Salt is bad?

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gergullishious12
gergullishious12 Posts: 10
in Food and Nutrition
So why is salt so bad? Its not like i add it on every food. But why is a lot of food low sodium? What does salt do to your body? Anyone know the answer? If you do, let me know? Im confused and new to this whole diet thing! Thanks :)

Replies

  • rainbowbuggy
    rainbowbuggy Posts: 320
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    Because sodium is the devil! LOL
  • futurekilousky
    futurekilousky Posts: 200
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    So why is salt so bad? Its not like i add it on every food. But why is a lot of food low sodium? What does salt do to your body? Anyone know the answer? If you do, let me know? Im confused and new to this whole diet thing! Thanks :)

    When you have too much sodium in your diet, it causes you to retain water thus making it much harder to lose weight.
  • Shawn_Marie
    Shawn_Marie Posts: 312
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    It makes the body retain water and if I remember correctly it can cause high blood pressure...
  • cbirdso
    cbirdso Posts: 465 Member
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    It depends on how susceptible you are to inflammation (water weight gain). I do not have high blood pressure, but sodium interferes like crazy with fat loss if you are one of those people whose weight fluctuates by 5+ pounds on a daily basis. Excess water is held in every cell of your body, especially fat cells. When fat cells are full of water, the chemical processes that 'find' fat to be converted to energy is greatly diminished. This water retention looks like fat and feels like fat because it increases the size of each fat cell. For people who don't have a problem with this, the excess sodium is easily flushed from the body by being well hydrated. If you are the type that because of hormone imbalances, stress, or over exercise..eating fewer calories does NOTHING to help break the cycle, it just causes more stress and more water weight gain and these are the people who can only go forward in their weight loss my reducing sodium and drinking more water to get rid of the excess inflammation.
  • suncat
    suncat Posts: 16 Member
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    Actually salt isn't bad for us at all. It's especially good for people under stress, which is why many people crave salty foods during stressfull times.
  • Heather75
    Heather75 Posts: 3,386 Member
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    http://lmgtfy.com/?q=why+is+sodium+bad?
  • godroxmysox
    godroxmysox Posts: 1,491 Member
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    Sodium makes you retain water...making it harder to lose weight.
  • gergullishious12
    gergullishious12 Posts: 10
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    Ahh i see! Thanks everyone for the help!
  • proats
    proats Posts: 35 Member
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    Salt is NOT bad at all (unless you have an underlying kidney disorder or are pretty old).

    People like to demonize certain food groups or micro/macro nutrients. I would like to see normal biochemical pathophisiology cellular processes occur at really low [Na+].

    People need to pick up a basic biology textbook before believing everything that Dr. Oz or Jillian Micheals spews out.
  • epj78
    epj78 Posts: 643 Member
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    Salt is not "bad" it's needed to live. Too much salt *may* be unhealthy. You won't get too much salt when you eat a healthy, natural diet. You will if you eat too many processed foods.

    Not getting enough salt can have negative effects also. Salt is needed to survive (I've gone too low in sodium before, it can and does happen). Like everything, it's needed in moderation.
  • epj78
    epj78 Posts: 643 Member
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    Also - don't assume you know what has salt and what doesn't. 1 slice of commercial white bread has more sodium than one oz (a serving) of salted, full fat potato chips (204 g vs 166 g). Not a huge difference, but who knew??
  • heathersmilez
    heathersmilez Posts: 2,579 Member
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    People need to pick up a basic biology textbook before believing everything that Dr. Oz or Jillian Micheals spews out.

    AMEN!
  • Egger29
    Egger29 Posts: 14,741 Member
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    Sodium makes you retain water...making it harder to lose weight.

    "Weight" is just mass times Gravity. If you really want to lose "weight", simply move to Mars or the Moon.

    There is no water in Fat Cells, but it's your healthy lean mass that is around 75% water, so while water might have you "weigh" more, it's not in any way connected to your fat storage....but your lean mass which is a Good thing in the long run.
  • emmaline8
    emmaline8 Posts: 70 Member
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    It can cause high blood pressure in some people. Not everyone. Same thing with water retention. There really isn't a catch all answer here.
  • jenswwjourney
    jenswwjourney Posts: 181
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    Not only is water retention an issue with excess sodium but what it does to your veins, arteries and capillaries is tell them to tighten. This increases your blood pressure. Increased BP can in the short term can cause headache, blurred vision or a nose bleed but long term high BP can lead to glaucoma, kidney failure, a life time of dialysis among many other medical problems.
  • Johnsweaver
    Johnsweaver Posts: 46 Member
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    http://lmgtfy.com/?q=why+is+sodium+bad?

    From your smart-assed link...

    http://www.good.is/post/is-salt-actually-bad-for-you-new-research-adds-to-the-confusion/
  • samulli
    samulli Posts: 8
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    Does having extra water weight stop me from losing actual weight?

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