We all know what salt can do to the scale. And I know it's bad for your blood pressure. But how bad is it really? Does it have an affect on your overall weight loss? Or just the short term reaction? Is there anything I'm overlooking?

I've made a huge jar (like maybe a gallon and a half) of the best pickles ever and I'm going to eat them. My guess is they won't last a week. No, I won't be the only one eating them, and I've already given away 3 quarts, but I fully intend to eat a lot of pickles in the next few days, and I'll probably be salt- and water-logged as a result. So should I feel guilty or not?

Don't feel guilty.

I don't feel guilty about salt.

I do, however, watch my sodium intake -- yes, two different things. A lot of processed food has a lot of sodium, even if it doesn't take overtly salty and that's my issue. I blow up like a beached whale with that type of sodium. Adding table salt to my food doesn't affect my weight loss.

Short term reaction. Eat the pickles guilt-free.

just drink a lot of water - you'll be more comfortable if you can keep from getting too puffy!

I love salt and I love pickles! Chow down!

As long as your decision is purposeful and intentional, GFI (go for it)! Salt from homemade pickles is one thing- it's not like you're downing fast food burritos! I'm trying to train myself to realize how much nonsense it is to feel guilt over food. Working on it...

Mmmm salt. Mmmm pickles. I could write a love song about salty foods.

I don't worry about salt. I don't even worry about salt bloat, b/c I figure it's so constant with me that the scale doesn't really change much due to it. I do try to drink a lot of water with my salt though.

Your pickles sound delicious but I wouldn't eat too many if it were me. While Salt and sodium are 2 different things 1 tsp of table salt does contain 2325mg of sodium. You seem to know what you are in for should you indulge too much so I say do what you want.

zoodoo613 I found this information. It sure fits my experience that in my case after eating a lot of sodium a lot of water made it much worse not better.

Larry,

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Will increased water consumption flush excess sodium from the body?
By Courtney Humphries January 31, 2011

Q. I eat far more salt than I should. If I drink a lot of water, will that flush the sodium out of my system?

A. “That would be nice, wouldn’t it?’’ says Jonathan Williams, a physician in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Hypertension at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Unfortunately, he says, the total salt you consume has an effect on your body. You can’t simply dilute it or flush it out with water.

In a perfect world, your kidneys would simply remove any excess salt from the blood and excrete it in the urine. But it’s not that simple. “The body’s been tuned for eons to hold onto salt,’’ Williams says, because a little bit of salt is vital to your body’s functioning, and salt hasn’t always been as abundant in the diet as it is now.

Several hormones are involved in regulating the amount of water and salt in the blood, and they don’t always keep excess salt out of the bloodstream when you eat too much salt. When some people eat a high-salt diet, their kidneys don’t remove all the excess salt, so it builds up in the blood. Salt attracts and retains water, so excess salt causes the volume of water in the blood to rise, which raises blood pressure. Williams says that in about one-third of people with normal blood pressure, eating a high-salt diet causes their blood pressure to rise.

In this scenario, salt is dangerous in part because it leads the body to retain water. So drinking even more water will only exacerbate the situation, not alleviate it.

In the relationship between salt, water, and blood pressure, salt is the factor that you can manipulate to prevent blood pressure from rising. Current dietary guidelines recommend a maximum intake of 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day. This month, the American Heart Association issued a statement calling on Americans to limit salt intake even further to 1,500 milligrams per day, because of its potential to elevate blood pressure and increase risk of stroke, heart attacks, and kidney disease. That’s a steep drop from the average American diet, which packs in 4,000 milligrams of salt per day.

© Copyright 2011 Globe Newspaper Company.

I know we need iodine and it is found in the salt alot of times...so is it dangerous to go too low on salt?

It is possible to be low on sodium. According to what I've read online this is why sodium is important to your body.

Sodium helps:

- maintain the right balance of fluids in your body
- transmit nerve impulses
- influences the contraction and relaxation of muscles

Too little salt is dangerous and can be fatal

Too much salt is dangerous and can be fatal

Most people get enough and sometimes too much in the foods that we eat. It is best to throw away the salt shaker and add no additional salt at the table.

Iodine is essential, it prevents a condition known as goiter where the adams apple area of your neck gets extremely and permanently swollen. The good news is that it only takes a very tiny tiny amount of iodine to prevent. Many salt producers have added iodine to the salt they sell for this purpose.

Unless you are eating no foods that have salt added in the recipe or in the processing you should be getting enough iodine. If in doubt, ask your doctor.

I hope this helped

Larry