How does sodium affect your weight?
 

I have heard that it is bad for weight loss. i know it makes you retain water but thats just water weight right? can it actually make you NOT lose weight? i would find it so hard to control sodium intake as i do not know how much is really bad! but i am trying to not salt things too too much. would love to hear more insight into this. :)

A little salt is necessary for good health and keeping you hydrated correctly. I am not sure how much is too much but maybe fitday will help because you can see where you get your nutrients from and how much is your recommended daily allowance. I wouldn't think it would hinder weight loss that much, unless you ate a lot of it everyday. I hope to hear more about the issue as well.

OMG!! this thread made me realize why my weight went up 3 lbs overnight!! I had soft tacos last night with whole wheat low carb tortillas and the meat had taco seasoning!! I bet thats why I retained water!! Hmm thanks for bringing this to my attention!!! I almost forgot about sodium and water retention!! I was soo dismayed even though I knew I was staying op and exercising my butt off!!
Michelle

Sodium is salt and there is loads of it in processed food. So much that you don't need to add salt to your diet anymore. In the 'old days' you would salt your vegies or meat while it was cooking to make sure that you got enough salt. Now the problem is too much salt which is linked to heart disease, high blood pressure and so on.

Salt makes you retain water. The point of weight loss is to get rid of the fat cells and this occurs when they are no longer in use, ideally because of diet and exercise. When you first lose weight the fat cells remain behind but are empty. These cells clutch anything they can (usually water) because they are very efficient at regulating your body weight. If you consume a lot of salt your body has to work harder at retaining water so these cells work harder to fill up on water. This can be avoided by drinking more water because the body doesn't hang on to it so badly, and avoiding salty (or processed) foods. This is where diet drinks and low carb treat foods fall down - because they are still high in salt.

Chick on the beach, I might be wrong, but several nutritionists and doctors I spoke with and a couple of articles I read have all said that salt is a problem for those who have high blood pressure and are sensitive to salt, but that it does not cause high blood pressure or lead to it. Have you heard something different? I just want to get my facts straight.

People with a high salt intake in their diet are more likely to also have high blood pressure and there is some evidence to show that high blood pressure sufferers can reduce their high blood pressure through cutting back their salt intake. This really just shows there is a relationship between the two, not that one causes the other. Yes, you are correct that people with high blood pressure and a sensitivity to salt are recommended to cut back their salt consumption much like heart attack sufferers are advised to cut back on bad fats. Here in New Zealand salt (and processed food in general) gets almost as much bad publicity as sugar does but each country has its own healthy eating guidelines. From what I read on this board (and others) the American health professionals are focused on fat, carbs, and obesity prevention. In our country of high meat consumption heart disease and diabetes are prevalent but fruit and vegetables are reasonably cheap and plentiful. Our healthy eating guidelines outline the dangers of processed foods in terms of the salt content and attempt to bring people back to healthier ways of preparing foods we have eaten for generations.

OMG Laurie!!! I just wanted to congratulate you on making it to 299!! Way to go girl!!!
Michelle

I will move this thread into FAQ as it is a recurring question.