Salt - is it necessary?

[Chussen]

At the moment I have eliminated all salt from my food intake as best I can.
A couple of days ago, a friend who is a boxing trainer said that you simply cannot build muscle without added salt in your food. I have never heard of this before. What do you reckon?

Yesterday I broke out & had half dozen natural oysters & was so thirsty a couple of hours later. I am assuming it was the oysters, but damn they were worth it!

 

[Kyle Aaron]

Your boxing trainer is giving you what we call "broscience". That's the "science" you get from blokes who call each-other "bro", they pass it around between each-other. It sometimes has some original truth in it, but usually not.

It's not that salt is essential to growing muscle, it's essential to life. But added salt usually is not.

Most of us can live without added salt. You need more salt in hot and humid conditions, since when you sweat you also lose salts. Historically people living in the hottest places either had seafood or added salt was very valuable to them. To this day there's a camel-borne trade in blocks of salt across the Sahara.

However, unless you're living in a hot and humid climate, you don't need much added salt, what appears naturally in food will be enough. Exercise will deplete your salts a bit, but you have to be absolutely drenched in sweat before it's at a level where you'd really need added salt.

On the other hand, there is no health reason to cut added salt entirely from your diet unless your family has a history of early heart disease, or you have previously suffered kidney or gallstones, or have other kidney problems. You can certainly cut down your added salt intake - most Aussies have heaps more than they'll ever needed - but most people don't need to eliminate it entirely.

 

[Fadi]

Chussen, I agree with every word Kyle wrote for you. In addition, if you can substitute sea salt (the "dirtier" looking) the better. It means it has less processing done to it. Table salt is no more than a chemical called sodium chloride.

Do me, yourself, and everyone else who loves you a huge favour and do NOT play with your electrolyte balance if there's no need for it. Our bodies are sophisticated enough to take care of us and keep the homeostasis under control if we don't go to extremes.


Fadi.

 

[danielex1]

Chussen, I agree with every word Kyle wrote for you. In addition, if you can substitute sea salt (the "dirtier" looking) the better. It means it has less processing done to it. Table salt is no more than a chemical called sodium chloride.

Do me, yourself, and everyone else who loves you a huge favour and do NOT play with your electrolyte balance if there's no need for it. Our bodies are sophisticated enough to take care of us and keep the homeostasis under control if we don't go to extremes.


Fadi.

Absolutely agree with the above posts!!

Within one day of dropping dietary sodium, excreted sodium is cut in half and continues to decline as more Aldosterone is produced. BUT, the blood levels of sodium are conserved perfectly. You cant trick your body! All you will do by cutting sodium is screwed up the osmolarity of the cell membranes and you won't know where the water is going to go. If you keep your water intake and sodium intake normal, your cellular fluid dynamics will stay normal. You'll continue to flush excess water and sodium out of your body.

In other words its a good way to make yourself look incredibly flat!

 

[Fadi]

Thank you for your support Champion.


Fadi.