Salt and bloating

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beskimoosh
beskimoosh Posts: 375 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I was just wondering, does anyone else find they bloat and gain loads of weight (like 5lb overnight) if they have quite a bit of salt? I've cut mine down massively, then had a bit on Saturday and my weight went up 5lb and is still around 3.5lb over what it was... will this go away over the next few days? I'm still thirsty mind, been drinking more water today than I thought possible!!

Replies

  • PinkEarthMama
    PinkEarthMama Posts: 987 Member
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    Very interested in this too!

    I've cut WAY back on salt, and then on Saturday night, i had some potato chips, some tortilla chips, etc. Sunday, i was up more than a pound, so I KNOW that it's water weight. I'm down .5 a pound of that water weight, and hoping the rest is gone tomorrow.

    Are you drinking enough water??
  • beskimoosh
    beskimoosh Posts: 375 Member
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    I usually do, but didn't really yesterday, and there must have been a lot of salt cos I can still feel it today! I've constantly had a glass of water with me today though :)
  • margo36
    margo36 Posts: 222 Member
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    I don't use salt not even when I cook. Generally my sodium levels are well below a 1000. When I visit my Mother who is a heavy salt user I have to stop at motorway services on the way home to buy a couple of bottles of water I'm so thirsty
  • BELIEVE_
    BELIEVE_ Posts: 5 Member
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    I've been told that adding lemon to your water helps in this area. By drinking it throughout the day It flushes your system of toxins and riding your body of the sodium you've consumed.
  • ericapage
    ericapage Posts: 108 Member
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    I haven't had it since starting MFP but whenever I used to eat Chinese food I would easily gain 3-5 lbs overnight!
  • PinkEarthMama
    PinkEarthMama Posts: 987 Member
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    If you're sensitive to salt & bloat, how long does it take you to shed the extra?
  • purpleipod
    purpleipod Posts: 1,147 Member
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    I'm pretty sensitive to sodium water retention. I will be up a lot the day after but by the next day I'm back to normal.
  • marshalemar
    marshalemar Posts: 106
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    I also see an increase when my sodium levels are up. I don't use extra salt when I cook but have a hard time staying away from it in foods already prepared - Chinese is really hard on me.
  • grinch031
    grinch031 Posts: 1,679
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    Salt leads to additional water retention in the presence of carbohydrates. I don't eat many carbs and no longer retain water at all, even when eating loads of salt. That wasn't the case when I was eating lots of carbs, in which case my salt intake mattered.
  • Bigaug
    Bigaug Posts: 395 Member
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    I've definitely noticed weight gain when I exceed my sodium limits. I've never heard of lemon 'denaturing' the sodium. I'll have to try it.
  • queenlaureen
    queenlaureen Posts: 21 Member
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    Hi! I'm very sensitive to sodium as well. If I eat chips or soy sauce one day, I can barely remove my rings the next day. My hands swell like crazy. Happened to me this morning! I'm now drinking tons of water with a squeeze of lemon today. If experience is any indicator, I will drop 1 pound or 2 on the scale and my fingers will be back to normal size by morning. As long as you don't have high blood pressure and know what causes the water retention, it's no big deal. Just enjoy a salty snack now and then, don't get discouraged by the lying scale, and then fix it the next day with lots of water. Good luck!!
  • ShellyMacchi
    ShellyMacchi Posts: 975 Member
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    yes... salt is very hard on me as well

    it can take 3 days before the water retention recedes for me.. and i am already on a diuretic for high blood pressure so can only imagine it would take even longer for me to rid myself of the extra salt caused water retention without it.

    i try to keep my intake under 1500mg per day though for the last couple of months have not been as successful as i was before the holidays. i am still trying to get things back under control again.

    For 10 months i kept it consistently under 1500mg per day and never felt better in my life!

    good luck *S*
  • Marcel7
    Marcel7 Posts: 52 Member
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    Salt will make you retain water, resulting in temporary weight gain. The suggestion to drink plenty of water to flush out your system is a good one--it will help you to lose weight in any case, and it's easy to do. After all, how hard is it to drink water? My wife has been drinking at least eight 8 oz glasses of water per day, and I have been losing steadily.
  • Mom2M_and_O
    Mom2M_and_O Posts: 214
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    Hi! I'm very sensitive to sodium as well. If I eat chips or soy sauce one day, I can barely remove my rings the next day. My hands swell like crazy. Happened to me this morning! I'm now drinking tons of water with a squeeze of lemon today. If experience is any indicator, I will drop 1 pound or 2 on the scale and my fingers will be back to normal size by morning. As long as you don't have high blood pressure and know what causes the water retention, it's no big deal. Just enjoy a salty snack now and then, don't get discouraged by the lying scale, and then fix it the next day with lots of water. Good luck!!

    This is my experience too. Ever since I started losing weight, I've been more sensitive to my water retention symptoms -- the big one being how tight/loose my rings fit. Today I'm trying to really focus on the water because I had a rather sodium heavy couple of days over the weekend.
  • tataliciousd89
    tataliciousd89 Posts: 465
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    Even without the carbs salt effects some people more than others. It is a genetic trait. I had never realized just how bad it effected me, because I've always eaten a high salt diet, but in school when learning about fluid and electrolyte balances in the body I decided to try and reduce that. Now I realize just how bad it was. Of course my blood pressure has improved greatly, but I never even realized that I had edema in my legs and I over the course of a week lost 2 inches in my calves. Crazy! I'm only 22, but the fact is my family has issues with salt and extreme water retention. Some people don't have a problem with it at all, but be careful with it, because most of the heart failure patients I work with started out with sodium sensitivity.
  • beskimoosh
    beskimoosh Posts: 375 Member
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    I can literally still taste it in my mouth, must be because I've cut down so much lately! Well, hope that's the reason for the gain, not like I ate enough to gain 5lb overnight lol.I've got a jug of water with me and I'm drinking as much as I can!
  • DQMD
    DQMD Posts: 193
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    I struggle with water retention also. I take a deuritic everyday and it helps consistently.

    At the boyfriend's I have had to kind of request for my meat to be cooked without any of the spices they put on. They oversalt everything, and I do not like salt at all.

    My killer is salad dressing.
  • BrownEyedGiRL928
    BrownEyedGiRL928 Posts: 51 Member
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    Yes, and I've found that if I drink a lot of water I'm not bloated. I'm trying to keep up with the water intake but its difficult.
  • SmartSysta
    SmartSysta Posts: 18 Member
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    PMS doesn't help either. I just drink Green, Peppermint, or Ginseng Tea, and they always do the trick to get rid of it.
  • beskimoosh
    beskimoosh Posts: 375 Member
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    Good news, it's finally going away! I feel so much better, thanks for the advice!

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