sodium...

pen282

Hi

Right, I'll b honest, I know nothing about sodium.. apart from learning on here that too much can hinder weight loss..

Based on this, I just added the option to track this the other day..

My question is (in fact, there are a few!) -

Im in the Uk - what should the target amount of sodium be for me (im assuming guidelines may be diff from america say)
Can you have too little sodium - mine has been under target since started logging it...
In fact - what are the benefits (for a better word) of sodium?
What are the probs if you have too much in your diet?

Sorry if these are stupid questions - like I said, sodium I am unsure about lol

thanks in advance
x

ShellyMacchi

recommended sodium per day (max) is 1500mg in Canada, and US recently changed theirs to reflect same number.

i understand the minimum required daily is 500mg unless you are training as an extreme athlete etc *S*

you can revise the default amount mfp shows as your 'goal (2500mg) if you wish
i personally reset mine to 1500mg

rileysowner

You are still human, and as the research comes in on sodium, they keep dropping the maximum a person can eat each day. 2300mg a day is pretty standard, as far as I know even in the UK, however remember that is a maximum, not something you should strive to reach. You actually want to eat less than that, preferably by quite a bit. I guess it would theoretically be possible to have too little sodium in your diet if you are perspiring a great deal, such as doing hard manual labor through the day in a tropical environment, but it is unlikely that will be the case for the vast majority of us. Add that in the developed world a huge amount of sodium is added to food in processing, and the struggle is to reduce sodium. I personally shot for 1800mg a day or less. Sometimes I make it, sometimes I don't.

sassyg

The National Heart Foundation here recommends 930-2300 mg of sodium a day.
I expect small, less active people would be best advised to stay close to the lower end, up to bigger or more active people requiring more.

danielleeeee

Consuming too little sodium can result in a dangerous condition called hyponatremia. However, most of us struggle with keeping our intake low enough so there probably isn't too much reason for concern.

Here's a link about the condition if you're curious:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hyponatremia/DS00974

danielleeeee

Also, most of us get our iodine intake from (iodized) table salt. Sufficient dietary iodine (and, therefore, table salt) is necessary for normal thyroid function.

I only mention this because we hear a lot of the reasons NOT to consume salt, so I thought I'd answer the question in the initial post and put it out there that we do need some. I think most of us probably get plenty though!

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/goiter/DS00217

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hypothyroidism/DS00353/DSECTION=causes

Meganne1982

My doctor, and my father who is also a physician, call sodium the red herring of weightloss. Both have said that sodium isn't really bad at all for most people, and it's affect on fat loss is minimal. It can appear to affect weight "loss" or "gain" because it does aid in water retention, which can affect the number on the scale. I found out all of this because for years, believing sodium to be bad, I ate really low sodium. Then I started passing out all the time. My body wasn't holding on to enough water. So my doctor told me- eat salt, eat lots of salt, it won't hurt you, you are actually deficient. So, now I don't watch my sodium at all and all is well.

danielleeeee

I think the main reason there are warnings about excessive salt intake is for cardiovascular health, not weight loss. Too much salt can lead lead to high blood pressure, and prolonged high blood pressure can lead to a heart attack. If your blood pressure is is within a healthy range and you're not feeling bloated from water retention then you're probably fine - in my opinion, of course.

pen282

Forgot I posted this last night haha!
Thanks for all your replies - I really feel I have learnt something :-)
MFP is geat for support, and how much I have learn from you all is great!
xx

rileysowner

My doctor, and my father who is also a physician, call sodium the red herring of weightloss. Both have said that sodium isn't really bad at all for most people, and it's affect on fat loss is minimal. It can appear to affect weight "loss" or "gain" because it does aid in water retention, which can affect the number on the scale. I found out all of this because for years, believing sodium to be bad, I ate really low sodium. Then I started passing out all the time. My body wasn't holding on to enough water. So my doctor told me- eat salt, eat lots of salt, it won't hurt you, you are actually deficient. So, now I don't watch my sodium at all and all is well.

You are a rather fortunate person in our developed world. As stated, most people have way to much sodium. Yes for most of them it causes no immediate problems, but it will cause water retention, and eventually can result in high blood pressure with its attendant dangers of kidney damages, heart attack and stroke. Sodium used to not effect me, but eventually I developed hypertension and had a small stroke (unrelated to the blood pressure). Since then too much sodium has a noticeable effect on my blood pressure. Maybe that will change as time goes on, but I will still seek to avoid sodium as much as possible.