Please Don't Pass the Salt (Extra Weight Gain Could Equal Salt)
Posted: Sunday, October 18, 2009
by Fran Larson
http://www.franniesquotes.com/
Do you ever wonder why the scale isn't kinder to you? Yes, you went out to eat but you had a healthy salad, vegetable soup no bread and skipped dessert. Then you weigh the next morning and wow, you are 2 pounds over your normal weight. What went wrong?
Some dressings (for salad) contain large amounts of sodium. Also, usually soup and diet soda also have vast amounts of sodium. This causes water retention, thus weight gain.
Four Reasons Why We Should Cut Down on Salt
(From UK Government Guidelines)
1. Cutting down on salt reduces blood pressure.
2. When your blood pressure goes down, your risk of developing heart disease and stroke goes down too, whatever your age.
3. You may start to notice a wider range of flavours in food, as your taste buds adjust to having less salt.
4. Too much salt causes bloating.
Three Ways to Win the Salt Battle
1. Instead of salt, here are ideas for fabulous flavor (from fitsugar.com):Fresh lemon juice, ground pepper, red pepper flakes, ginger, rosemary, cilantro, oregano and basil. My personal favorite is adding beef broth to vegetables.
2. Read Labels for sodium content..remember no more that 2,400 milligrams of sodium daily.
3. When you do salt food, do it after it is cooked because you will use less salt.
4. Exercise daily and the prespiration will help rid your body of excess salt.
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Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)Unfortunately, salt makes things taste better! I'm not sure it's actual weight gain as opposed to just water weight though. It does make sense to cut out the salt for awhile if you have a special event and don't want to look bloated.
Unfortunately, salt makes things taste better! I'm not sure it's actual weight gain as opposed to just water weight though. It does make sense to cut out the salt for awhile if you have a special event and don't want to look bloated.
That is a myth. It is annoying to find so many so called experts peddling the same old myths and lies. Salt cannot make you increase weight. Use your heads. And why should any one take weight loss advice from a fat person? Please consider the overwhelming evidence to support the fact that salt is good for you. It is required for electrical impulses from your brain to be transported through your nerves, for muscle contraction and for essential cell functions. Cutting down your salt intake is injurious to health an can lead to death due to heart attacks among other causes.
".. Dietary sodium restriction for older hypertensive individuals might be considered, but the evidence in the normotensive population does not support current recommendations for universal dietary sodium restriction. "
AMA.
1996;275(20):1590-1597. doi: 10.1001/jama.1996.03530440070039
"There is no evidence that limiting NaCl consumption to 6 g/day, as recommended by a number of health agencies, poses any health risk."
AJP - Heart May 1999 vol. 276 no. 5
"low-salt diets had virtually no effect on people with normal blood pressure, a vast majority of the population, and, at best, resulted in only a small drop in the systolic pressure of people with high blood pressure."
NY Times
"These results do not support a general recommendation to reduce sodium intake."
JAMA.
1998;279(17):1383-1391. doi: 10.1001/jama.279.17.1383
SALT AND BLOOD PRESSURE: CONVENTIONAL WISDOM RECONSIDERED
DAVID A. FREEDMAN
University of California, Berkeley
DIANA B. PETITTI
Kaiser Permanente Southern California
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