How big a factor is sodium (water retention) when dieting?
mauridaher
Posts: 55 Member
I don't usually put extra salt to my food. However, recently I've come to the conclusion I eat (drink? have?) too much soy sauce. I basically add it to most of my foods, whenever I feel like adding a bit more of flavor to them. Obviously soy sauce is packed with sodium.
I think that may be the reason why I'm losing weight slower than usual (I am losing weight though). Any thoughts? And any alternatives to soy sauce? Maybe something a bit less salty.
I think that may be the reason why I'm losing weight slower than usual (I am losing weight though). Any thoughts? And any alternatives to soy sauce? Maybe something a bit less salty.
0
Replies
-
You can try reduced sodium soy sauces, or something like these soy sauce "substitutes"
http://chinesefood.about.com/od/sauces/r/soy_sauce_sub.htm
http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/healthy-eating/9-sodium-substitutes.html
Either way, too much salt is never good for you and it adds up fast, especially with pre-packaged foods.
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/sodium/art-200454790 -
Salt may cause you to retain fluids, but that has zero effect on long term weight loss.0
-
Fat loss none...
I had a quest bar addiction, and that was throwing my scale weight off, calories were on point and for like a month i lost like 3.6 pounds, i cut the quest bars out and scale says i lost 4.6 pounds in a week.0 -
Instead of soy sauce, use Braggs Liquid Aminos. Tastes exactly like soy sauce, but it has no salt.0
-
Salt may cause you to retain fluids, but that has zero effect on long term weight loss.
Exactly this. Sodium and water retention are complete non-issues when it comes to actual fat loss. Your body can only retain so much water (probably anywhere between 3 to 15 pounds worth, depending on your size) and it can also lose that water very quickly. If seeing the scale go up by 10lbs within a few days is going to freak you out, then go ahead and cut out sodium. But if you're interested in losing fat as opposed to just pounds, a more sustainable approach is to ignore water weight and just eat whatever amount of sodium you're comfortable with.0 -
Sodium is a huge factor for me.... especially since I have high blood pressure. So I try to focus on cutting it down when I can... like using fresh vegetables instead of canned... or at least choose the low sodium versions. I have tried to avoid as much processed food as possible.
If I find I have a day that I can't avoid it...I do try to up my water consumption to flush it out. It is extremely hard to meet the RDA's...but it is a work in progress.0 -
Sodium is a huge factor for me.... especially since I have high blood pressure.
I'm just going to leave this here...
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/its-time-to-end-the-war-on-salt/0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.8K Introduce Yourself
- 43.9K Getting Started
- 260.3K Health and Weight Loss
- 176K Food and Nutrition
- 47.5K Recipes
- 232.6K Fitness and Exercise
- 428 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.6K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153.1K Motivation and Support
- 8.1K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.4K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.8K MyFitnessPal Information
- 15 News and Announcements
- 1.2K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions