Dave Cutter

Oops... yes.

No. Using salt for food preservation was historically necessary. Now-a-days it's a bad idea.

Nope. I meant "pickles" and "other salty foods" (your words not mine). I also meant to imply I think you may be making dangerous assumptions. Or would that be rationalizations. There are modern and accurate ways to check and monitor such things. None of which involves posting on Internet forums. I wish you the best of luck.

Looigi

Everybody has an axe to grind. You need to evaluate and weigh information based on which axe it is they are grinding.

Carbonfiberboy 

New from Hammer in their Endurance News publication:
Sodium could be silently wrecking your health Study: Even when blood pressure reads normal, widespread damage may be occurring.

The study:
Dietary Sodium and Health: More Than Just Blood Pressure

More info:
Research shows that salt affects more than just blood pressure

DropBarFan

Interesting. My BP is in normal range but if I eat something salty for dinner I often wake up the next morning with puffy eyes.

OldsCOOL

There goes my chips and salsa.

DropBarFan

Don't despair, salsa ez to make, I use a Rick Bayless recipe for tomatillo/chile salsa that's 5X better than store-bought. One could buy no-salt tortilla chips or just toast tortilla triangles at home.

OldsCOOL

Nah.

qcpmsame 

Don't punt on the no-salt tortilla chips, Ryp, I love them. The salsa makes up for any loss of taste, for me. I also get a low or no sodium salsa, or Monica makes some delicious salt free salsa. I have to minimize my sodium intake, due to the CRF and CKD, that I have to manage. We don't add salt to anything when cooking, and I never add salt at the table. I don't proselytize to others to not use salt, its just like being a vegetarian for me, I need to do this for my health, so its what I am doing.

Bill

peterws

My sister was prescribed salt (was told to consume a packer o` crisps) by her doctor for when she feels tired. . . her b/f being Scottish, prefers chips. With a mountain of salt . . .(shrug) I guess a guy has to have some vices . .

DropBarFan

Good homemade food is fresher & better-tasting than store-bought or restaurant where they have to load on the salt to try to get some flavor. I used to cook w/no salt, now just a modest amount; after reading about this new research I'm thinking about going back to no-salt food prep. One gets used to it pretty quickly. I remember when many folks would sprinkle on extra salt onto their fries, eggs etc--I guess it's a positive sign that I don't seem to see that much anymore.

MinnMan

I don't tend to add salt to my food, but actually, I don't think that that quick shake of the salt shaker is the danger, if there is one - the mass of salt you add that way is tiny, unless you pour it on. On the other hand, soy sauce and other prepared sauces, prepared foods, certain types of foods (like the ones I favor, e.g pickles), restaurant foods (particularly some cuisines - chinese), have tons of sodium.

OldsCOOL

I'm not quite there yet. BP is good and I dont overload on intake. Unsalted corn chips would be a last ditch effort.

qcpmsame 

I have to avoid as much salt as possible because of the 3 kidney failures I had, and the fact I have Chronic Kidney Disease/Kidney Failure. Monica loves salt, but it never effects her BP, or anything else for that fact. Me, I can raise my BP, in an instant, by brushing against a salt shaker. I pretty much stopped adding any salt to food when I worked off shore in the early 80s, oil rig cooks add salt to their salt.

I have begun to look at the sodium content in what I buy, and I avoid processed foods completely. It just tastes better to me when I use fresh vegetables from the local sources. Our daughter is big time into the local produce movement, and using farmer's market days in the neighborhoods around her home, in Little 5-Points, Atlanta. She taught me a good bit about fresh sources for our food, and in making vegetarian eating delicious. It has worked for me, I have gotten all my lab numbers for kidney function, both types of cholesterol, etc. in line and in the excellent ranges. Managed to shed 110+ lbs by keeping to the strict nutrition plan that my physician, a nutritionist and myself worked up and cycling a lot. Not ever going to proselytize about what to eat, that is purely personal choice(s) and none of my business.

I do have some sodium/salt in my nutrition, the Skratch Labs drink mix I use in my water bottles has a sodium component, and the naturally occurring sodium, magnesium, et al, naturally in foods is part of things, also. I sweat freely, so I have to keep things on an even keel, we all need some salts in our diet. Your mileage, pace, and other physical activities tell me you must be in fairly good shape, so you are doing something right. different strokes for different folks, I suppose.

Bill

Coal Buster

I've been eating salty foods like crazy lately while I haven't been able to ride for over a month because of recent surgery. Well, I've been getting headaches in the afternoon at about 4pm for the last few weeks coupled with ocular migraines. I got one today and decided to measure my BP because I thought it might be low due to the heart meds I take. I was shocked to see that my pressure was through the roof: 170/125. It's never been that high. I thought I was going to have to go to the emergency room. I took another BP pill and my pressure went down to normal after a few hours. No more salty foods for me. I should have known better since I have chronic kidney disease.

OldsCOOL

I know this is a totally subjective question but how much water weight can an avid cyclists body retain when salt intake is too high? Just a guess?

GravelMN

(Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor) As long as you have a healthy blood pressure, good kidney function and stay well hydrated, then a reasonable moderation in salt (sodium) intake should be fine. An occasional salty snack won't hurt but I wouldn't recommend living on a high sodium diet. If you have any medical issues, consult your doctor or a registered dietician for recommendations on salt intake.

With hyponatremia (very low sodium levels) causing serious problems for some endurance athletes making the news over the past several years, some individuals have gone positively ape-crap over electrolytes and the sports "nurition" industry has been happy to oblige. I've seen many weekend warriors, fitness, recreational and casual riders slamming many times the amount of electrolytes they need to prevent hyponatremia, muscle cramps, and other associated issues. I've seen people add electrolyte powders to bottles of sports drink for < 25 mile no-drop B rides on 75F summer evenings and carry several sports gels to down along the way. On the same rides I've carried a water bottle with sports drink diluted 50:50 with water and had no fear of any form of electrolyte deficiency or cramps even though I'm a 51 year old Clyde who sweats easily and profusely.

As with so many things, enough is good but more isn't necessarily better.

pressed001

Yeah man. That's quite extreme. And in a lot of cases more is just as bad (or worse) than less.

I add 5g salt and 10g sugar to my 2 liter water pack. Cheap, simple, and a good balance for me.

Roody

My doctors told me to limit sodium to 1,500 mg because of a heart condition. a few things I've learned:

1. Potato chips aren't really that high in sodium. A small bag has less sodium than a slice of whole grain bread.
2. Most natural raw foods are low in sodium. Fruits and vegetable usually have close to zero mg. Unprocessed meats and fish are also low in sodium--usually less than 100 mg.
3. It's the processed foods that will get you. I almost totally avoid prepared meals and anything that is pickled or cured.
4. It's very difficult to eat in restaurants and go low sodium. For fast food, Panera has a good selection. Subway is not too bad. The rest are very difficult. Salads are good, but without meat, cheese, or dressing.

hig4s

200 mg every 20 minutes for 4 hours is 2400 mg.

Per the CDC and FDA "The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010 recommend that Americans aged 2 and up reduce sodium intake to less than 2,300 milligrams (mg) per day. People 51 and older and those of any age who are African Americans or who have high blood pressure,diabetes, or chronic kidney disease—about half the U.S. population and the majority of adults—should further reduce sodium intake to 1,500 mg per day. Even active people who lose lots of sodium through sweating require no more than 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day."

bliksem

I cut salt out of my diet 30 years ago. Today I have normal blood pressure (120/80), normal cholesterol and normal body weight (190 pounds/5'11") and good health. I'm not saying salt is the only evil, but you do not need salt in your diet nor do you need salt supplements or pills.

pdlamb

And 2400 mg of sodium equates to 6,000 mg of salt.

Or, to illustrate the problems with vague language, 300 mg/20 minutes ends up with 3600 mg sodium. Or 400 mg/20 min = 4800 mg sodium. But these wiggle words probably reflect the natural variation of salt excretion in the population.

So is the guideline 2,300 or 1,500 mg/day? And how do the "experts" determine that nobody loses more than 1500 mg/day?

While I've never weighed or calculated salt in my diet, I'm pretty sure I've had stretches where I've had to replace more than that. Maybe if I restricted my riding to 30 minutes a day (isn't that what the government wants us all to exercise?), and rode only in places where the average daily high was around 80F instead of lows near that, I could get away with that low a salt intake. But I don't.

hig4s

1. seeing as everyone else was talking sodium mg, and so was the hammer article, I did not catch you switch to talking salt mg.

2. seeing as the average american takes in 3600ms SODIUM a day, most people should be able to go 6 hours of heavy exercise before having any need to add sodium supplements. besides that, almost anything but water has sodium so there would still be little or no need for supplements.

3. What do you mean is it 2300 or 1500mg it clearly states 2300mg, except for those over 51, or with HBP, diabetes, ect, ect and those people (about half the population) should be at 1500mg.

DropBarFan

Interesting question. I guess an avid rider will sweat out a lot of salt but still have enough salt in system to cause some 'bloating' ie excess water weight retention. Water is heavy so I'd guess perhaps a kilogram or more? Opinions on salt intake for cyclists, body-builders etc all over the map. But if I eat a high-salt dinner I see noticeable eye puffiness the next day which seems to indicate significant water retention.

OldsCOOL

TI see it in the numbers on the scale. This winter I'm going to be giving more attention to salt intake when the only riding I do is on the trainer.

JakiChan

Ah, then maybe you can answer a question - my ENT is telling me not to "sweat" the low salt diet (we tried it, no improvement, and the stress of trying to follow it was causing more problems) - but I'm not sure what to drink on a long enough ride. I mean a couple of hours I'm fine with just water, but past that I've been trained to have some sort of electrolyte drink - and they're all just full of sodium. So what do you drink on a long ride?