Salt..important?
 

Hello everyone,
I'm new here and i've been checking out old posts and i see that almost everyone seems to be concerned about their salt intake.. Does salt intake affect weight loss or do you restrict it in order to eat healthier:?: ? may sound like a silly question but i actually have no idea, and i LOVE my salt:dizzy: ..on everything..
Hope someone can answer me..
Cheers,
Emma

Welcome, Emma! I have no idea about the salt but you should get a reply here soon.

Good luck!

Hi Emma,

Salt makes you retain water therefore you weigh more. The 64 oz. plus water that we drink is to flush the water out of our systems and the salt just defeats that purpose.

You can use some salt just start cutting down. A Chinese meal will add 3 lbs. of water overnite because of the salt. I am a salt lover also so I usually have a small handfull of pretzels as one of my snacks or my treat and that helps me a lot. Chicken broth is good (salt free) to help with the cravings also.

You don't have to give it up just be aware and using less you will find you will like a lot of things without salt after a while.

Hope this helps. Phyllis

Hey, thanks for replying! i guess what you said makes sense but i just can't imagine myself not having salt with my food.. i will try to cut down, we'll see how that goes..
i also wanted to say thanks everyone for welcoming me, and i'm sure i'll have a memorable time here..
Cheers,
Emma

Emma - try two things - being a little more moderate in your use. You know, most foods have their own unique flavor which really gets lost when salt is added. Try getting used to some things without salt and see how you do!

ALso - add extra water. Water will help to flush out the salt - which will help you not to retain as much water. More salt = more water. Yes - even more than the 8-8oz glasses a day typically reommended.

If you do both of those things you will likely see a difference...

Emma, I am not in any way concerned about the amount of sodium I consume. I salt pretty much everything and I have no intention of ever giving it up. I lost 145 lbs salting my food.

My doctor made me give it up for 8 months and I actually gained weight the first 2 weeks. It made no difference in my blood pressure or anything else, so she said I'm lucky in that it does not seem to affect me. Maybe it's because with my Celiac disease I have major problems absorbing vitamins and minerals from my food.

That said, it does affect some people very much. I can eat a steak with a couple of teaspoons of salt on it and it will not make me retain water while other people would gain 10 lbs the next morning.

Try giving it up for a while and see if it makes a difference for you -- but be warned that your food will taste terrible to you for a little while.

I use fresh dill weed to replace the salt in most things. It's great in soups, roasts and omelets.

Thanks everyone:hug: . I will try my best to cut down and when i get a bit used to that i'll do what you said to do hockeyfan, i'll stop completely for a while and see.. for now, i'll increase my water intake while cutting down and see what happens.
Cheers:smug: ,
Em

I LOVE salt also but what is funny is I seem to salt all the foods I won't allow myself to eat while OP. I love salt loaded on my french fries, onion rings, mac and cheese and most comfort foods ..hmm...I never really thought about it until now...

Lou