Explain to me sodium in your own words??

_Ben

Pharmacy Major here

In all honesty, sodium does not have to do a ton with your weight, it really doesnt.

Hope that helps!

While, you are on target with everything you've written, I have I have to dispute this point here. People with congestive heart failure (CHF) monitor their weight to avoid complications from CHF. The main reason people come into the hospital is from sodium (salt) overload. They retain fluids and the fluid backs into their lungs. They are limited to a 1500 mg sodium diet. Most are not complient and are hospitalized many, many times.

Yes of course, as soon as you factor in any type of medical condition, ESPECIALLY heart conditions or hypertension, that totally changes. My point is all based off a person of heathly and stable condition.

lmarshel

Thanks Ben for some good info. I've always thought that the body can only retain so much water, so the sodium factor would not affect your weight THAT much. Of course, the larger the body the more tissue available to hold that water...and every body is different. But there are so many other things going on in your body to affect weight, the focus on sodium as related to weight is a little over-hyped in my opinion.

nisijam5

Thanks Ben for some good info. I've always thought that the body can only retain so much water, so the sodium factor would not affect your weight THAT much.

We had a patient on a lasix drip that took off 60 lbs of water weight. I realize this is the case with a bad heart. But, yes, your body can hold a lot of fluid when it not working properly

_Ben

Thanks Ben for some good info. I've always thought that the body can only retain so much water, so the sodium factor would not affect your weight THAT much. Of course, the larger the body the more tissue available to hold that water...and every body is different. But there are so many other things going on in your body to affect weight, the focus on sodium as related to weight is a little over-hyped in my opinion.

Glad I could help.

Also, as the original poster is a male, I didnt point this out, but for all the women here, remember, you hold a much higher water weight, and naturally more body fat. This is, as pretty much everything is when you learn anatomy, to help with child birth. This is (in part) why men are more easily able to lose weight, especially water weight, because womens body's naturally tell them they must retain a certain amount of weight. Of course factors like daily exercise, diet, height/build, and the biggest factor, testosterone, also greatly affect why males can more easily lose weight/eat more daily calories.

BrewerGeorge

One way to get the water is in is San Pelligrino sparkling water, splash of pom juice and squeeze some fresh lime juice....you get your fluids and some antioxidants from the pom and lime

Careful with the sparkling waters, though. Some - like Pellegrino - have sodium in them. Most plain ol' soda waters/club sodas don't.

San Pellegrino has 10mg per 8 fl. oz (237 ml)...I'm wondering if using a water softener adds sodium to our tap water now that I think about it.

Yes, a water softener will add sodium to your tap water, and you probably shouldn't be drinking it. (And I'm NOT one to usually say avoid sodium). Depending on how hard your water was to begin with, there can be significant amounts of sodium in the softened water.

A softener replaces calcium and magnesium with sodium at a 2:1 ratio (based on the atoms' relative charges). My water here in limestone-rich Indiana has 330 ppm total hardness, plus 77 ppm of sodium to start with (tested). That means it's 737 ppm of sodium coming out of the softener. That translates to about 185 mg of sodium per 8 oz glass. If I drank the 8 glasses that MFP recommends by default I'd be at almost 1.5 g/day already before food!

There have also been indications that drinking softened water can lead to prostate issues.

If you have an RO filter for drinking water, though, it removes all the sodium.

sweetheatha

I feel like I'm back in high school and you just asked me to write an essay lol. Sodium to me is something I never paid attention to until recently when I became very in tune with what I put in my body. Certain foods upset my stomach almost instantly, mostly fatty or fried foods...therefore I "try" to steer clear of them. When I eat something that is slightly high in sodium or if I add even a pinch of salt to the food that I am eating, I see a difference within 30 minutes to an hour. My fingers and toes swell up and become very uncomfortable and I can SEE my stomach retaining more water!!! For this reason, I avoid adding salt to anything for any reason!!! This could just be my personal experience but I know what works for me and what doesn't. I don't care what anyone is going to say about retaining water and sodium/salt not having anything to do with one another....this is how MY body reacts. If you feel that sodium is affecting you in a negative aspect, I suggest doing 1 of 2 things or both...talk to a NUTRITIONIST and/or keep a close eye on what foods you eat and how much sodium is in them. Obviously you cannot eliminate it from your diet but watch it for a week...then you will know how YOUR body processes it. And drink MORE water!!!! If you think you are drinking enough, drink MORE lol. I feel a million times better when I know I have exceeded what people "say" my body needs on a daily basis And water flushes all kinds of things out of your body so there is nothing better you can do for yourself than to drink up!

nisijam5

Yes, a water softener will add sodium to your tap water, and you probably shouldn't be drinking it. (And I'm NOT one to usually say avoid sodium). Depending on how hard your water was to begin with, there can be significant amounts of sodium in the softened water.

A softener replaces calcium and magnesium with sodium at a 2:1 ratio (based on the atoms' relative charges). My water here in limestone-rich Indiana has 330 ppm total hardness, plus 77 ppm of sodium to start with (tested). That means it's 737 ppm of sodium coming out of the softener. That translates to about 185 mg of sodium per 8 oz glass. If I drank the 8 glasses that MFP recommends by default I'd be at almost 1.5 g/day already before food!

There have also been indications that drinking softened water can lead to prostate issues.

If you have an RO filter for drinking water, though, it removes all the sodium.

Interesting....what's an RO filter? I have a filter on the frig...

BrewerGeorge

Yes, a water softener will add sodium to your tap water, and you probably shouldn't be drinking it. (And I'm NOT one to usually say avoid sodium). Depending on how hard your water was to begin with, there can be significant amounts of sodium in the softened water.

A softener replaces calcium and magnesium with sodium at a 2:1 ratio (based on the atoms' relative charges). My water here in limestone-rich Indiana has 330 ppm total hardness, plus 77 ppm of sodium to start with (tested). That means it's 737 ppm of sodium coming out of the softener. That translates to about 185 mg of sodium per 8 oz glass. If I drank the 8 glasses that MFP recommends by default I'd be at almost 1.5 g/day already before food!

There have also been indications that drinking softened water can lead to prostate issues.

If you have an RO filter for drinking water, though, it removes all the sodium.

Interesting....what's an RO filter? I have a filter on the frig...

RO=Reverse Osmosis. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_osmosis

You fridge filter is probably just a carbon filter to remove chlorine and improve taste.

nisijam5

RO=Reverse Osmosis. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_osmosis

You fridge filter is probably just a carbon filter to remove chlorine and improve taste.

Got it!! Thanks, I'll keep that in the back of my mind....

Lift_hard_eat_big

Pharmacy Major here


Another thing to note is about sodium is its relation to water. The rule of thumb is water goes where Na (sodium) goes. In your kidneys, the center of bloodpressure and water control and filtration, if your body finds you have to much Na, your body filters it out. As more Na is filtered out, more H20 is filtered out aswell. Na is actually a great diuretic for this reason. If you believe you are holding to much water, increase your Na intake. This is the same reason drinking salt water makes you dehydrated, is the Na content is so high that your body ends up excreting more water than it absorbs.

In all honesty, sodium does not have to do a ton with your weight, it really doesnt. What it does have to do a lot with is your health. First off, more often than not, foods that are high in salt are high in fat and cholesterol. Fat obviously will effect your weight. Cholesterol, mainly Low Density ("bad") Cholesterol can clog your arteries, which can possibly lead to blood clotting. To much salt can thicken the blood, and with cholesterol narrowing your arteris, you could cause a clot in your blood, and even if that clot gets dislodged from the artery its in, it can get stuck in a much smaller vein/artery, especially capillaries, and cause pullmonary embellism, which can cause death.

I never understood why people here say sodium makes you retain water? I know when I eat salty foods I urinate like a horse.

lmarshel

Thanks Ben for some good info. I've always thought that the body can only retain so much water, so the sodium factor would not affect your weight THAT much.

We had a patient on a lasix drip that took off 60 lbs of water weight. I realize this is the case with a bad heart. But, yes, your body can hold a lot of fluid when it not working properly

Of course, people who have health concerns that would be compilcated by high sodium intake are the exception. And those who have those health concerns should (hopefully) be aware of them and be closely following their doctor's advice and restricting sodium if they need to do so. But for the average healthy person, eating 3000mg of sodium a day is not going to cause them to retain 60 pounds of water weight.

I see it time and again on these message boards...someone mentions that their scale jumped up 2 pounds overnight and everyone immediately starts talking about sodium intake. The culprit is more likely slow digestion. Personally, water weight was a big factor for me in the first few weeks of changing my calorie intake but is not any more.

nisijam5

Of course, people who have health concerns that would be compilcated by high sodium intake are the exception. And those who have those health concerns should (hopefully) be aware of them and be closely following their doctor's advice and restricting sodium if they need to do so. But for the average healthy person, eating 3000mg of sodium a day is not going to cause them to retain 60 pounds of water weight.

Um, I disagree with eating 3000mg of sodium a day...it's the main contributor to high blood pressure...the current RDA is 1500mg/day and no more than 2400mg...1500 mg supports body functions

BrewerGeorge

... But for the average healthy person, eating 3000mg of sodium a day is not going to cause them to retain 60 pounds of water weight.
...

I've said it a couple of times before, but it bears repeating.

An 18th century European ate an average of 70 GRAMS of sodium per day along with his gar, anchovies, salt cod, corned beef, pickles, etc. Seventy. That's 70,000 mg of sodium, Folks. The human body can handle a lot of stuff.

lmarshel

Of course, people who have health concerns that would be compilcated by high sodium intake are the exception. And those who have those health concerns should (hopefully) be aware of them and be closely following their doctor's advice and restricting sodium if they need to do so. But for the average healthy person, eating 3000mg of sodium a day is not going to cause them to retain 60 pounds of water weight.

Um, I disagree with eating 3000mg of sodium a day...it's the main contributor to high blood pressure...the current RDA is 1500mg/day and no more than 2400mg...1500 mg supports body functions

My comment was in relation to weight gain/loss. But since you mention it... I have high blood pressure and have discussed this with my doctor on numerous occassions. Some people are sensitive to sodium and should restrict it as part of their program to control their blood pressure. But others are not and their sodium intake will not affect their blood pressure one way or another. My doctor suggested that I restrict sodium and test and see if my blood pressure went down. I did so over a period of one month and saw no change whatsoever.

I'm not saying everyone should routinely eat 3000mg of sodium a day. But if you do once in a while, it will probably not negatively affect your weight. But everyone's body is different (as I said earlier) and you have to determine what works for you.

BrewerGeorge

My comment was in relation to weight gain/loss. But since you mention it... I have high blood pressure and have discussed this with my doctor on numerous occassions. Some people are sensitive to sodium and should restrict it as part of their program to control their blood pressure. But others are not and their sodium intake will not affect their blood pressure one way or another. My doctor suggested that I restrict sodium and test and see if my blood pressure went down. I did so over a period of one month and saw no change whatsoever.

I'm not saying everyone should routinely eat 3000mg of sodium a day. But if you do once in a while, it will probably not negatively affect your weight. But everyone's body is different (as I said earlier) and you have to determine what works for you.

Right. Roughly 1/3 of people are sodium sensitive. (I believe the proportion is somewhat higher among blacks, but I'm not sure.) If you are among that 33%, you need to watch sodium very closely. If you are not, it is no more dangerous than overdosing on calcium - and many of you do that on purpose with supplements!

Espressocycle

Sodium is an essential mineral, consumption of whiich is comparable among nearly all people worldwide. Reducing sodium can be helpful for hypertensive patients, but that correlation is not applicable to the broader population.

gel91

Thanks Ben for some good info. I've always thought that the body can only retain so much water, so the sodium factor would not affect your weight THAT much. Of course, the larger the body the more tissue available to hold that water...and every body is different. But there are so many other things going on in your body to affect weight, the focus on sodium as related to weight is a little over-hyped in my opinion.

Glad I could help.

Also, as the original poster is a male, I didnt point this out, but for all the women here, remember, you hold a much higher water weight, and naturally more body fat. This is, as pretty much everything is when you learn anatomy, to help with child birth. This is (in part) why men are more easily able to lose weight, especially water weight, because womens body's naturally tell them they must retain a certain amount of weight. Of course factors like daily exercise, diet, height/build, and the biggest factor, testosterone, also greatly affect why males can more easily lose weight/eat more daily calories.

I'm not a male! I'm female!

cownancy

Of course, people who have health concerns that would be compilcated by high sodium intake are the exception. And those who have those health concerns should (hopefully) be aware of them and be closely following their doctor's advice and restricting sodium if they need to do so. But for the average healthy person, eating 3000mg of sodium a day is not going to cause them to retain 60 pounds of water weight.

Um, I disagree with eating 3000mg of sodium a day...it's the main contributor to high blood pressure...the current RDA is 1500mg/day and no more than 2400mg...1500 mg supports body functions

Interesting....I was with two of my nutritionists tonight and they said that the RDA is currently 2000, but will soon be changed to 1500. When did they actually make the change?

nisijam5

Interesting....I was with two of my nutritionists tonight and they said that the RDA is currently 2000, but will soon be changed to 1500. When did they actually make the change?

The change was made about 6 months ago...