Is SALT keeping me chubby?

alissaloved

I hear people say, "maybe you are carrying water", "maybe you should look at your sodium intake"... I may sound like a dummy but how do these things make it difficult to shift weight even when you are counting calories and exercising?

Bluediesel

YES! & Makes you bloated.

alyssa83202

watching. I'm wondering this also.

pammilou

You know, I'm curious too. Because I hear so much about how salt can keep you from losing weight, so since I tend to eat way too much (added, not just in the food) I quit adding it to my food at all. Believe me, this was huge. I've been trying to quit eating salt for years but really wanted to see if it made a difference. Guess what? NOTHING. Not a single pound lost, and I was very careful about it. I'm going to continue to keep it off my food or very minimal because I know it can cause other health problems too, but I don't notice a large weight gain, or loss, when I eat a single cracker or something like some seem to.

liscar

I started to have my fingers start to swell up and my feet while exercising --- if I took my socks off there would be lines from my socks......I wasn't intaking enough salt! I was losing salt and electrolytes while exercising and not getting the right amounts back in --- so I now drink one 20 oz container of water and then a 20 oz container with electrolyte tablet (get at sports stores-NUUN or Camelback) and trying to make sure I get enough sodium on my log for the day and it's starting to get better. I guess it goes both ways. My husband sweats very heavy when he exercises and he puts a pinch of sea salt in his water bottles. Doc told me there is a huge difference between sea salt and plain old table salt as well.

MercuryBlue

Salt intake doesn't have an effect on FAT loss. A lot of people have made sodium into 'the enemy'- but there are really a lot worse things out there for you.

The think about sodium is that, if you have too much of it, it can cause you to retain water. Therefore, you might notice your weight spikes a bit after eating a salty meal. Unless you are REALLY hung up on what the scale tells you, it's not a big deal- it's just water weight.

Of course, there are some people out there who are advised to keep an eye on their sodium intake for health reasons... but it's not going to hinder your weight loss progress or anything. As long as you're eating healthy foods, counting your calories and getting exercise, you will burn fat.

I suppose the point I'm making is that... salt is good. Too much salt, for some people, can be bad. It CAN cause you to retain water.

But salt intake isn't really tied to fat loss or gain. The problem is that a lot of the really 'yummy' foods (like pizza, french fries, etc) are also very salty. So along the line salt became linked with fattening/unhealthy.

schobert101

Salt won't keep you chubby or keep you from losing weight as it basically has no calories. It can have other detrimental effects on health if you have high blood pressure, kideny or heart disease. It can increase fluid retention to some degree..............I notice the scale up a pound or so after a day of heaby salt intake but if you don't have blood pressure, kidney or heart problems then modest restriction is just good sense but more than that will not aid your weight loss.

LizardIsANerd

http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5218584_salt-make-gain-weight_.html

It's kinda a long article but the long and short of it is that when you eat salty foods, your body holds onto water to help flush out the extra salt later. Stop with the salt and then Drink a BUNCH of water to flush it.

alissaloved

wow thanks everyone!

MercuryBlue

http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5218584_salt-make-gain-weight_.html

It's kinda a long article but the long and short of it is that when you eat salty foods, your body holds onto water to help flush out the extra salt later. Stop with the salt and then Drink a BUNCH of water to flush it.

To be honest, I sort of have a problem with articles like that.

That is, they're telling 'the truth'- but also sending a terrible message. They're basically promoting the idea that what the scale says is all that matters, when really there is so, SO much more to it than that.

Yes, if you're retaining water, you might look a little puffier and be a few pounds heavier for a day or two- but it's not a 'negative' sort of thing. The body naturally retains water all the time, for all sorts of different reasons- not just salt intake.

It's the same reason that these 'cleanses' are so popular- people are basically being tricked into believing they're doing something beneficial to their bodies, because they're seeing a dip on the scale.

I, personally, feel that we’re all a little too focused on what the scale is telling us- when what really matters is fat loss. I know people who are stoked to lose ten pounds after cleansing and practically starving themselves for a few weeks- only, as it turns out, very little of what they’ve lost is FAT. They’ve just cleaned their body out of waste, their stomachs are empty, they’ve shed some water weight, and they’ve lost some lean muscle. Not exactly a great accomplishment, really.

In fact, these people are setting themselves up for disappointment because this is the kind of weight that is gained back VERY quickly. Suddenly they’re asking, ‘What have I done wrong?’ and become frustrated at their ‘failure’…. Starting the vicious cycle all over again.

I say people SHOULD eat salt- and then weigh themselves afterwards. That way they can see and understand the effect it has on their bodies so that, in the future, if they retain a little bit of water they won’t be upset about it.

alissaloved

sorry not sure what i am doing on here, how do you QUOTE someone... hahahaha

alissaloved

http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5218584_salt-make-gain-weight_.html


I, personally, feel that we’re all a little too focused on what the scale is telling us- when what really matters is fat loss. I know people who are stoked to lose ten pounds after cleansing and practically starving themselves for a few weeks- only, as it turns out, very little of what they’ve lost is FAT. They’ve just cleaned their body out of waste, their stomachs are empty, they’ve shed some water weight, and they’ve lost some lean muscle. Not exactly a great accomplishment, really.

In fact, these people are setting themselves up for disappointment because this is the kind of weight that is gained back VERY quickly. Suddenly they’re asking, ‘What have I done wrong?’ and become frustrated at their ‘failure’…. Starting the vicious cycle all over again.

I say people SHOULD eat salt- and then weigh themselves afterwards. That way they can see and understand the effect it has on their bodies so that, in the future, if they retain a little bit of water they won’t be upset about it.

This makes sense to me... thanks.

schobert101

Agree with MercuryBlue's comments. Notice if you read the article carefully that it basically says a high salt intake can make you hold onto about 3 pounds of extra water...............you then will reach equilibrium at that minimally higher weight. But the huge amount of weight that people would LIKE to attribute to bloating, water retention etc is not due to salt................its due to fat. The primary exceptions would be people with severe liver, kidney or heart disease and in all likelihood those are not the people on this website and forums.