogurt plate, and the like.  (For fat concerns, I would choose a broiled chicken breast - not grilled or breaded - with no mayo sandwich, but you know they will have salted it, in addition to the 80mg or more of sodium already in the chicken.)

I found after awhile you get used to the low salt taste. I was likely the worlds worst salt addict but things taste good now with no salt. Took awhile but it happened.

My findings are these

FIBER      &nbs p;       & nbsp;      &nbs p;     AT LEAST 30 GRAMS /  DAY

SODIUM      &nb sp;                 LESS THAN 2300 MG / DAY

CHOLESTEROL     &nbs p;       LESS THAN 300 MG/DAY

FAT LESS THAN        ;      20 - 35% OF DAILY CALORIES

NO TRANS FATS        ;      AT ALL IF POSSIBLE

PROTEIN      &n bsp;        ;       &n bsp; MORE THAN 100 GRAMS / DAY

CARBOHYDRATES     &n bsp;    45% - 65% OF DAILY CALORIES

DAILY AMOUNTS FOR GOOD HEALTHY LIFE STYLE...

I KEEP THIS TAPED TO MY COMPUTER TO MAKE SURE I`M BEING GOOD

KEEP ON BEING A WINNING LOSER

Thanks Fasst-car

I took your advice and taped it to my computer :)

Thanks, fasst-car.  Source?