quote:<HR>Originally posted by Ice Cream:


I am surprised that the clean food threat does not address this.<HR>

What do you mean? I agree that "clean eating" (though it's a term that I find worrisome) would rely on more fresh and less commercially canned/processed items. But otherwise, I don't think limiting sodium and eating clean are at all related. SOME individuals may want to both cut down on processed food and sodium if they have high blood pressure for example. But for others, salt is an important part of the diet. And there is nothing not "clean" about seasalt for example.

As a distance runner and a very very heavy sweater, I actually feel ill and can even get sick (faint) etc if I am too low on salt intake.

That said, if you want a very low sodium diet, broth may have to go. Most broths get their flavor from some type of sodium (e.g. miso paste, seaweed, salt). What about a pre-dinner cup of tea?

Most of us eat too much salt so several years ago I stopped adding salt to anything. I also buy unsalted butter, soda crackers and whenever possible sodium reduced foods. After a while, you don't miss the salt and many foods in which you did not notice any particularly salty taste, suddenly become extremely salty - or so it seems. Pizza is so salty that it is almost unpalatable.

Because of the amount of sweating I do while running, I sometimes worry that perhaps avoiding salt may not be such a great idea. I don't avoid salt like it is poison but I don't deliberately add any and if there is a reduced salt version of something on the grocery shelf, I will buy that one. It's difficult to know what is an appropriate amount of salt for a runner.

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gotta run...

The main problem with excess sodium is not in the excess. The problem is the disproportion in relation to the other electrolytes and minerals. This creates an electrolyte imbalance causing other problems. You need a balanced amount of potassium, iodine, magnesium, sulfate, phosphate, bicarbonate, etc. to create a synergy. Table salts include metals to prevent caking, not cool. Get mediterranean salt or if you're extreme with it, Himalayan which is the best.

this is a topic of interest to me, because i love salty foods,and 2 years ago i had to get educated about sodium b/c i went in for a routine physical and found out that my BP was 155/100 ( i was only 29 at the time). i have found that my BP and weight are both affected significantly by my salt intake, so i keep a close eye on labels. the worst part is, i've had to basically say goodbye to 2 of my favorite foods, pizza and buffalo wings. i give them to myself as a treat occasionally, but i still feel guilty. the good news is, since i "got back on the low-salt bandwagon" in early december, i've been eating so much better,and my BP is actually very controlled to the point i think i'll be able to stop taking meds this year if i keep up the running and eating well. also, i've dropped about 10-12 lbs in a month.

some people (the lucky ones, i guess), don't have this curse of being sensitive to a high sodium diet.

Ice Cream

Why the interest in a low sodium diet? I

t's certainly possible to overdo sodium if you eat alot of processed foods, but most runners are advised NOT to limit the amount of sodium in their diets because you sweat it out during runs. For runners, the risk of too little sodium can be a whole lot worse than too much sodium.

quote:<HR>Originally posted by maryt:
Ice Cream

Why the interest in a low sodium diet? I

t's certainly possible to overdo sodium if you eat alot of processed foods, but most runners are advised NOT to limit the amount of sodium in their diets because you sweat it out during runs. For runners, the risk of too little sodium can be a whole lot worse than too much sodium.<HR>

here's an article i found about this topic. i am trying to restrict my salt intake because i want to stop taking my hypertension meds, but your post made me look into it more, to make sure i wasn't doing damage. it sounds like i'm in the clear. unless you're running 4 or 5 hours, it is unlikely that you will suffer from too little sodium:

http://www.runningnetwork.com/trainingtips/athleteskitchenMay05salt.html[/URL" target="_blank">

iceman14, thanks for the article link. I recently have been monitoring my BP and it is on the wrong side of 120. Generally, around 135ish/75ish +/-5 or so. Anyway I've been looking at my foods and trying to come up with alternatives to medication. Interesting my best reading have been after I've run about 3 hours 115ish/75ish.

Steve K

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