I have been throwing down a can of chicken a day but noticed the sodium was 200mg’s a serving with 5 servings a can. Is this to much sodium? I just like the chicken better than the tuna.
Hi, there, jra111. Myself, I wouldn’t worry about it unless I had a salt-sensitive health-related condition. Some people are able to reduce their high blood pressure when they reduce salt in their diet because they are salt sensitive. If that’s not you, enjoy your canned chicken. If you’re still worried about it a little bit, you could always look at alternatives.
There is nothing wrong with sodium; a high intake is beneficial. Scot Abel recommends 2 grams per liter of water you drink daily. So if you consume about a gallon daily, that’s 8 grams.
Joel
Good , because 1 can is 70 grams of protien which I split into 2 servings over rice and or broccoli. It is the easiest for me to make a meal.
Don’t know if this addds anything to the conversation but my doctor has suggested keeping Sodium down to 2500mgs or less regardless of the amount of water that I drink. And there was another source online that I read a couple of weeks ago that was saying the human body only needs 500-1000mg a day max. So even if you are drinking nonstop and eating healthy I would imagine that you are probably getting soewhere in the neighborhood of 3000-4000mg of sodium a day. Not a healthy amount. To most people it doesn’t matter but it will raise your Blood Pressure slightly.
I would say eat your chicken but perhaps rinse it off first to get some of the salt out. And make sure that you are drinking water like it is going out of style and then occassionally sweat like a pig by either doing cardio or sitting in the sauna.
Also keep in mind that Sodium attracts water in your body and is stored at the subcutaneous level. In other words the more salt in your diet the flatter you will look.
M.
I find that when I am in a cutting phases/cycles that if I do not cut my sodium level drastically, no matter what diuretics I take I cannot achieve my desired look. However, I do not consider myself cut until my skin is paper thin and my body is striated. It really depends what you are looking for. If you are bulking sodium is not that important, just be reasonable with your intake. However, if you are taking AAS, creatine, etc. expect more water retention then if you were to limit your sodium intake. Hope this helps
There are brands out there with a lower Sodium content- I can’t remember names off hand, as I only eat fresh myself. Will check it out for you.
Anyway, as mentioned above, I don’t think this much salt will have adverse consequences UNLESS you already have BP problems, or your family has a tendency to them. I agree with the comments about cutting though- if you are trying to get ripped, lower your salt intake.
Hope this helps. SRS
Do you know what would happen to you if you reduced your sodium to zero?–You’d die! The recommendations made by many health professionals are for the average, couch potato. Funny how you take his recommendation for sodium intake, yet I’m sure you would laugh at his protein intake suggestions. Bottom line, with the amount of water we drink, the amount of iron you’re lifting and the amount of HIIT/cardio we do, which all naturally keep BP low, I’d be willing to bet most T-men are drastically low in sodium. Pass the soy sauce, baby!!
Instead of cans, try boiling some chicken breasts. You can cook a weeks worth pretty quickly and store them in the 'fridge. When the meat is not pink but white, it’s done. This solves the sodium problem, and the kitchen experience may get you away from other canned, costly, bland products.
Here’s some information from one of my recent articles that you can share with your friends, families, doctors, and even yourself to help stop the constant flow of misinformation regarding sodium intake.
Myth Number 4: A high sodium intake causes high blood pressure and should be avoided.
The Real Deal: A high sodium intake does not cause hypertension (high blood pressure). The hormone aldosterone acts on the kidneys to conserve sodium for bodily functions; however, when sodium is consumed in high amounts, aldosterone release is blunted and any excess sodium will simply be excreted [9]. As a result, sodium balance remains normal. This is the case with all apparently healthy individuals who do not already have a blood pressure condition. The only circumstance in which individuals may benefit by monitoring their sodium intake is if they have already been clinically diagnosed as suffering from hypertension and are also salt sensitive [11]. I stress “and” because only 20% of the population is salt sensitive; so for 4 out of every 5 people suffering from hypertension, lowering sodium intake isn’t going to do much, if anything at all. And even for those that are salt sensitive, the actual magnitude of the decrease in blood pressure as a result of the lowered intake may not even be substantial enough to warrant decreasing sodium consumption as a method to treat high blood pressure [12,13,14].
Now, I normally wouldn’t kick a myth when it’s down, but a high sodium intake will actually benefit athletes and bodybuilders for the following reasons:
? A higher sodium intake yields a greater overall blood volume and blood flow to the working muscles. With increased blood flow, the amount of oxygen and nutrients delivered to the working muscles is maximized. This is particularly important when an amino acid containing beverage is consumed prior to the workout, as more aminos will be delivered to the working muscles, resulting in greater rates of protein synthesis (muscle growth). Also, increased blood flow will actually increase performance in that removal of various fatigue toxins (lactic acid, CO2, etc) will occur at a faster rate.
? It is the responsibility of sodium to deliver potassium into the cell membrane of muscle tissue. If not enough sodium is present, the body is forced to deliver the potassium via “active transport” across the membrane. In this case, active transport is not the preferred method of transportation and as a result less potassium will be transported across the membrane less often.
And yet another myth about sodium is that a high intake causes tons of water retention and a bloated appearance. While, yes, increased sodium intake will cause some initial water retention, the retention is only temporary. As soon as the body becomes accustomed to the higher intake, aldosterone release will be blunted and the excess water will be excreted.
So no, consuming high amounts of sodium does not cause hypertension (and is rarely effective by itself in treating the condition) and is actually a good idea if you want to optimize growth and performance.
References
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McArdle, WD et al. Sports & Exercise Nutrition. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 1999.
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Stamler, J. The INTERSALT study: background, methods, findings, and implications. Am. J. Clin. Nutri., 65(Suppl):626S, 1997.
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Ely, DL., Overview of dietary sodium effects on and interactions with cardiovascular and neuroendocrine functions. Am. J. Clin. Nutri., 65(Suppl):594S, 1997.
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Luft, GS et al. Heterogeneous responses to changes in dietary salt intake: the salt-sensitivity paradigm. Am. J. Clin. Nutri., 65(Suppl):626S, 1997.
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Midgley, JP., et al. Effect of reduced dietary sodium on blood pressure: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. JAMA, 275:1590, 1996.
Also, a low sodium intake can correlate to decreased thyroid output and BMR. Hopefully by now you can see that you should be thinking about INCREASING your sodium intake, not lowering it.