Salt:The Diet Killer

by Patricia Church

We love salt because it brings out the flavor in food. Unfortunately, we have acquired quite a taste for excessive amounts.

Many of us shake salt liberally onto our food each day. Worse yet, chips, fries, most restaurant meals and pre-packaged foods already contain very high amounts of salt. With this onslaught, it's no wonder most of us go way over the recommended maximum salt intake of about 1,500 mg per day for an adult.

Try reading some nutritional labels to see what the salt content per serving is in many common packaged foods, and prepare to be shocked. So what's the problem? Why is excessive salt intake something to be concerned about? The answer is that it's not good for your health and it's not good for another thing a lot of us are trying to do ... lose weight!

Let's start with your health. The negative consequences stem from the fact that our bodies require a pretty exact concentration of salt, known by its chemical name of sodium. There are sensitive regulating mechanisms that will work hard to keep the concentration of sodium in the bloodstream just right. Whenever too much sodium enters the bloodstream, the body's first response is to hold on to as much water as possible so the concentration of sodium in the blood can be diluted to the proper level.

Unfortunately, when the volume of fluid in the bloodstream is increased, blood pressure is raised, so chronic intake of excess sodium and the fluid retention that accompanies it places excess demands on the heart and kidneys. In fact, many doctors treat patients with heart and kidney problems by prescribing a low sodium diet, along with blood pressure medications that function by releasing excess water from the body.

Salt can also definitely affect our weight loss efforts. Consider that after a salty meal or snack it's natural to feel thirsty and drink more water. By drinking fluid, the concentration of sodium in the bloodstream can be diluted to the proper level. In the meantime, however, the body keeps holding onto as much water as possible.

This is important to understand when you go to step on the scale. The reason is that one gallon of water equals 128 ounces, which is exactly eight pounds! If just 16 ounces of excess water is retained after eating too much salt, which is entirely possible, the scale is likely to register a gain of one pound, no matter how well you followed your eating and exercise plan the previous day! That could be quite discouraging, if you didn't understand the cause of this temporary weight gain.

If you are an essentially healthy individual, with no blood pressure or kidney problems, there is a simple tactic to get rid of the excess retained water weight following a salty meal. It sounds weird, but the answer is to drink an extra large amount of water. Your healthy kidneys can then flush out the excess sodium, making this temporary weight gain short-lived. It doesn't sound like it should make sense to drink more water to lose excess water weight, but it works!

Here\'s some advice to cut down on your intake of salty foods and the associated health and weight loss consequences. Try to eat more foods in their fresh and healthy whole-foods form. Put down that salt shaker, both while you are cooking, and at the table! Practice cooking healthy foods at home using herbs, fruit juices, salsas, peppers and spices to jazz up the flavor. After awhile you will come to enjoy the wonderful taste of foods in their natural state ... without so much salt.