Does anyone know what's a good amount of sodium to have daily when LCing? I feel like I'm having too much when I look at the labels for all the low/no carb foods. Thanks in advance for any help.


EDIT: I'm still reading the posts I found during my search of "sodium" in the forums. I know high levels hold water, but does anyone know a good number to keep the sodium level at? And also, what types of low/no carb foods have little or no sodium?

Hi chrisx.....not sure wht's considered "acceptable" but personally I think unless you have high BP related to salt intake....or some other metabolic disorder where salt is a problem, you really don't have to worry!

Almost any processed food has salt added....so deli meats, packaged products should be watched if you're concerned. A lot of people also limit cheese, bacon, sausage, etc because of the high content. It's definitly a YMMV situation.

Have you been told to restrict your salt intake? If so, stick with your MDs guidelines. If not, go by how you feel and how you loose. If you find yorself stalling, check your salt intake. If it's high, try to lower it. If it's within normal limits, it's likely something else to blame.

PS. Do you use Fitday? It's a great place to keep track of your intake! http://www.fitday.com

From the American Heart Association web-site:



Now...keep in mind, this is from the AHA. They have long promoted low salt to prevent high BP. This, however, is the only place I coould find ANY guidelines!

Hope this helps.

I rarely worry about sodium. I have dependent edema and have found little relationship to my sodium intake.....unless it's REALLY high....like pigging out on ham (yum). Whe I do have ham or something highly salty, I do increase my water intake, but not by much, just a few oz/day.

How much are you drinking?

ChrisX, 2,400 milligrams (the upper limit of current recommenendations by the Federal Governments's National High Blood Pressure Education Program (NHBPEP). The National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute recommends 1,500 milligrams. Normal BP has been redefinened as less than 120/80, so many people now fall into the questionable area for hypertension. Check out http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov

Thanks a lot for the info. If you're low carbing you shouldn't be eating too much meat, right? Considering the high amounts in stuff like ham/turkey, anyway.

I don't have any health problems related to salt intake/sodium, but I just want to make sure I'm not having too much of it because it retains water.

chrisx. If you're eating a variety of foods, you can "eat liberally" of meats. There is no limit on meat, as long as it's not all you eat. You must eat foods in all categories.

Processed meats like ham, deli meats and hotdogs have a lot of salt, but fresh meats shouldn't. There should be no salt added to fresh meats.

If you're using a program like fitday and you're going by the sodium counts they give, check the link for the item. A lot assume salt is added during cooking, so it's in the count. If you don't add salt, there's not as much. This is one reason I always choose raw eggs when I'm selecting foods. All the others have salt added! Do read your labels tho! Some stores routinely sell chicken and other items that are in a "solution" to keep them "fresh". Those frequently contain salt, and sometimes carbs too!

Too much salt can cause fluid retention, but with healthy kidneys it shouldn't be a major issue....if you retain, just cut salt for a few days and you should loose it quickly.

I've heard some talk in the medical comminuty that there are questions to just how big a role salt plays in hypertension when there is no congestive heart failure (CHF) going along with it (as in primary HTN, of no known cause). Primary HTN, which is what MOST people have, has no known cause. If you are overweight, have a high salt intake, smoke, or have other "unhealthy" habits, you will be told to loose weight, cut salt, etc and will likely see a reduction in BP. But you will also likely still require medication.

Because they DO see a reduction with salt restriction and weight loss, docs continue to prescribe it. But the reduction alone is often not enough to prevent eventual use of medications.

For people with HTN due to other diseases (secondary HTN) there may or may not be salt restrictions, depending on the underlying cause.

I know a lot of patients who have been told by their docs to "cut down on salt if they can, but don't worry about it". Others simply ban the salt-shaker!