Sodium

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Swoopette
Swoopette Posts: 118 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Can you help?

I am going to Red Lobster on Saturday and already did my food for that day. My sodium is 6015 (allowed 2500). Is there a way to figure out how much extra water over my 8 glasses I should drink to get rid of all that extra sodium (weigh in is Monday @7am I won't cut back on the salt as it is a one time thing and you have to have butter with lobster.

Thanks in advance

Replies

  • hhnkhl
    hhnkhl Posts: 231 Member
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    Drinking more water wont remove the sodium from the body...it doesnt work like that. You just need to be more careful afterwards. Balance sodium with high potassium foods.
  • Sandcastles61
    Sandcastles61 Posts: 506 Member
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    Definitely add some potassium rich foods to your plan for a day or two after.... I'm sensitive to sodium and it really has helped me when I have too much sodium.
  • Swoopette
    Swoopette Posts: 118 Member
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    hhnkhl wrote: »
    Drinking more water wont remove the sodium from the body...it doesnt work like that. You just need to be more careful afterwards. Balance sodium with high potassium foods.

    So how much potassium should I eat. Or just have a few kiwi a banana and Brussel sprouts for supper. Or should I eat
  • kRAWR789
    kRAWR789 Posts: 2 Member
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    Your kidneys filter out excess sodium and other electrolytes over time, but there is no quick way to "get rid of sodium" unless you are on a diuretic (thiazide or loop diuretic), but that is to make your body get rid of excess fluid in general for edema or heart failure, etc (which in turn dumps sodium, potassium, etc via your kidneys).

    On average, a healthy adult should try to stick to a 2,300 - 3,000mg per day sodium intake. Otherwise having an excess of sodium introduced into your blood stream will draw intracellular fluid from your cells into the blood stream to balance the high concentration of sodium it detects. The excess fluid drawn into your vascular system can cause swelling/bloatedness in general as the vessels become engorged and that excess fluid can then be pushed into our "third spaces".

    So your thought process of drinking more fluid to "get rid of sodium" unfortunately does not work and will only aid in creating more fluid retention and bloated-ness and water weight gain. It would, however, might show a lower sodium level in your blood lab draw due to a dilutional effect from the extra water intake, but you still would have the same amount of sodium overall inside your system.

    My advice if you feel you are taking in too much sodium right now? Cut back on high sodium intake/foods! Otherwise treat yourself to your red lobster and then go back to watching your daily sodium intake on a normal basis. Your body will balance it out eventually (unless you have chronic/acute kidney disease, heart disease, SIADH, etc etc etc). :-P Best!
  • kRAWR789
    kRAWR789 Posts: 2 Member
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    PS I am a registered nurse and work on a cardiac unit with many congestive heart failure and chronic kidney disease patients, so I'm constantly teaching about this stuff... *stuffs face with salty french fries and ketchup*
  • overin2015
    overin2015 Posts: 94 Member
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    Curious then if when you run the reports the sodium is high and potassium is low if you would need to supplement or add potassium rich foods. Is it a problem if these aren't balanced daily. Hope this didn't hijack the thread but just added to the conversation.
  • noobletmcnugget
    noobletmcnugget Posts: 518 Member
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    kRAWR789 wrote: »
    Your kidneys filter out excess sodium and other electrolytes over time, but there is no quick way to "get rid of sodium" unless you are on a diuretic (thiazide or loop diuretic), but that is to make your body get rid of excess fluid in general for edema or heart failure, etc (which in turn dumps sodium, potassium, etc via your kidneys).

    On average, a healthy adult should try to stick to a 2,300 - 3,000mg per day sodium intake. Otherwise having an excess of sodium introduced into your blood stream will draw intracellular fluid from your cells into the blood stream to balance the high concentration of sodium it detects. The excess fluid drawn into your vascular system can cause swelling/bloatedness in general as the vessels become engorged and that excess fluid can then be pushed into our "third spaces".

    So your thought process of drinking more fluid to "get rid of sodium" unfortunately does not work and will only aid in creating more fluid retention and bloated-ness and water weight gain. It would, however, might show a lower sodium level in your blood lab draw due to a dilutional effect from the extra water intake, but you still would have the same amount of sodium overall inside your system.

    My advice if you feel you are taking in too much sodium right now? Cut back on high sodium intake/foods! Otherwise treat yourself to your red lobster and then go back to watching your daily sodium intake on a normal basis. Your body will balance it out eventually (unless you have chronic/acute kidney disease, heart disease, SIADH, etc etc etc). :-P Best!

    It's nice to see someone talking about them in proper scientific terms. So does this mean that increasing your water intake following high sodium intake or just generalised water retention actually doesn't help to decrease bloating like everyone usually says?

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