Shocking sodium intake!

[charlene1]

Holy cow, I just calculated my sodium intake and it is off the charts! Curse you, hard salami! I eat a lot of marinated artichokes, feta cheese and avocados. Most of the time I throw in roast pork, bacon or salami, but I'm
Finding that cured meats will need to be cut back dramatically. I'm pretty sure that's what has been contributing to my headaches lately. I never gave it much thought until I started tracking my food/carb intake.

[Judynyc]

Holy cow, I just calculated my sodium intake and it is off the charts! Curse you, hard salami! I eat a lot of marinated artichokes, feta cheese and avocados. Most of the time I throw in roast pork, bacon or salami, but I'm
Finding that cured meats will need to be cut back dramatically. I'm pretty sure that's what has been contributing to my headaches lately. I never gave it much thought until I started tracking my food/carb intake.

Good that you see that now. :thup:
Processed/cured meats are very high in sodium so I don't eat them at all. I do use some salt in my cooking but I control it that way.
Salty foods can also make us overeat simply because they taste so good. When I eat out and find my lips smacking from too much salt, I know I'm in trouble. ;)
Feta cheese is also very high in sodium. :idea:
Try to keep your daily sodium level to no more than 2500 mgs per day. :idea:

[WereBear]

See if this cures those headaches! I hope so.

[charlene1]

It will be a hard adjustment, but I feel the change is necessary. I love feta cheese... I also need to start buying the UNsalted butter and maybe lay off the bacon and sausage. That's a double whammy for me because that is my 'go-to' food item at breakfast :-(

My first red flag was when my fingers were so swollen I couldn't get my rings on. I've never had that happen before.

[Nancy LC]

Do you have high blood pressure?

Cheese and cured meat... yup, both very salty!

[Rosebud]

I love feta cheese too, and too much salt also affects me badly.

But, as you may know, feta is best kept under water, and as long as you change the water daily, it keeps fresh for ages. I found out long ago, that the longer I keep it, the more salt gets washed out with the water changes. So these days, once I unpack it and stick it into a container with enough water to cover, I simply change the water daily for a few days before I use it. Much less salty. ;)

[mio1996]

I suffered a ham headache for 2 days a couple of weeks ago, it definately wasn't worth eating all that ham :(

[JDJD2004]

Sodium is just one reason to stay away from cured meats. Nitrates are another. A google search will explain the dangers. If you're going to eat cured meats, try looking for low sodium, nitrate free. Good luck!

[SrfrGirl]

Feta is so good why don't they make salt free feta or at least reduced sodium. I have never seen it.
You plan is great! salt free butter tastes better anyway.

[charlene1]

Feta is just one of those things that I eat maybe once a week, not every day, so I don't think that's an issue, but I do eat a lot of salami, bacon, sausage & smoked pork shoulder. *sigh* I DID go and buy some Kerry Gold unsalted (or is it lightly salted?) butter and I had a bunch of it on some roast beef. Excellent stuff! I have also given a lot of thought to switching to sea salt or kosher salt.. the Light salt stuff tastes awful.

[WereBear]

Sea salt is marvy! It tastes so much better.

Just be sure you get your idodine some other way; I supplement with kelp since my husband dislikes the smell of cooking fish. I love canned salmon and cold shrimp now that summer's here, but it just doesn't appeal as much in the winter :)

[PilotGal]

You have a Sedano's supermarket nearby?
they sell pork belly.. instead of avoiding the wonderful thing called bacon, go buy yourself some pork belly and season it and roast it youself...
it's a nice way to continue to eat bacon, yet on your terms. :idea:

[SrfrGirl]

You have a Sedano's supermarket nearby?
they sell pork belly.. instead of avoiding the wonderful thing called bacon, go buy yourself some pork belly and season it and roast it youself...
it's a nice way to continue to eat bacon, yet on your terms. :idea:


Good to see you! And pork belly-That's soo good!

SG

[keith v]

sodium in it's self if not an issue.

It's just another thing the media is trying to scare us with.

For me, not enough sodium and magnesium causes me to get headaches

It does not cause high blood pressure or anything else that I know of.

IF you have high blood pressure AND nothing else helps reducing your sodium intake MAY help...

It may not.

[Invictus]

Having to reduce my sodium intake actually put me on the path to eating right. I had to avoid processed foods because of the salt, so I started eating mostly fresh food -- fruits, vegetables, fish. I also started walking every day, because I read activity lowers blood pressure. Then I started losing weight and I haven't stopped since. In July my doctor may take me off the blood pressure medication; if he does, I'll have gone from obese to healthy in less than a year. Of course, lately my salt intake may be up because I've been chowing down on previously-forbidden sausage. I do love Jimmy Dean maple sausage....