talk to me about sodium

jacksonpt
jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
edited October 2024 in Food and Nutrition
What impact, if any, does sodium have on building muscle (adding tissue) and burning fat? I'm intentionally not asking about it's impact on weight.

Replies

  • mahidac
    mahidac Posts: 126 Member
    you need sodium for proper heart conduction and certainly need it for depolarization of muscles but I for the life of me cant think of any event in which having extra sodium would help lipolysis or muscle growth - maybe... maybe by increasing the available calcium in muscle cells but thats a stretch

    Sodium is heavily monitored in cardiac patients just because most of them are on digoxin - but for a healthy person just trying to put on muscle I can see it having any beneficial effect (as far as having excess)

    conversely having low amounts would impede just about everything you do cause its the primary ion in the most important ion channel in the body - this probably didnt help at all :P
  • AveryWays
    AveryWays Posts: 150 Member
    What impact, if any, does sodium have on building muscle (adding tissue) and burning fat?

    Sodium is an essential nutrient your body can not live without. It's has gotten a lot of bad rep in the past concerning weight loss and water retention.

    Many of our bodily functions (molecular level) are sodium dependent. Amino acids or the building blocks of life need to attach to sodium in order to enter any cell. It helps regulate amount of blood in your system, acid-base level, muscle and nerve function, to name a few. In a cellular level, sodium, potassium and balance between the two has impact on muscle size.

    What it does on building muscle?

    It increases muscle size through an increase in muscle cell fluid volume.
    It basically stimulate lean tissue growth.
    The Increased intra and extra-cellular fluid has two effects:
    1). increases joint leverage which impacts strength for greater muscle overload.
    2). decreases muscle strains and helps protect soft and connective tissue from injury.

    Muscles require a lot of energy to maintain itself. Fat is stored energy. You build muscles and in turn it burns fat.
    http://www.askmen.com/sports/bodybuilding_60/92_fitness_tip.html
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