#202

Have you compared your indicators on a low sodium diet, however?

#203

I don’t like Sodium Chloride particularly, but there are limits on what I can test. Interestingly I put my sodium intake up, but the serum sodium level went down recently. I will probably get to a point at which I try pulling the sodium right down, but that is not a priority test for now.

The blood test I did today is a nice broad one with all of the cations I like to monitor. The one last week did not have all the cations.

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#204

As discussed earlier in this thread…

How to easily satisfy your salt cravings without damaging your health

Could potassium fortification be the answer we’re looking for when it comes to battling our unhealthy addiction to salt?

I have high blood pressure and have been taking medicine to control it for years. It recently spiked again and my doctor tweaked my prescription. But I have also been taking matters into my own hands, limiting how much salt I eat, plus a bit of self-medication with an off-the-shelf supplement. My blood pressure is back under control.

You might think that it was the medication and my salty sacrifice that did the trick. They almost certainly played a part. But my supplement of choice – potassium – may have actually done the heavy lifting.

High blood pressure, or hypertension, is the world’s most common cause of death. And while there is little doubt that excess dietary salt (sodium chloride) can elevate blood pressure and that most people would benefit from eating less, many of us struggle to do so. We urgently need a better solution, and growing evidence suggests we may have one in potassium.

Read full article: How to easily satisfy your salt cravings without damaging your health (New Scientist)

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#205

“For every X hours aerobic activity a week, there is a 10 point reduction in systolic and diastolic blood pressure”

“It’s not the absolute sodium content you consume, it is the dilution of sodium in food, … it depends how much water is paired with that sodium”

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#206

The issue of hydration is interesting. I wonder if there are any papers on this.

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#207

According to Rick Johnson, HBP with salt with age is because of inflammation of kidneys causing less blood flow to it and for less sodium to be excreted:

That sounds like reduced kidney function to me as a layman and maybe something SGLT2i can protect over time via compounding.

Peter wants GFR to be above 40 at age 100, whatever that means, and thus requiring early treatment.of blood pressure it seems, early in life, and a GFR at 107 at age 40.

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#208

I’m currently reading Waterlogged by Tim Noakes (less than half way through) which is more about sports performance and appropriate hydration and not salt per se. It all ties together of course and is really interesting. Apparently when Gatorade came on the scene they heavily marketed the idea of pushing fluids with electrolytes which has actually been a net negative and led to more hyponatremia. Noakes makes the case that we evolved to run for hours on the hot savanna without the constant pushing of fluids and in many cases people are consuming more than the intestines can absorb and the kidneys can process which leads to imbalances. Apparently our bile also provides adequate salt so drinking plain water to quench thirst during activity is sufficient. Obviously I’m not qualified to critique his claims but it does make sense in light of the fact that primitive people didn’t have sports drinks. It’s a useful read for a layperson like me who constantly struggled with electrolyte imbalances prior to going on a no added salt diet.

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#209

For those who include protein powders in their diet and are watching their sodium intake I found a decent pea protein that comes in at 73mg per serving.

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#210

I’ve seen multiple people mention that sodium intake is possibly causing HBP with age. I think that is interesting to think about and research more.

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#211
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#212

NaCl supplementation reduced the effect of telmisartan with or without hydrochlorothiazide on systolic BP by approximately 50%

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Angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) experiences?
#213

My husband has lost 10 pounds since transitioning to a lower sodium intake about 1 month ago. He still eats some snacks/convenience foods with added salt occasionally but mostly eats the no added salt food I prepare at home now. He went to the Indy 500 at the end of May and came home 9 pounds heavier! I told him it could be the salt from the tailgating foods and he agreed and said he’d be open to lowering his nacl intake. He’s down 19 pounds from that day and 10 from his typical weight. He said he’s feeling better too. I’m using every salt free spice mix I can find atm to keep his tastebuds happy.

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#214

I’ll just add here that if a farmer wants his animals to eat more, it’s very cheap to add salt to the feed and it works.

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#215
  • Almost all populations are consuming too much sodium.
  • The global mean intake of adults is 4310 mg/day sodium (equivalent to 10.78 g/day salt) (1). This is more than double the World Health Organization recommendation for adults of less than 2000 mg/day sodium (equivalent to < 5 g/day salt).
  • The primary health effect associated with diets high in sodium is raised blood pressure, increasing the risk of cardiovascular diseases, gastric cancer, obesity, osteoporosis, Meniere’s disease, and kidney disease.
  • An estimated 1.89 million deaths each year are associated with consuming too much sodium (2).
  • Reducing sodium intake is one of the most cost-effective measures to improve health and reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases: for every US$ 1 invested in scaling up sodium reduction interventions, there will be a return of at least US$ 12.
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#217

Is there anything that is actually as bad as salt except saturated fat?

  1. Increase blood pressure for some.
  2. Increase risk for high blood pressure with age, based on observational data of low salt populations not developing it.

If someone avoids added salt, as long as they get enough which is a small amount, then they might avoid HBP with age. That means either no BP medication if it’s optimal or a lower dose or fewer medications.

You might get away with a lot of things, but this might be the most important.

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#218

On vacation last week I had 2 higher (for me) sodium days due to dining out once and a family meal that I didn’t prepare. One day was close to 1500mg and the other 1000mg while I normally have 500-700mg. I had puffy eyes and could feel/hear pulsating in my head and diaphragm area when I was trying to fall asleep. It took me a couple days to feel back to normal. After becoming acclimated to a no added salt diet the impacts of consuming it in amounts that are deemed acceptable by the WHO are unacceptable for me personally. I’ve never been diagnosed with high blood pressure and yet I’m benefiting tremendously from limiting NaCl. I think it’s quite possible there’s a lot wrong with our modern intake levels and this could definitely be a largely unrecognized potential health issue for many people.

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#219

I used to do a no salt diet, I was between 600/800mg a day and had salt craving. No joke I was dreaming at night about cheese. I could eat 3kg of food and wasn’t satisfied.
Now I salt a little bit for the taste.

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#220

If I might ask, how long did you eat no added salt? I figured I’d crave it but I haven’t so far. Every few months I end up having some due to extenuating circumstances so maybe that keeps me from craving it?

#221

Few years. And to be honnest no cheat meal for years!

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#222

That’s so interesting. Thanks for sharing your experience. I really appreciate it.