Sodium

What is the best quantity of sodium when trying to lose weight?

I am really curious about this question too -  I know that everyone is different - but is there an average amount (grams?) of how much sodium is ok to eat in a day?    I think my numbers of sodium are really high... but I usually have an A for my daily food analysis...

Any suggestions, ideas, averages?  Please,  tell us about sodium!!

 I believe the general rule is 2500, although the body needs only about 200 for proper function.

You prolly need alot less than 2500 if you have health issues like hbp.

Also, potassium helps balance sodium in the body.

YIKES!  If that is the case, I am way over... I average around 3500-5000 per day.  If you live in a hot and humid climate all year long would you need more sodium?  I know it sounds like I am trying to justify, but I don't add salt to anything so cutting that number back is going to be tough!

I try not to fret over sodium too much. I have good days and bad days. If there is a lower sodium option, I will take it. If there is not, I will still eat the food if it is overall good.

For example, chicken noodle soup. I love it. I buy lower sodium if I can but if not, I am still going to eat it. I dont have those health issues, so I pick my battles. I used to have high cholesterol so I used to watch that carefully, but never sodium related problems.

I decided one day that you can only worry about so many things, you know, before you drive yourself crazy. So I stopped worrying about sodium. It will definately reflect on the scale, however. Drink lots of water and get your potassium to counteract!! 

Oh! Check your labels if you want to make a cut in sodium. Green Giants' simply steam veggies are way lower than the regular ones. Today I entered the stats off of some frozen green beans and the sodium was ZERO! Different brands are obviously more conscious about it.

Buy no salt added canned veggies and look for the lower sodium soups as well.

Thanks for the input meredith,  I don't have BP issues, but I am more of a preventative person anyway, so like to keep an eye on things that could potentially cause a problem, especially when I am making modifications to my diet anyway.  Not worried about it, but would like to know what a good number is anyway.

I have a really hard time with Sodium too. I find that the easiest way for me to keep myself on my calorie schedule at work is to eat television dinners for lunch (most of them are like 350 or less calories) but those are all high in sodium. I've had to stop salting anything.

I am pretty careful to look for lower sodium things in the freezer section.

One meal that has been working out well for me that is low sodium is a baked potato with light cheese and one of those bags of microwave steam veggies. It's like 400 calories and low sodium.

Thanks for all of the info!  I have found that alot of the fat-free items that I eat have high sodium counts, so I may opt for a more normal fat product (of course still watching the fat content) and less sodium.. I drink tons of water, however not sure about my potassium intake, so I think I will try to work on boosting that up.

I am figuring too much sodium - water retention - no weight loss.

And I do not have any BP issues, infact my BP is usually very low.  (Maybe why I normally crave salty stuff!!)

Thanks again for the info!

sodium is not going to stop you from losing fat. it will just make your body retain water.. i know it's hard, but try not to panic if you see a number higher than you expected on the scale after a day when you ate too much sodium.. you know it's not fat anyways

you should not eat a lot of salt because of other things such as blood pressure, but not because you will gain weight.. its just water

I was recently at a diabetic clinic and after that was over I asked the dietician about what was a healthy sodium level for me as I have heart disease and high blood pressure and she told me between 1700 and 1400 was a good level for me. I hope this helps.