Explain to me sodium in your own words??

http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=625

salt is sodium but all sodium is NOT salt. Sodium is a neccessary nutrient for our bodies, to eliminate ALL sodium from your diet would cause a deficiency and illness.
Ask your dr if you have special dietary requirements - this is NOT a medical site, only opinions.
A good general rule is to limit processed food and ADDED salt, drink lots of water (NOT drinks with sodium added) and get some cardio exercise 3 or 4 days a week.
One suggestion I learned here is to divide your body weight in half & drink that many ounces of water EVERY day.

Yikes. I know too much sodium is bad for you... but I was eating those Healthy Choice meals, they're like 90% freaking sodium. I was looking at my food diary like, say what?!

I have since decided to make my own meals for lunch at work, and not rely on sodium/salt packed frozen delights.

Sodium is in pretty much all food - but is very high in processed/packaged foods (soups, soda, ramen noodles, frozen dinners - even 'healthy' ones) and fast foods. You need a certain amount of sodium, but recommended is about 1500mg per day. Too much sodium makes you retain water - it's essentially salt. Your body does need it, but in small amounts. It will make you hold water weight - and make it look like you are 'gaining' weight. Especially if you eat it later in the day! Drinking a lot of water helps flush it out of your system.

this sodium is the bain of my exsistance......i did not realize until coming on here exactly how much sodium is in all processed foods. i am still over on most days but have drastically reduced it by trying to not eat things that are processed. it makes you retain water and yes gain much weight....it also raises your blood pressure and many other harmful things. the water flushes it from your system and i drinks lots of water each day to make sure i do flush the sodium i take in each day. i drink anywhere from 12-24 glasses a day.

These resources may be helpful for learning about sodium:

From the Mayo Clinic: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sodium/NU00284
From the U.S. Dept. of Health: http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/document/pdf/Chapter8.pdf

Your sudden gain and loss may well be due to sodium. Keep in mind that you can only process so much sodium. You can't really flush it all out by drinking a ton of water one day, but drinking enough water regularly will help regulate a number of issues in your body.

Good luck!

PS: It doesn't take long to get used to putting less salt on things, eating foods with less sodium, etc. Try restricting your intake for a bit and I bet foods will start to taste better on their own within a couple weeks
PPS: Sodium is not found in all foods, as someone above suggested. However, there are different types of sodium that can sneak up on you since sodium is a part of salt and many other things (e.g. sodium bicarbonate is baking soda and is in baking powder; and many other sodium compounds are used for thickening, preservation, etc.)

One way to get the water is in is San Pelligrino sparkling water, splash of pom juice and squeeze some fresh lime juice....you get your fluids and some antioxidants from the pom and lime

One way to get the water is in is San Pelligrino sparkling water, splash of pom juice and squeeze some fresh lime juice....you get your fluids and some antioxidants from the pom and lime

Careful with the sparkling waters, though. Some - like Pellegrino - have sodium in them. Most plain ol' soda waters/club sodas don't.

San Pellegrino has 10mg per 8 fl. oz (237 ml)...I'm wondering if using a water softener adds sodium to our tap water now that I think about it.

Pharmacy Major here

Sodium primary function in the body is the Sodium Potassium pump. Pretty much, EVERYTHING you do, needs sodium. The Na-K+ pump is what allows you muscles to move, and pretty much every function, except the heart, which is moreso based of electric rhythms. Sodium is very important, extrememly.

Another thing to note is about sodium is its relation to water. The rule of thumb is water goes where Na (sodium) goes. In your kidneys, the center of bloodpressure and water control and filtration, if your body finds you have to much Na, your body filters it out. As more Na is filtered out, more H20 is filtered out aswell. Na is actually a great diuretic for this reason. If you believe you are holding to much water, increase your Na intake. This is the same reason drinking salt water makes you dehydrated, is the Na content is so high that your body ends up excreting more water than it absorbs.

In all honesty, sodium does not have to do a ton with your weight, it really doesnt. What it does have to do a lot with is your health. First off, more often than not, foods that are high in salt are high in fat and cholesterol. Fat obviously will effect your weight. Cholesterol, mainly Low Density ("bad") Cholesterol can clog your arteries, which can possibly lead to blood clotting. To much salt can thicken the blood, and with cholesterol narrowing your arteris, you could cause a clot in your blood, and even if that clot gets dislodged from the artery its in, it can get stuck in a much smaller vein/artery, especially capillaries, and cause pullmonary embellism, which can cause death.

Salt is not directly related to yhour weight, but definatly make sure your salt intake isnt to high. Also make sure its not to low either, as I said, besides oxygen and carbs/fat/protein, sodium is probably the most important nutrient to have in your body.

Hope that helps!