Whoa...that can't be good.

So, I really don't have a big habit of checking my food "analysis", but when I do, I usually just look at the basic fat, carbs, and protein. 

However, yesterday I looked at it all.  Over all, it was good.  I had a B+, so I was just looking for what it could be that made it not as great as expected.  Well...it was definitely the sodium.  I almost had 5,000mg!

So, I've decided that I'm going to definitely try to watch that.  But, how exactly do I do that? It just adds up, definitely since I'm temporarily putting myself on maintenance.  I've seen it before, and it usually stays around 2,500-3,500...not 5,000.

:/

Help?

Do you eat lots of processed foods?  "Healthy" pre-packaged foods tend to have lots of sodium to make up for flavor lost when the fat is removed.

You might want to go back through each item you logged to check the salt content.  If this salt level is abnormal, you can probably pin-point the culprit and avoid it in the future.

I mostly eat fresh fruits and veggies, and my sodium levels are almost always well below the recommended maximum.

I agree with jenningermany. I've had to restrict sodium for years and I've learned all tricks.  Take a good inventory of what you're eating.  If there are a lot of canned vegetables, switch to fresh or frozen (those new steamer bags are great!).  If you eat canned soup, learn how to make your own from scratch.  And watch things like bread and baked goods!  They can be very high in sodium.

And one thing I've noticed about this site is that when you log a vegetable you've cooked and salted yourself, i.e., sweet potato, baked in skin with salt, the food database assumes you've drowned it in sodium.  So your sodium count may not be entirely accurate, though it does sound high in any case.  Jenningermany has a great point!

if there is one thing this site has made me super aware of, it's sodium levels...

i aim to stay around 1500, MAX of 2000.  it's not easy.

watch out for canned foods...and all processed foods.  cottage cheese too. 

and to state the obvious...drink tons of water on higher sodium days.  :)

Original Post by clairelaine:

I agree with jenningermany. I've had to restrict sodium for years and I've learned all tricks.  Take a good inventory of what you're eating.  If there are a lot of canned vegetables, switch to fresh or frozen (those new steamer bags are great!).  If you eat canned soup, learn how to make your own from scratch.  And watch things like bread and baked goods!  They can be very high in sodium.

 BREAD! That's probably it...now that I think about it.  And, doesn't PB have a lot? Those are two things that I have almost every day.... :(  I could cut back on the bread, but I have a feeling that cutting back on PB would be HARD!

lol

Jif makes a lower sodium version.  It isn't bad, but not like the good stuff.  I was taken aback by how much sodium was in cottage cheese.  Since I have been monitoring my sodium for the last several months, I notice now that high sodium foods are yucky to me.  I through out my last container of cottage cheese because of it.  It is tough, but right now as I stick with 1500 cals. max per day, it isn't difficult.  But I have a feeling if I were to eat at maintenance 2000 cals, I would have trouble keeping the sodium level down.  Good luck to you on your efforts to lower the sodium.