Sodium?

shadow2450

I've been wondering if anyone has a speculation about how much sodium affects the body in losing weight? Such as does sodium matter or not if you're on a seriously strict calorie diet with vicious cardio?

livingleanlivingclean

In weight loss it may have an impact - too much (or too little) sodium can lead to excess water retention, which may make you weigh more.

In fat loss, calorie deficit matters.

kommodevaran

Sodium does not affect weight loss. It can mask fat loss because you'll be retaining and releasing water.

I would be more concerned with seriously strict calorie diets and vicious cardio. Eat enough, but not too much, and exercise for fun and good health.

TimothyFish

Assuming you are eating at a calorie deficit, sodium will only cause you to retain water and will not hinder your weight loss in the longrun. But excess sodium may make it harder for you to eat at a calorie deficit. Consuming salt makes it easier for us to eat more sugar. If you eat a bunch of sugar by itself you will reach a point where you feel sick and don't want to eat any more. If you add salt to the sugar, you will find that you can eat more sugar before you reach that point. So, sodium can play tricks with your body's natural calorie counter.

shadow2450

Thanks everyone for some insightful posts about how sodium takes effect on the body, really helps me in how I should watch out for sodium in my diet. Hopefully I'm drinking a lot of water to equalize my sodium intake so I can lose enough weight each week to get rid of the body fat I'm trying to lose.

Aaron_K123

Sodium effects weight on a day to day basis but it has no real affect on what you probably care about which is fat loss. Your body needs to maintain a certain ionic concentration within your blood. Taking in ions such as sodium means you have to take in a very large amount of water in order to offset that. As a result if you eat a lot of chips covered in salt your body will likely retain much more liquid to offset that until it has a chance to flush that excess sodium out of your system. As a result the next day you will probably have gained a noticeable amount of weight (pounds) and might feel a bit bloated. But its water weight, it isn't fat...and it will just go away.

Basically unless you are under doctor's orders to avoid sodium due to high blood pressure then its not something you really have to worry about.

shaunshaikh

Sodium doesn't really matter for fat loss. It contributes to water weight fluctuations, but so does exercising and drinking water.