Training & Nutrition - Facial/body salt remnants after a ride?

Is this an indicator of a poor diet? I try to push pretty hard on my rides and often I'll end up having salt streaks on my face. I'm pretty sure I eat poorly anyway.

Just means you sweated alot. Make sure to rehydrate with electrolytes.

Some people are "salty sweaters". You can get that if you have a lot of salt in your diet. But for many cyclists that's just the way it is.

If you eat a lot of prepared/packaged/processed food you probably get more salt than you need. You could try cutting down and making more homemade meals, which generally have less salt.

The stains are common, as are the crusty salty deposits on your face. People who are salty sweaters get this more, as they sweat about twice as much salt per liter of sweat, but everybody will get it if they're out long enough and sweat enough. If you exercise in the heat your sweat will become less salty over time.

Unless you are salt-sensitive, I wouldn't worry too much about the salt that you eat. I at a lot of fresh stuff and have to add salt to my food (and take salt tablets on long rides) so that I don't get hyponatremic.

I have always had salty streaks on my gear, regardless of diet.

Joe Friel posted a link to some research the other day that was supposed to debunk the "salty sweater" idea. It said your sweat is only really salty if you have a really salty diet. Well, even when my diet consists of almost no processed food, and therefore very little salt, I sweat just the same.

So I wouldn't worry about it, except for washing your helmet straps more often.

I've noticed that at the beginning of the season when it first begins to get really hot, that my sweat seems to be a lot saltier than it is later in the season after I've acclimated. That is, I see more salt deposits on helmet and pack straps earlier in the season.

Has anyone else noticed this or am I just imagining it?

I've noticed that at the beginning of the season when it first begins to get really hot, that my sweat seems to be a lot saltier than it is later in the season after I've acclimated. That is, I see more salt deposits on helmet and pack straps earlier in the season.

Has anyone else noticed this or am I just imagining it?


That's one of the results of heat acclimation.


http://www.sportsci.org/encyc/heataccl/heataccl.html

I eat very little salt, and I get salty sweat after a hard ride. On longer rides where I sweat on and off, I usually develop small salt crystals on my face. I think that's just the way it is.