Salt

[coverley54]

Hi Jeff,

I think the sodium content in my diet is making me feel lousy, and tired alot. Does too much sodium affect energy level?

I use veggie broths either powdered, boxed or concentrated, for most of my meals, whether rice, lentils, peas, etc...instead of plain water. The problem is the sodium content.

It's hard to give up the flavor, but im going to try some new ideas.

Anyone else cutting out the sodium? What do you use?

[SactoBob]

You don't need much salt in your diet, and almost everybody gets too much. Jeff recommends that you not add salt to anything.

Most of the salt we get comes from restaurant and packaged food. There is not much of a way to control the restaurants - you can ask, but don't expect to always get what you ask for. And they use packaged foods too.

As for food with labels, always check the calories per serving versus the sodium per serving. The sodium number should be no more than the calorie number. So if there are 100 calories per serving, the sodium should be less than 100 mg per serving. Don't buy a labeled product that does not meet this guideline unless it is something that is used in very small amounts - and be careful there too.

The sodium taste issue is just like the fat issue. You soon adapt to the new level of salt in your diet and don't miss the old taste.

[veithr]

I keep my salt intake to <1000 mg per day. I periodically verify the goal by keeping track of my total nutrient intake, including sodium, using Cron-O-meter http://spaz.ca/cronometer/.

I add no salt to foods and I eat no processed or refined foods. I only buy low salt canned goods, beans and vegetables. I favor frozen veggies since they are typically much lower in salt.

To flavor foods I use a variety of spices. I especially like Mrs. Dash, which is salt free. I also use MatoZest and VeggieZest from Dr. Fuhrman's website.

Restaurants are not entirely out of bounds. Japanese restaurants, for example, have veggie sushi. I don't use soy sauce (even the low sodium). The low sodium is still very high in sodium. I put a little wasabi on the sushi and it tastes great.

When something is heavily salted now, and I accidentally eat it, the food tastes awful. My general rule of thumb is that if something has to be salted to taste good, it isn't worth eating.

Life without added salt is fine, in fact, the natural taste of whole foods is much superior.

[JeffN]

Most of the salt we get comes from restaurant and packaged food. .

I just don't understand this...

It is true.

http://www.cspinet.org/new/200905111.html

In Health
Jeff

[MilesA]

Anyone else cutting out the sodium? What do you use?

You can make your own vegetable stock pretty easily. This way, you control the amount of salt. Stock can be made in large batches and frozen (try ice cube trays).

How to make stock? Lots of possibilities.

Carrot + celery + onion

Shitake mushroom + sea vegetable such as dulse or kombu

Water left over from cooking beans

(avoid using herbs or garlic, you want those to go in later for better flavor)

You can recycle the trimmings that you have left over when preparing other vegetables. Just collect these in the fridge and when ready simmer them in a pot of boiling water for an hour or two. A pressure cooker can do this job in 20 minutes.

It is best to avoid salt until near the end of cooking your main dishes. This way you will taste it more. Salt can also toughen some foods during cooking (such as beans), so you don't really want it in the stock.

P.S. Miso and/or soy sauce, although high in sodium, have more flavor than salt, so you don't need much. This way, you will get less sodium as compared to using plain salt.

[JeffN]

I don't doubt that restaurant and prepackaged foods are high in salt, what I don't get is people claiming to be 'mcdougalling' eating much if any of these types of foods. I know we don't, and as I mentioned, most people I know who even think at all about eating healthy eat very little, if any, of restaurant and prepackaged foods. ?

Hi Carroll,

This point has come up before and apparently you and I know and have different experiences of people who say they are "McDougalling."

However, as evidenced by even just this forum and some recent posts, we see many who proclaim adherence to "McDougalling", but upon a closer honest look, we find their "adherence" is not really that adherent. Not because they are lying, but because of misunderstandings of the principles and guidelines, misapplication, confusion between "allowed" foods and "recommended" foods, etc etc.

In addition, there have been discussions here of how people define "McDougalling" and what "adherence" means to them and again we see a great difference in opinions on what this means. So, in addition to my above comments, there are many who just have an accepted definition that is much less stricter than others, which may include frequent visits to these kinds of establishments.

So, the bottom line is that not everyone is where you (or I) am at, or interpret "McDougalling" the way you (or I) do.

It's a path we are on and we are all at different levels and places on it.

In Health
Jeff

[JeffN]

I think the sodium content in my diet is making me feel lousy, and tired alot. Does too much sodium affect energy level?

Greetings,

While I am not a fan of salt, I do not know of it effecting energy levels.

In Health
Jeff

[toadfood]

I use veggie broths either powdered, boxed or concentrated, for most of my meals, whether rice, lentils, peas, etc...instead of plain water. The problem is the sodium content.

It's hard to give up the flavor, but im going to try some new ideas.

Anyone else cutting out the sodium? What do you use?

Vogue Vegebase is a powdered broth mix that does not contain any salt. There are also lots of salt-free seasoning mixes. I generally don't add salt when cooking, although I do sometimes use it at the table.

[veithr]

Jeff,

Do you know of any research that suggests that high salt intake is associated with PVCs, PACs, or any other cardiac arrhythmia? I significantly reduced my salt intake one year ago. For a year before that, I followed the McDougall Plan fairly strictly, but I didn't think much about salt. After about two weeks of no added salt, my chronic arrhythmia disappeared, and has not returned, knock on wood.

[dlb]

Chrissy -

Just wanted to add two things:

1) Taste buds do change. At first it may seem flavorless to you but soon enough you will be enjoying the taste of the foods themselves.

2) Check out Penzey's. Fellow McDers turn me on to their spices during a visit. I have since replaced my entire spice draw with them. Spices can add flavor without the negatives.

Donna

[coverley54]

Thanks for all the input on salt everyone, much appreciated.

Veithr mentioned keeping his sodium limit to 1000mg p/day. Bob mentioned sodium content should not go over calories eaten. That gives me something to go by.

Things I'm changing:
1. Watch food labels for sodium content.
2. Limit restaurant food and order more carefully.
2. Track my sodium numbers.
3. Cooking with no added sodium, make own broths.
4. Use more salt-free spices for flavour.

[veithr]

Based upon analyzing my own eating with Cron-O-meter, if I add no salt to foods, try my best to avoid foods with added salt, order carefully in restaurants, use low salt or no salt canned beans, etc. my daily salt intake over a three month period was about 950 mg/day. I assumed that restaurant meals had some salt, even when I ordered it without salt. Also, I wasn't perfect even at home, because my wife is not in the habit of not using salt. In some meals I could tell there was salt from canned tomatoes or beans.

Actually, on days when I was in perfect control of what I eat and I know I am only getting sodium naturally found in whole foods, my salt intake was around 400-500 mg, according to Cron-O-meter. Since on many days, I am not in perfect control, my intake was around twice that amount. I feel good at an average below 1000mg.

[JeffN]

Jeff,

Do you know of any research that suggests that high salt intake is associated with PVCs, PACs, or any other cardiac arrhythmia? I significantly reduced my salt intake one year ago. For a year before that, I followed the McDougall Plan fairly strictly, but I didn't think much about salt. After about two weeks of no added salt, my chronic arrhythmia disappeared, and has not returned, knock on wood.

Hi Howard

Thought you might enjoy these 2 brand new articles...

1) ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Low-sodium DASH reduces oxidative stress and improves vascular function in salt-sensitive humans.
Al-Solaiman Y, Jesri A, Zhao Y, Morrow JD, Egan BM.
J Hum Hypertens. 2009 Apr 30. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID: 19404315

http://www.nature.com/jhh/journal/vaop/ ... 0932a.html

and

2) Salt and Health
Review
A comprehensive review on salt and health and current experience of worldwide salt reduction programmes.
He FJ, Macgregor GA.
J Hum Hypertens. 2008 Dec 25. [Epub ahead of print]
PMID: 19110538

http://www.nature.com/jhh/journal/v23/n ... 8144a.html

(See below)

I will post more on your question later but heading to the airport and will be traveling most of the day.

In Health
Jeff

[NanTzu]

In the conclusion of the second article (which is excellent), they say:

"A reduction in salt from the current intake of 9–12 g/day to the recommended level of 5–6 g/day will have a major effect on BP and CVD, and may have other beneficial effects on health as outlined in this article."

Converting g to mg, they are recommending a Decrease to 5,000mg/day?? Wow. Am I correct in that conversion? That seems very high.

[Zana]

I believe that calculation is correct. 5 grams of salt equals 2,300 mgs of sodium. I aim to eat about a quarter of that daily.