Cardiologist told me to eat more salt! Anyone else...

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emancipateurself
emancipateurself Posts: 174 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey there so just went through some major health scares....always been a fainter all my life and had dizzy spells but recently went down three times well visiting someone in the hospital....the right place to be right?
So went through stress test, ct scans and eventually an angiogram....now on three medications. The weird thing is though my resting heart rate is in the 40's.
Now I am not a supreme athelete or anything however I am in the gym 6 days a week and have kept my sodium to under 2500mg a day for over two years now as everyone says it's the best thing to do.
Now this cardiologist is telling me that I need to eat at least 4grams of sodium a day as per my heart rate issues/fainting issues. I also have discovered I have coronary artery disease thus the three new medications. Medications do not include a beta blocker however because of my low heart rate....
I have lost over 150 pounds and the cardiologists tell me this saved my life.


The issue i am having here is the increase in sodium. This theory is freaking me out. I know I will see an increase on the scale and I am a big researcher and can not seem to find alot of research on this theory on the web.

Seeking out anyone on MFP that knows anything about this.

I will trust my doctors and do what they say but the theory does not make sence to me.
Anyone?
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Replies

  • totalsham
    totalsham Posts: 217 Member
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    salt.... sodium is a mineral.... you kinda need it to regulate muscle contractions.

    including your heart
  • totalsham
    totalsham Posts: 217 Member
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    p.s. having normal sodium levels will not stop you from losing weight.

    also, make sure your getting enough calcium, potassium and magnesium... as these also effect your heart. Having too little or too much can cause major issues.
  • emancipateurself
    emancipateurself Posts: 174 Member
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    My sodium levels are in the normal range though already, all my blood work is perfect. So makes no sence to me.
  • astartig
    astartig Posts: 549 Member
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    This is not the place to seek a second opinion on a severe medical issue. I recommend going to another specialist for a second opinion if you have concerns about what the first has told you.
  • totalsham
    totalsham Posts: 217 Member
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    My sodium levels are in the normal range though already, all my blood work is perfect. So makes no sence to me.

    here is a few things you can do.

    1. go back to the cardio and sit down with your blood works and ask why does he suggest the increase. ASK FOR DETAILS.
    - - Like do you have an abnormal ekg that suggests lack of sodium intake?
    - - or is there a test that is showing issues with your heart?

    2. Get a second opinion with another cardio.

    3. Take advice, bump up sodium to levels he/she wants and then take another heart test in a few weeks to see if issue is alleviated

    None of this sodium stuff will cause weight gain or lack of weight loss.
  • emancipateurself
    emancipateurself Posts: 174 Member
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    Trust me already doing that just curious as to if anyone else has been told this. thanks though.
  • jzammetti
    jzammetti Posts: 1,956 Member
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    My sodium levels are in the normal range though already, all my blood work is perfect. So makes no sence to me.

    mine are all normal too - but a heart doc told me to eat more salt also - he was concerned about my resting heart rate of 42 bpm. I have no medical issues at all...but I was getting dizzy spells (that were caused by fluid in my ears, as it turns out) and that is why I ended up with the heart doc in the ER one night.

    I find no benefit to adding more salt - and no negative either as far as weight loss is concerned. Once we figured out dizzy was caused by my inner ear, however, I stopped intentionally adding salt beyond what I would normally eat.
  • totalsham
    totalsham Posts: 217 Member
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    Also... sodium will increase your low blood pressure. which is causing your dizziness. It makes water stay in your blood stream, increasing the pressure.

    what conditions were stated that you have?
  • skiboat1us
    skiboat1us Posts: 16 Member
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    My teenage daughter also passes out. She has NCS and POTS. She has to have a high salt diet also per her cardiologist. She drinks gatoraide, pickles, prezels etc. But she has not put on any weight. Good luck!!
  • lumstead0317
    lumstead0317 Posts: 85 Member
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    I used to get dizzy spells too, I was told I needed more salt!
  • totalsham
    totalsham Posts: 217 Member
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    Medications do not include a beta blocker however because of my low heart rate.

    beta blockers are for high blood pressure and for those who have tachycardia... not brachycardia like you have
  • LeoUncaged
    LeoUncaged Posts: 4
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    I was told to eat more salt since I'm on a low-carb diet. Eating low-carb has a diuretic effect so you pee out a lot of your sodium.

    Also, salt being bad for your heart is one of those things that still up for debate just like saturated fats and dietary cholesterol. Some research says they're bad for you and then other research says they're mistaken and they're not actually bad for you. /shrug who knows.
  • l0vedim0
    l0vedim0 Posts: 42 Member
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    This is not the place to seek a second opinion on a severe medical issue. I recommend going to another specialist for a second opinion if you have concerns about what the first has told you.

    ^^^^
    What this person said. This is kinda off topic, but my history teacher in high school told me a form of torture and eventual death was to eliminate sodium from a prisoners diet. The prisoner would be fed water and food with absolutely no salt. Eventually a person will grow very weak and die. Too much salt and it can lead to serious health problems and not enough salt also leads to serious health problems.
  • wild_wild_life
    wild_wild_life Posts: 1,334 Member
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    I also have dizzy spells and low blood pressure and feel better when I eat more salt (which I have to make an extra effort to do bc I don't eat much processed food). Did he say the salt was to get your blood pressure up? I also recently read that low dietary sodium is associated with heart disease just like high sodium is. Will see if I can find the article.

    http://understandnutrition.com/2013/05/17/consuming-too-much-or-too-little-salt-could-increase-risk-of-heart-disease/
  • totalsham
    totalsham Posts: 217 Member
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    I also have discovered I have coronary artery disease thus the three new medications.

    CAD is a general term...

    did they find a blockage that you had a stent placed while the angiogram was going on? thus you were placed on plavix, a statin and some other drug?

    or what was the reason they said you have CAD?
  • docturtle
    docturtle Posts: 156 Member
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    My husband was told by his doctor to eat more salt because he has a seizure condition and when he has a seizure, one of the triggers is low sodium. Knock on wood, he's been seizure-free for a record of 19 months! =)
  • Alex_is_Hawks
    Alex_is_Hawks Posts: 3,499 Member
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    Think of it this way, your body uses EXCESS salt in such a way that you retain water....

    eating salt does not make you retain water, eating a normal amount of salt means the salt is regulated and used as it should be.

    but when you eat excess salt...then you retain water...

    if your doctor is telling you to eat more salt, then it SHOULD be used by your body to regulate what he's assuming the problem is.

    in theory, if you start retaining water, then you may want to go back and reassess the issue with your doctor...

    none of this is medical advice...you DO need to trust your specialists.

    but just remember people who eat EXCESS salt tend to retain....and if you need more salt it wouldn't be excess would it?
  • emancipateurself
    emancipateurself Posts: 174 Member
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    Also... sodium will increase your low blood pressure. which is causing your dizziness. It makes water stay in your blood stream, increasing the pressure.

    what conditions were stated that you have?

    Yeah it's all new to me..basically I had an angio that showed three 40 percent narrowings in my arteries and really really bad family history of heart disease. I have high blood pressure as well thus the new meds. I dunno what way is up right now. Just seems like weird theory to me as I have high blood pressure but perfect sodium/post levels....I'll figure it out. Thanks for your help/sugesstions.
  • goldfinger88
    goldfinger88 Posts: 686 Member
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    You won't necessarily see an increase in weight. If your doc says you need sodium, you need it. Many people with heart issues do require "more" sodium, not less. Don't be concerned about your weight. Any your have will be temporary and will not be fat. But not everyone experiences any weight gain at all with more sodium.
  • agdyl
    agdyl Posts: 246 Member
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    I actually just got off the phone with my doctor and he recommended that I eat more sea salt as well. I'd been having some low blood pressure issues and I don't eat really any processed food, so unless I add it to my food, I'm getting about 1000mg or less a day, which apparently isn't enough to keep me from feeling dizzy if I forget to add salt.

    Obviously it depends on what your intake is, but salt is extremely vital to your body functioning.

    Edit: And I seem to lose weight just fine eating salt.

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