Cutting Down Sodium Intake?

I can handle the protein, the carbs, the fat, and the calories.. but it seems sodium is the hardest one to stay away from.. It adds up so quickly, and even with the whole foods too because vegetables have sodium.

So as a guy at 26 year old, 5'6, 155lbs - what would you say the target for my daily sodium intake should be? And what tips / recommendations would you give for cutting it down?

(I've heard 250 - 500mg for the day is fine and that less = more when it comes to sodium.. but is this figure too low?)

Thanks!

[QUOTE=revlimiter;721071911]I can handle the protein, the carbs, the fat, and the calories.. but it seems sodium is the hardest one to stay away from.. It adds up so quickly, and even with the whole foods too because vegetables have sodium.

So as a guy at 26 year old, 5'6, 155lbs - what would you say the target for my daily sodium intake should be? And what tips / recommendations would you give for cutting it down?

(I've heard 250 - 500mg for the day is fine and that less = more when it comes to sodium.. but is this figure too low?)

Thanks![/QUOTE]

Unless you're predisposed for hypertension I wouldn't worry about avoiding sodium. (Or pre-contest but that's debatable.)

250 - 500mg? Where did you get these #'s from? Or can I assume you're missing a few 0's.

250-500mg???

The RDA is around 2500mg and as a healthy, active individual you shouldn't have any issues even at 4000-5000mg.

[QUOTE=otterakl;721075311]250-500mg???

The RDA is around 2500mg and as a healthy, active individual you shouldn't have any issues even at 4000-5000mg.[/QUOTE]

1,500mg is the RDA according to [url]http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2007/04/10/salt-diet.html[/url]

A bag of perogies (16 in total) comes to 8000mg. I wish I was kidding but I'm not! :(
No wonder I feel like crap after eating them lol

A glass of skim milk is 115mg.. it would be very hard to get 250-500mg in one day.. I read that it was perfectly healthy to only take in that much per day. But actually doing it would be a different story.

I think on average though, we consume way more sodium then our body needs. Leading to all sorts of problems during our later years..

Just looking for way(s) to reduce. :)

So if the RDA is 1500mg, why do you think you need to be at 1/4 of that number (roughly)?

EDIT: Give this a read as well: [url]http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=its-time-to-end-the-war-on-salt&WT.mc[/url]

Sodium is the not the problem. Bad things can happen when you have an extreme sodium/potassium imbalance. If you eat a diet of mostly whole foods you should be getting an adequate amount of potassium to counterbalance your sodium intake.

Why is everyone so scared of sodium? Your body needs it. I eat lots of food high in sodium and have lost weight/have low blood pressure so I really don't think it is that bad.

[QUOTE=crjorgensen;721087011]Why is everyone so scared of sodium? Your body needs it. I eat lots of food high in sodium and have lost weight/have low blood pressure so I really don't think it is that bad.[/QUOTE]

this pretty much. especially with bodybuilding, your body will make use of more sodium than what the RDA recommends.