Some interesting reading about salt.

RHachicho

I know salt is bad for as dieters. As it causes our weight to fluctuate a lot and causes us to retain water which can make it very difficult to tell whether or not we are losing weight. However this article made some interesting reading on the subject of restricting your sodium intake too much.

http://chriskresser.com/shaking-up-the-salt-myth-the-dangers-of-salt-restriction
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/02/17/dangers-of-salt-restriction.aspx
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/05/15/183883415/eating-much-less-salt-may-be-risky-in-an-over-salted-world

As a fan of salty foods I really want to believe that this is the case but I'm wondering what your experiences is. Honestly when I am down to a healthy weight I won't care if i weight a little more due to a bit of water retention. I'm don't need to look like a Greek statue. I just wanna be healthy. So I thought I would throw this in and see if anyone can ratify/debunk this.

Now I'm not saying that stuffing your face with salt is healthy. But it seems that numbers anywhere from 3 - 5000 mg a day aren't actually "unhealthy" even if they do cause you to retain a bit more fluid.

lemonsnowdrop

I haven't read the article yet, but I want to address how you said "salt is bad for dieters." Where did you collect that information? Yes, it does make the body retain water weight, but if you drink enough water the weight will be gone in a couple of days. The other day, I was over my sodium intake by nearly 2,000. Unless you have medical issues, going over your sodium allotment (which I feel MFP sets pretty low in the first place) won't hurt you.

RHachicho

Aye sorry I think I put that in a bad way. I totally agree with your stance. I'm just trying to limit my sodium on most days because I don't want to be measuring water on the scale though. I guess that's why i said what I said.

Every now and again though I get bombarded by salty food cravings. I do quite a lot of exercise for a big guy myself. Just this morning burned 914 calories away on the old stationary bike. And I do a lot of walking and some variety cardio during my 3/week gym sessions too. So yeah it's probably little wonder I'm craving salt.

PJPrimrose

I didn't read the article either. My workouts and hobbies demand that I eat a LOT of salt. If I don't I will get crampy and tired. If you get to moving around salt is good for you.

BusyRaeNOTBusty

I don't pay very close attention to my sodium intake. I do try to hit my potassium goal though, which is a paid since half of the foods don't have it listed.

CA_Underdog

> But it seems that numbers anywhere from 3 - 5000 mg a day aren't actually "unhealthy" even if they do
> cause you to retain a bit more fluid.

The medical community largely disagrees with that statement, hence the 2300mg/day recommendation or 1500mg/day for those in "special populations" which apparently comprise over half of Americans. A critical reaction to that first study may be found here, noting they didn't accurately measure sodium intake--

http://www.naos.aesan.msssi.gob.es/naos/ficheros/investigacion/Sodium_reduction_and_a_Critical_appraisal__global.pdf

Obviously, those working out vigorously may need more salt. I downed an entire bag of baby carrots to ward off hyponatremia when hiking the Grand Canyon! That applies to anyone working out 90+ min/day

Jestinia

I get dizzy if I go more than a few days without adding a little salt to my cooking.

Of course this never happens when I'm eating out or eating processed stuff from the grocery store.

You can track salt on MFP. There is such a thing as not enough.

EarlyLamp

I think it's wrong to try to limit your salt intake just to measure less water on the scale...
If you want to lose weight, you actually want to lose fat, not weight. Who cares about how much you weigh when you're not "a fatty"?
Don't mind too much about the possible fluctuations in your weigh results, having water in your body is not a bad thing

RHachicho

You can definitely track salt. Mine was just set up like that from the get go.

To me it seems that the key with salt as with anything else is to be sensible. And honestly CA_Underdog the "medical community" has been wrong about stuff like this so many times that if I had a nickel for every piece of BS they came out with regarding bodily health I would be richer than scrooge McDuck. The articles I linked cast some doubt on the veracity of the scientific evidence that study is based on. Basically that the trials where done on animals that where given so much salt that in Human terms they eat 5x the amount the average American who doesn't watch his salt intake would ingest. So of course it was going to result in an averse reaction. It also points out that there is evidence that salt intake of under 2000mg a day can actually have negative effects on your health which has been summarily ignored.

I mean come one man these people use BMI as a measure for weather you are overweight or not. The person who CREATED BMI said that it was a hack tool not designed to make sweeping generalizations about whether people are overweight or not.

Edit @Earlylamp. It's not so much that I am concerned with the number. But I want to be able to tell how fast genuine fat weight is dropping. And I can't do that if there's an excess of water weight obscuring the results.

ninerbuff

High BP would be the main reason to watch salt intake. Other than that, it's pretty much overblown. I probably put away 4000mgs or more of sodium a day. So do a lot of other Asians (soy sauce, MSG, etc.) since it's in their cultural cooking.
The problem for most is lack of water and potassium to help balance it out.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

CA_Underdog

Since you referenced Harvard, here is where they clarify their position on the salt debate--

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/the-new-salt-controversy/

"The US Dietary Guidelines goal of 2,300 mg of sodium per day is robustly supported by evidence. Because the current average intake is approximately 3,400 mg per day, current efforts to reduce sodium intake in our food supply are strongly justified. The report did conclude that evidence to reduce sodium intake further to 1,500 mg per day is insufficient. Although this conclusion is disputed by many, and additional research is desirable, it is not essential to resolve these disagreements until we get close to the 2,300 mg goal. This will take years of sustained effort."

lemonsnowdrop

High BP would be the main reason to watch salt intake. Other than that, it's pretty much overblown. I probably put away 4000mgs or more of sodium a day. So do a lot of other Asians (soy sauce, MSG, etc.) since it's in their cultural cooking.
The problem for most is lack of water and potassium to help balance it out.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

You know, I kind of feel bad when people mention the BP thing, even though it's true. My BP is medicated heavily (170/108 without medication), but it's been that way since I was 16, even when I restricted my sodium intake. I guess medication is just inevitable for some.