Salty foods?

Options
kyraleigh7163
kyraleigh7163 Posts: 21 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Does anyone have experience with losing weight while still eating salty foods? I’ve been reading mixed articles, some saying it helps, some saying it’s the worst thing..

Replies

  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    Options
    Salt has no calories, so the same food is identical for weight loss with or without salt calorie-wise. What they probably mean is that some people have sodium reactive blood pressure, or that spike of water weight you get after eating a salty meal - which isn't fat gain and only affects the number on the scale temporarily.
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    Options
    kyraleigh7163 wrote: »
    Does anyone have experience with losing weight while still eating salty foods? I’ve been reading mixed articles, some saying it helps, some saying it’s the worst thing..

    Understand that what eating salty foods does is increase water retention. This can have an impact on blood pressure (as the volume in the blood vessels is increased) and may carry higher risks for those with BP problems. But once the water flushes the extra salt out, there is no real impact on weight over the calories consumed.

    @Aaron_K123 made an excellent thread (just like all his threads) on the topic, so hopefully he will link to it for you.
  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,572 Member
    Options
    Yes. I eat a LOT of salt. When I was very overweight the weight came off easily. Now that I'm smaller I still obviously lose fat while eating a ton of salt, but since there is less to lose, the scale is just a butthead to me because I do have some pretty high water retention days. But, fat loss occurs
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,967 Member
    Options
    I notice when I eat a lot of salty food my weight jumps up a little the next day. I’ve heard drinking a Lot of water can kinda help with the excess water retention. But it doesn’t have any affect on actual fat gain or loss.
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,728 Member
    Options
    Be consistent.

    If you're eating low/moderate/high sodium, you'll simply need to be mindful of your hydration and any days/meals that throw you higher or lower than your normal curve.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
    edited February 2018
    Options
    Salt has no calories. If you are doing a lot of cardio exercise, you need to be careful that you don't sweat out all your needed electrolytes. A salty diet help keep that in balance. This is not for everyone, but only for those who can tolerate salt.

    I found that by deliberately keeping my sodium low, needlessly, and exercising a lot of cardio I did reduce my needed electrolytes to the point of having muscle cramps in the night. I then started eating salt directly, just about half a gram of ground pink salt, before bed each night and now I have no more cramps.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    edited February 2018
    Options
    Increasing sodium consumption will increase water retention which will increase your weight because water weighs something. Sodium consumption has nothing to do with fat loss which is what I assume you are concerned with.

    I posted on the affect sodium has on your body a while ago, if you are interested here is a link...it is long though.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10615700/biochemistry-answers-for-common-weight-loss-questions-sodium-warning-long-and-nerdy/p1
  • ckdprevent
    ckdprevent Posts: 105 Member
    Options
    I lose more weight and more inches when I eat low salt. I lose a lot of the water I am retaining. I have hypertension and ckd 2 so I have to keep my salt low. When I am real good at keeping salt below 1500 for a week I can have a 7 lb weight loss and 3 inches loss of waist line.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    Options
    ckdprevent wrote: »
    I lose more weight and more inches when I eat low salt. I lose a lot of the water I am retaining. I have hypertension and ckd 2 so I have to keep my salt low. When I am real good at keeping salt below 1500 for a week I can have a 7 lb weight loss and 3 inches loss of waist line.

    Yes if you dehydrate yourself you will lose weight, but then when you rehydrate you will gain it back. Weight itself isn't the correlary to health, it is percentage body fat. You are not automatically healthier if you are 7 pounds lighter, in fact being dehydrated often comes with its own health risks.

    That said if you have medically diagnosed hypertension then yes a low salt diet is advisable. I'm just speaking in general that avoiding salt to lose weight is actually a bad idea.
  • Lesscookies1
    Lesscookies1 Posts: 250 Member
    Options
    I know whenever I eat overly salty food my weight increases but that's because of the water retention. My weight usually drops within a week, but I personally wouldn't have a diet that's sodium laden.
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
    Options
    Dropped about 100 lbs going 50-150% over my sodium RDA almost every day...

Categories