Sodium Intake

The truth? Stopped caring. Just drink extra water if I know there is more sodium. I love water anyway.

My only goal is to make sure I get enough to support my running:

http://www.runnersworld.com/nutrition-runners/pass-salt?page=single

Sodium is your friend if you workout. My doc told me I was eating like a heart attack, training like an athlete...she said "you better start eating like an athlete...and you need sodium!!" I wasn't getting enough according to food diary, my serum levels were low. My metabolism was slowing to a crawl and i had terrible edema in my ankles. They symptoms were really vague....gotta watch a lot of things when you workout!

You can retain water weight with too much sodium. But what counts as "too much" can vary from person to person. Potassium helps flush sodium from your system, so try drinking a few ounces of OJ or pomegranate juice with high sodium meals. Be very, very wary of supplementation in pill form--there's a reason the OTC top strength is 3% of the RDA. Too much potassium (concentrated in pill form) can really throw you out of whack. Dangerously so.

My mom's cardiologist went through all this with me when I was monitoring her meds. He prescribed potassium (3%) due to her heart issues and high blood pressure. He said more is definitely not better!

I've been struggling with sodium of late, too. Though I think a couple of the nutrient counts are off that I'm using, it's mostly me. Trying to adjust--I take mini meals t work and am working on substituting bison and extra, extra lean ground beef for some of the higher sodium chicken, fish and soy I usually eat. We'll see.

Really pleased with my protein/carb ratio right now, though. Even with the high sodium.

Potassium doesn't flush sodium out. Potassium and sodium work together to pass nerve impulses around the body.

As for how much? It really doesn't matter. In fact, I recently heard on a podcast that researchers have found that people who consume 3000-4000mg of sodium a day are less likely to die of heart disease than people who consume less.

The truth is, without sodium, your body would cease to function. No breathing, no heart beat, no brain function. If you consume a lot of sodium, your kidneys are very good at eliminating any extra with no issues.

It's really a nonissue.

Here's a couple articles on sodium/potassium from sources I'd say are credible. There are other links within--read on if you wish!

http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/More/MyHeartandStrokeNews/Striking-a-Balance-Less-Sodium-Salt-More-Potassium_UCM_440429_Article.jsp

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/11/potassium-salt-diet-dangers_n_895124.html

I think people freak out about sodium because with sodium comes water and with water comes sudden and unexpected weight gain if you are the type to get faint of heart whenever the number on the scale goes up.

If you ever wonder why you get a bloated feeling from eating bar food like salted nuts or chips or other types of "junk" food its not because of the calories and its not because of the foods density its because the amount of sodium is enormous and you start retaining water like crazy which gives you that bloat feeling and makes the scale jump like 5 pounds.

Too much sodium can cause issues for people with high bloodpressure because the added water retention increases your bloodpressure (which makes sense, same size tubes...more liquid in them, more pressure). This is not a problem for most people though so unless you've been diagnosed with high blood pressure and been asked to keep your sodium low by a doctor probably don't have to care about it.

The figure on my scale matters to me. Watch your sodium if the figure matters and if it doesn't, munch away. I get less than 2000mg a day but of course if i decide to have indian, i can expect to battle up to 10lbs in water weight for almost 10 days.

The figure on my scale matters to me. Watch your sodium if the figure matters and if it doesn't, munch away. I get less than 2000mg a day but of course if i decide to have indian, i can expect to battle up to 10lbs in water weight for almost 10 days.

That's so strange how every body is different. For me, if I eat less than 2000mg I suffer! my brain is tired, I can't remember anything, i'm constipated and worst of all, the horrible edema. if I keep it around 2500 then I am perfect...over 3000 and same thing...water retention, slow mind, etc...Fluid and Electrolytes are so important!!