Low sodium - headache?

planetjen79
planetjen79 Posts: 44 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I've had a wicked headache today. I get headaches like this every once in a while, but I almost always contribute it to not having eaten enough, or had enough water. Neither helped today, so I took Tylenol.
What I have noticed is that my sodium has been in the green by 500-1000 every day for the last 3 days. I don't add salt to food. Do you think this is a contributing factor? What can I do to up my sodium in a healthy way?

Replies

  • planetjen79
    planetjen79 Posts: 44 Member
    Anyone??
  • phantomjam
    phantomjam Posts: 46 Member
    Yes. Headaches can be triggered by low sodium. Simply add a little table salt to your food. The amount needed varies through the day, with activity and even the weather. You just have to experiment a bit. Sodium isn't bad. You just don't want to go WAY overboard.

    p.s. oops didn't see how old that post was... back to lurking.. it's safer.
  • MinimalistShoeAddict
    MinimalistShoeAddict Posts: 1,946 Member
    There are some good ideas in this article:

    http://www.runnersworld.com/nutrition-runners/pass-salt?page=single
  • EpsilonGamma
    EpsilonGamma Posts: 96
    If you don't like adding salt to food then eat food that are salter.

    Eat some salted nuts, bacon, bananas or perhaps go for some low calorie sports drinks.
  • gigglesinthesun
    gigglesinthesun Posts: 860 Member
    I have chronically too little salt (on average between 350 and 850), but I only ever realised how it was affecting me when it go so low that my blood pressure dropped quite badly at night. However one day last week I had very large portion of soba noodles and that was about 4000mg of sodium, but my word did I feel incredible. Clearly having that much every day is not advisable, but I definitely have to start adding soy sauce and salt to my salads and perhaps aim for at least 1500 - 2000mg every day :-)
  • enlighted09
    enlighted09 Posts: 22 Member
    You could also use the Salt Sense. It has less sodium in each teaspoon than regular salt. Using a little at time may boost your sodium just enough. It works for me when I eat right and stay with my plan. My mom's nutritionist suggested it. So I been using it bc I have hypertension.
  • planetjen79
    planetjen79 Posts: 44 Member
    Thanks everyone!
    I just thought it was slightly absurd that I might get low sodium...but since I've had these weird headaches and I see that I'm consistently below by 500-1000/day. Im sure I'm eating some things that don't factor it in, but I have added a tiny bit of salt into my food and the headache is gone!

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