Nutrition Questions about Sodium and Fat Intake

I'm not a doctor/nutritionist/anyone who really should have any say - just someone who likes nutrition, so take my opinion for what it's worth...


Sodium - if you are exercising a lot (5 times/week), it shouldn't be a problem.  I don't eat much salt, and when I was exercising 10+hrs /week, I actually had a pretty bad sodium deficiency.  When you sweat, you realease a lot of salt.

Fats - healthy fats are important.  maybe instead of drinking skim milk, drink 1% (actually, the fat helps your bones absorb the protein and vitamins anyways).  Sprinkle olive oil over salads, soups, bread, etc, mix in flax seed oil into your oatmeal.  Those are just some things that come to the top of my head.

BTW - how in the world are you going over your protein limit?  I struggle just to get over 20%, and I'm *supposed* to get 30!  I'd love to see a daily menu!

I've been reading a lot about coconut oil as being a good staple in diets.  Here is an article I read about it...

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1448010/olive_oil_versus_coconut_oil.html?cat=69

I try to use it once a day when cooking. Maybe a 1/2 tbsp to fry veggies (most of the oil is left in the pan).  I also try to eat 1/2 an avocado a day and a serving of almonds.

More scientific info on it: 
Coconut Oil: Taken from the fruit portion of the seed of the coconut palm tree, coconut oil is one the most beneficial foods you can consume. There is an array of positive research published in the last few years showing the significance of coconut oil (9-11). Coconut oil is the most saturated of all fats. Saturated fat has three subcategories: short chain, medium chain and long chain. Coconut oil contains approximately 65 percent medium chain fatty acids (MCFA). The saturated medium chain lipid, lauric acid, which comprises more than 50 percent of coconut oil, is the anti-bacterial, anti-viral fatty acid found in mother's milk (12). But it's the MCFA's thermogenic (fat burning) effect that we're most concerned about.

Researchers compared the thermogenic effect between MCFA's and long chain fatty acids (LCFAs), like those found in vegetable oil after single meals. The meals were 400 calories and consisted entirely of either MCFAs or LCFAs. The thermogenic effect of MCFAs over six hours was three times greater than that of LCFAs. Researchers concluded that as long as the calorie level remained constant, substituting MCFAs for LCFA s would result in weight loss (13). The same number of calories from two different substances yielded different outcomes. How weird.

A study was conducted by researchers at McGill University to evaluate existing data describing the effects of MCFAs on energy expenditure, and to determine their efficacy as agents in the treatment of obesity. They reported that several different studies have shown weight loss equivalent to 12 to 36 pounds a year simply by changing the types of oils used in everyday cooking and food preparation. Animal and human studies have shown greater energy expenditure, less body weight gain, and decreased size of fatty deposits when using MCFAs as opposed to LCFAs (14, 15). How about that calorie theory?

 

Edited by cooperman985 2011-02-01 1:04 PM

Thanks for the tips on incorporating oils.  I will try to do that more often.

For the protein intake, my recommended total is 44g per day.  I'm averaging about 75g per day.  Typical menu for a day...

Breakfast:
Oatmeal and Fruit or Eggs and Whole Wheat Toast
v8

Snack:
Apple or Banana and Almonds

Lunch:
Turkey on Wheat or a low fat Soup
Fruit

Snack:
Low Fat Yogurt with Granola

Dinner:
Brown Rice
Veggies
Chicken or Fish (sometimes pork or a turkey buger)

Ahh - see, this is our difference.  For days I don't exercise, I'm aiming for 78 grams of protein, more for days I work out.


As for your menu - the oatmeal at breakfast is a great place to add flax seed oil and some people even like it in their yogurt (although I haven't tried it), the brown rice/veggies/meat is a great place to add in olive oil.

Another thought too - change out your low-fat yogurt to a regular greek yogurt - less sugar, higher fat.

Where are you getting your protein recommendation from?  Are you sure that's not a minimum?

The V8 and the soup is probably giving you the majority of your sodium, with the cold cuts following.  You probably don't need to worry about it if you don't have a medical issue.

Edited by DMW 2011-02-01 3:58 PM

The recommendations came from Livestrong / Daily Plate.  I started drinking low sodium v8 and looking for lower dodium soups.  I don't have any medical issues but it kind of freaked me out that I was over the recommended allowance every day.

Thanks for all the feedback / suggestions.

I just went to the livestrong thing, it's changed since I was there last.  Not sure what your calorie recommendations are, but mine is 41g and 1645 calories.  That's 10% protein, and it's ridonkulously low, especially if you are active (or trying to maintain any muscle mass while you lose weight).  Livestrong can be a mess like that sometimes.

For comparison, the USDA new guidelines have a range of 10%-35% for a range of protein. 


Edited by DMW 2011-02-02 2:03 PM

Your diet isn't bad overall, but.....

Like others have said, eat some "Good" fats like olive oil, flax seed, nuts and so on.  

Sodium....I am myself struggling to stay at least under 2000mg of sodium per day and it's tough.  Salt is in everything and high in things like tuna and cottage cheese, both around 500mg each per serving.  You can rinse cottage cheeses and tuna and bring the total down to about half.  I would avoid the processed foods like soup and lunch meat or make you own soup with low or no sodium broth.  

Protein....The recommended amounts  of protein are low.  For people that workout, lift weights and so on the general rule is 1 to 1.5 grams per bodyweight.  I lost 110 pounds and now weigh around 137+/- and under 10% bodyfat.  I exercise a lot and try to get my daily protein intake to around 150 grams.  I also try and keep my fat intake to no more than 20% of my diet.  The protein builds the muscle and will help in all aspects o life from tri's to general fitness. 

There are good sources to track your daily intake such as fitday.com, livestrong and so on.  Journal it, keep track and get your bodyfat checked.   

Protein wise I would advise 1-1.5g per pound of LBM.  Generally you want to go to the higher end when trying to cut body fat because the protein helps you stave off muscle loss.  This would require a bf%.

When I was really trying to up my fat intake I would just take shots of olive oil.

I asked my doc (cardiologist) once about sodium.  He said if I don't have a problem with high blood pressure I didn't need to worry about it.  Of course I don't go crazy with it, but I don't worry about V8, deli, low-fat beef jerky, etc.  Keep in mind that as much as I trust and respect my doc, others might hold a different view.