Salty Facts – Heart Failure and Sodium

I did a study over a couple years where I kept track of estimated daily sodium intake. I read labels at grocery stores and took notes. This upset staff as they began to see me as a Secret Shopper spying at their store. I found NutritionalData.com and that solved some of those issues. I entered my daily estimates on a spreadsheet and gradually worked my sodium to 3,000 mg per day. My cardiologist was not impressed as he wanted 1,500.

I have since improved my results to 2,000 mg daily intake. I eat out frequently and have devised ways to estimate what the meals contain. Michelle Obama pressed the issue of sodium and many restaurants now have nutritional data websites. One family restaurant I liked had three times the sodium I estimated; they must really use the salt shaker.

This is a fantastic reduction in sodium, @bob270! I admire your desire to reduce yore salt intake, and your dedication that brought you such a change.
What kind of changes have you experienced as a result of this reduction? Feel better, lost weight, medication changes???
Are you going to work toward the 1500 goal?

I find that I hold fluids when sodium levels go too high. My goal is to lose 40 pounds and I'm making headway.

@bob270 I know what you mean on the rare occasion i eat out i can always tell i had more sodium than usual. I retain for a day or two. And my weight goes up a pound or two. I figure im good to stay around 2000 myself but im finally at my desired weight. keep at its all worth it.

We also need to be careful about bread, which contains salt. Pay attention to the serving size. Is it for one slice or two?

I did a study on salmon. NutritionData.com listed Atlantic and Pacific salmon both wild caught and farmed. They also list other salmon types. I decided to average the data to come up with a GENERIC entry for my study (who knows what you are getting). This proved fruitful in that most data items were similar; calories, fat, etc. I did find one anomaly with Omega 3 and Omega 6. Most salmon has a healthy ratio with Omega 3 being higher than Omega 6. This was reversed with farmed Atlantic salmon. I emailed the site nutritionist and she confirmed the error. It turns out the farming operation was feeding their salmon improperly. They have fixed the problem. What I was seeing was the old data which she indicated the FDA would be updating soon.

I was disappointed to find so much sodium in bread. I used to like scones. When I looked up the recipe I found no salt was added. Then I learned that baking soda and baking powder are also high in sodium. I no longer eat scones.

Get a bread maker and experiment with making your own bread without salt.

I played around with sour dough recipes. Fun and the bread was great. One must get to know and love one's starter.

@plaid I have read that farmed salmon (east coast) does not have nearly the healthy advantages that wild salmon does. Personally, I think the taste of the two is so different it's like a totally different fish. From everything I have read, I will not eat farmed salmon. I have never seen east coast wild salmon in any store! I'm sure it must be a thing, but maybe it's not common.

Perhaps what I read was not up to date, but why take chances? Of course the color is achieved artificially also, unless that is not true. I have read both of those things in enough places though that I am inclined to believe them.
JK