Sodium = Weight Gain?

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soccerkon26
soccerkon26 Posts: 596 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Yesterday I had about 4,000mg of sodium. Could that be the reason I was almost a pound heavier on the scale this morning? Thanks for your help!

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  • lewispwest
    lewispwest Posts: 498 Member
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    Sodium increases water retention = water weight. Eventually it'll even itself out.
  • soccerkon26
    soccerkon26 Posts: 596 Member
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    lewispwest wrote: »
    Sodium increases water retention = water weight. Eventually it'll even itself out.

    I sure hope so! I mean there is always a chance that I underestimated the calories or something but I usually overestimate
  • PoisonIvy088
    PoisonIvy088 Posts: 107
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    Yes. But its only water retention. :)
  • hanajbanana
    hanajbanana Posts: 30 Member
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    Probably. If I eat food that I know has a lot of salt I generally find the scales are about 3lb higher, which is scary at first until I calm down, realise it's just water weight, and try not to have anything too salty for a couple of days and it all goes back to normal. Generally takes 3 days for me, inc drinking lots of water...
  • TheSurge0n
    TheSurge0n Posts: 113 Member
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    Too high sodium, water retention = transient increase in weight.
    Drink water 1/2 cup frequently though out the day & it will be fixed.
  • soccerkon26
    soccerkon26 Posts: 596 Member
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    PoisonIvy088 wrote: »
    Yes. But its only water retention. :)

    I'm .8 pounds heavier than last Monday....grrr it better be all water! :s
  • soccerkon26
    soccerkon26 Posts: 596 Member
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    I drink about 9 cups of water today...I'll try to drink a lot more! Thanks everyone :)
  • PoisonIvy088
    PoisonIvy088 Posts: 107
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    soccerkon26 wrote: »
    PoisonIvy088 wrote: »
    Yes. But its only water retention. :)

    I'm .8 pounds heavier than last Monday....grrr it better be all water! :s

    Well I retain up to 10lb of water on TOM. So, its totally possible.
  • smashmcdash118
    smashmcdash118 Posts: 10
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    Yes, sodium causes you to gain water weight. Besides drinking water, you can also drink natural diuretics like coffee or green tea. And, of course, cut down on the sodium! lol

    I know it's easier said than done, tho. The other day, I had Thai wonton soup and found out it had like 1500mg of sodium!
  • PoisonIvy088
    PoisonIvy088 Posts: 107
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    You should send me that high sodium food. I eat too little sodium. Which often makes me light headed.
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
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    Same exact thing happened to me at my weigh in this morning. Then I looked at my sodium from yesterday and it definitely makes more sense now.
  • michellesz
    michellesz Posts: 428 Member
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    YEP!!
  • staneja103
    staneja103 Posts: 1
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    Dear all kindly throw your ideas around Necessary Vitamins and sources for the same??
  • bigd66218
    bigd66218 Posts: 376 Member
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    I gained 2 pounds the next day after eating Chinese food...took about 2 days for the weight to come off.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    soccerkon26 wrote: »
    lewispwest wrote: »
    Sodium increases water retention = water weight. Eventually it'll even itself out.

    I sure hope so! I mean there is always a chance that I underestimated the calories or something but I usually overestimate

    Even if you went over calories, it's pretty much mathematically impossible to put on a pound of fat in a day. Do you understand the math?

    Most people can fluctuate up or down a good 1-5 Lbs day to day and throughout the day, even if they didn't eat a lot of sodium or whatever. But yeah...excess sodium causes water retention. I'm up 5 Lbs from yesterday because I made a ham for Sunday dinner.
  • bainsworth1a
    bainsworth1a Posts: 313 Member
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    yes sodium causes water retention. You are lucky it is only 1 pound. I am sodium sensitive so for me it can be really bad as much as 5 pounds. I have to take extra diuretics when that happens. thanks to MFP I can see how much sodium I have eaten and reduce the number of times this happens to me.

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