Salt: The Diet Killer

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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.

As mentioned, 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, fresh 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.

 

Article Source: http://updateforyou.com

 

 

Patricia S. Church RN, BSN, author of The Tortoise Diet invites you

to learn more about how she lost 120 pounds. Visit her site at

www.wintheracetolose.com