Sodium in diet too low??

pineygirl

I've been eating a pretty low sodium diet lately, even before I was watching my weight I was consuming typically around 700-900mg/day. I do this in conjunction with making sure I have about 2-3 times as much potassium as sodium in my diet. I have hypertension and this helps keep my blood pressure down to pre-hypertensive and sometimes even normal levels.

Lately I've been working out much more than I was before, since trying to lose weight and I'm sweating more...and I'm also drinking more water than I was before. I felt fine when I wasn't working out much at all, but now I think I might need a little more sodium in my diet.

I'm noticing I feel very weak and tired, and even dizzy and sometimes sort of confused toward the end of the day. And I am eating enough. I usually eat around 1400-1700 calories a day, so this doesn't seem to be related to a huge calorie deficit or anything.

Only thought that this might be related to sodium is that whenever I OD on sodium (like 1200+ mg/day). I don't have that weak dizzy, loopy feeling.

JesterMFP

Have you had a medical recommendation to consume potassium at 2-3 times the amount of sodium? I'd always thought they were supposed to be roughly equal. It does sound from what you are saying that you might not be getting enough sodium, but if you have issues with blood pressure, it's probably best to ask your doctor.

pineygirl

One of the recommendation of a doctor was to consume at least twice as much potassium as sodium in my diet. The recommendations for sodium in a normal diet is 2300mg sodium and 4700mg of potassium. For high blood pressure they recommend 1500mg of sodium.

I was eating less sodium because at 1500mg of sodium I really didn't see an decrease in my blood pressure. I did see it from reducing my sodium to about half that.

This doctor wants me on medication, but I've been able to go from having a normal BP of 160/95 to typically 130/85 just by changing my diet. I even get less than 120/80 sometimes now.

FredDoyle

Yes, most of the info I've read and received points to a ratio of 2:1 K to Na being more important than the actual amount of sodium consumed. Sodium was only shown to raise BP in amounts of 4-5 mmHg anyway.
What lowered my BP was reducing my weight to a healthy range. I went from 200lbs to 164lbs and my BP went from 180/115 to yesterday's reading 117/75. I eat <2000 mg/Na/day and try to get at least 3500 mg. potassium.

pineygirl

I'm hoping losing weight will help lower it. I currently am at a "healthy" weight, and was when my blood pressure was hitting 200/120 too (not my normal, normal then was 145/90 to 165/100).

I'm still at a "healthy" weight, but my BP is around 115/75 to 130/85, and only hits 145/90 when I get home from a really bad work day.

I'm just thinking my current "healthy" weight isn't so healthy for me. I'm 115lbs at 4'11.5" tall. The 10 or so vanity pounds I'm trying to lose are really for my health too.

I don't know why I have hypertension. I'm 31 years old, don't smoke and never really had a bad diet. I'm not so sure losing 10lbs is going to lower it as much as the cutting sodium did.

I'm going to try to see if eating 1200-1500mg a day helps the issues I've been having without raising my blood pressure too much.

I really want to stay away from medication. I've made so much progress without it.

FredDoyle

Well, I've read 500mg Na as a daily minimum. I get around 1500 daily (I'm allowing myself 2000 as a test) and I work out about 3-4 times a week and I haven't noticed any dizziness or such.
Good-luck!

jstout365

If you are now exercising that could be playing a roll in the feeling. Your BP may be getting too low. Sounds odd, I know. I also have problems with my BP and have lowered it with weight loss, diet and exercise. I try to stay below 2000mg a day for the sodium and can feel the BP go up on the days I am too high on it. If you are the one playing around with the sodium levels, maybe on days you work out you can aim for closer to the 1500mg point and see how it goes. Exercise is good for the BP and you may just be hitting it with two factors now. You can always see about scheduling an appointment with your doctor on a workout day just to see where your BP is at when you are feeling bad.

TNR32

Losing just 10 lbs can lower your BP. I have lost close to 10 LBS and my BP is getting closer to normal. So yes 10 LBS will bring your BP down as much as limiting your sodium. Good luck with your BP.

pineygirl

I have a monitor at home and it's a pretty accurate one. It's usually around 135/85 when I'm feeling like that. I've had my BP hit 200/120 and I felt totally normal (was at the Dr about a totally unrelated issue). I usually don't feel any different with high BP, but do with low BP. I sometimes have low BP when I wake up in the morning, I just feel like I'm going to pass out...nothing a drink of water followed by some coffee can't fix.

This is a different feeling...like tired, weak, dizzy and sort of spacey. It hits me like a brick wall at around 8pm after I've worked out and made dinner.