That Ol' Debbil Sodium

arthurcraig391

From a few of you who have shared your diaries with me, I notice (as with me) that sodium just sneaks up on ya' sometimes, doesn't it?

My question is: All things considered, meaning you are under all your other limits, at what point will you notice a difference on the scales? Except for that first day, I've tried to keep sodium on a pretty tight leash, but have gone over several times. although not by much.

I just finished my lunch of Green Giant Steamers Basil Veggie Medley which packs a 270mg sodium punch, so I *am* more aware of it, but how much can I go over before I notice a difference? Have any of you ever tested this?

Thanks!

Bill

Ninkyou

I generally don't notice a difference in the scale until I'm over by like 1000 mg. Then when I weigh the next morning I'm up by like 1lb. Usually it's gone within 1-2 days though.

Shuuma

I am sodium sensitive, apparently, so I need to keep a very tight rein on my sodium levels. I WAS eating close to 4,000 mg a day some days and I can put on a 1/2 pound a day in water that way. If I keep my sodium around 1,500 a day, I can comfortably and consistently lose. If I ignore it, I can gain up to 5 lbs a week in water weight.

This is after 6 months of trial and error and just me. If I drop my sodium down to around 1500, I can lose water weight over the course of a few days. There are hormonal times where I gain about 8-10 lbs. of water practically overnight but after a week, I'm back down.

I'm seriously just this huge puffer fish around sodium. Drink lots of water and just be aware of everything that has more sodium than you may imagine. Cottage cheese, yogurt, cheese, sodas, deli meats, nut butters, and any canned soups are all surprisingly high in sodium for what you're getting.

QuietBloom

Actually, the sodium level recommended by the RDA (and MFP) is the one recommended for people with renal failure. They just decided (without any evidence) that they would apply it as a recommendation to EVERYONE as some kind of misguided attempt at treating everyone pre-emptively for high blood pressure and renal failure. :noway: Some people with hypertension respond to a low sodium diet, some do not. Some people with low blood pressure respond to a higher salt diet, some do not. Those who exercise and sweat heavily, or do manual labor, need a great deal more sodium than the RDA.

TL;DR: Too little sodium will kill you a lot quicker than getting a little more than the ridiculously low RDA. I wouldn't even worry about it.

navyrigger46

I don't track sodium, because I don't have any medical condition that requires me to do so. I routinely hit 5-7K, it's no big deal.

Rigger

257_Lag

I am sodium sensitive and track it very closely. I am also a daily weigher. I have to eat about 40% more than my daily average to see it on the scale as about 2 temporary pounds.

My average is 2000, so if I eat 2800 I will see it. Less than that is negligible on the scale.

arthurcraig391

Thank you!!!! Great answers everyone. I'm also being treated for hypertension, and for the first time I am seriously watching what I eat and what it contains. Before joining up here, I couldn't have cared less and when I went to the doc my excuse was always "Well the meds aren't working, are they"? So we'd go to another one.

But it was ME who wasn't working, and now that I can SEE what I'm putting into my body it helps a lot, and I don't mean just the sodium, but all of it. I'm looking forward to the time when I can go on just maintenance, and with everyone's help here, I'm confident I can achieve that goal.

I don't know if I can ever go completely OFF the B/P meds, but I'm sure I can at least control some of the stuff that's making it high.

Thanks again!

Bill

Aaron_K123

The number I've seen is every 400mg of sodium come with 2 pounds of water retention. This is based on the salinity your body wants to maintain. If you take in sodium your body has to dilute it to the correct salinity with water to maintain the correct osmotic pressure.

If you have foods that have really high sodium content you will definitely see it reflected in your scale weight the next day, but it is just water so it doesn't really mean anything and isn't something you should be desperately trying to avoid.

The exception is if you have been diagnosed with high blood pressure in which case high sodium is something you probably should be avoiding.

MomTo3Lovez

Actually, the sodium level recommended by the RDA (and MFP) is the one recommended for people with renal failure. They just decided (without any evidence) that they would apply it as a recommendation to EVERYONE as some kind of misguided attempt at treating everyone pre-emptively for high blood pressure and renal failure. :noway: Some people with hypertension respond to a low sodium diet, some do not. Some people with low blood pressure respond to a higher salt diet, some do not. Those who exercise and sweat heavily, or do manual labor, need a great deal more sodium than the RDA.

TL;DR: Too little sodium will kill you a lot quicker than getting a little more than the ridiculously low RDA. I wouldn't even worry about it.

Get out really? I never knew that, and here I am watching my sodium levels like a hawk making sure I don't go over what MFP has allocated for me for a day and I really don't need to? I don't have a medical condition that would require it, just worried about water retention.

I did just read that not having enough sodium would actually cause you to bloat during/after exercise...who knew?

asdowe13

I ignore my sodium all together..

Strokingdiction

When I notice a difference on the scale because I had a high intake the day before, I don't give it any thought. Now if that day of sodium had been accompanied by several days of calorie surpluses, I make adjustments and lower my calorie intake.

Put simply, I don't care about water weight, only about stored fat percentages.

laurenawolf

I've hit almost 4,000 today so I am going to be a little fluffy tomorrow