Sodium, an essential nutrient, plays a crucial role in maintaining various bodily functions, including fluid balance, nerve impulse transmission, and normal cell function. While necessary, excessive sodium consumption, primarily through added salt, has been linked to several health concerns, including high blood pressure and, potentially, weight gain. This article explores the relationship between sodium intake and its effects on weight management, providing insights into how sodium impacts the body and offering practical tips for reducing sodium consumption.
The Role of Sodium in the Body
Sodium is vital for maintaining plasma volume, acid-base balance, and nerve cell function. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that adults consume less than 2,000 mg of sodium per day, equivalent to just under a teaspoon of salt. Children aged 2-15 years should have their intake adjusted downward based on their energy requirements. Sodium deficiency is rare in healthy individuals.
Sodium and Water Retention
Sodium attracts water, and a high-sodium diet draws water into the bloodstream, which can increase blood volume and, consequently, blood pressure. This is why restricting dietary sodium can result in loss of body water through urine as the body tries to reestablish sodium and water balance.
A recent study found that high salt intakes increase thirst. Your body uses the extra fluid consumed to dilute the excess sodium that it’s unable to excrete quickly enough (4). However, your urine volume does not change, meaning this extra fluid stays in your body.
Therefore, a sudden increase in sodium intake may cause you to gain some weight in the form of fluid. This is why some people report feeling puffy after eating very high salt foods like take-out foods and salty restaurant meals. It’s important to note that this fluid retention is generally only temporary. Body fluid levels typically return to normal after a few days.
Read also: Low Sodium Diet Frozen Dinners
Sodium Restriction for Athletes
Athletes sometimes seek ways to rapidly reduce weight before weigh-ins. Temporarily restricting sodium intake is considered the least risky method compared to restricting food or water intake. Reducing sodium intake to very low amounts (for example, 1,000 to 1,500 milligrams daily) would likely result in a loss of about 600 milliliters (2.5 cups) of water on the first day or about 1.25 pounds (.57 kilogram) of scale weight.
However, a 1,000 to 1,500 milligram sodium diet is extremely low in sodium. Thus, many familiar and convenient foods usually consumed would have to be temporarily excluded. Eating in fast-food outlets or other restaurants would be difficult. As a short-term strategy, reducing sodium intake to very low amounts can result in a temporary loss of fluid and a loss of 1 to 3 pounds (.45 to 1.4 kilograms) of water weight. The short-term restriction of sodium is not likely to affect health negatively because the body has a large reserve of sodium in bones.
Athletes who choose to reduce water weight before weigh-in should begin fluid consumption immediately after weight is certified. The amount of fluid that a person can tolerate will vary, but the goal is to get as close as possible to 100 percent restoration of hydration. The degree to which dehydration can be reversed depends on the length of time until competition, which may be as short as one to two hours. If the intake of food and water is restricted before weigh-in, consume a carbohydrate containing beverage as soon as your weight is certified.
Sodium and Obesity
Studies have found that high sodium intake may increase the risk of obesity - independent of your calorie intake. One study among 1,243 children and adults found that those with higher urinary sodium were more likely to have obesity or overweight. High salt intake was significantly associated with higher levels of body fat in both children and adults. The study also found that a 1-gram per day increase in sodium intake was associated with a 28% and 26% increased risk of obesity in children and adults, respectively.
Another study among 9,162 people found that a sodium intake greater than 2,300 mg per day was significantly associated with a greater risk of obesity and belly fat, compared with a moderate sodium intake of 1,500-2,300 mg per day. Although the possible mechanism isn’t entirely clear, a high salt diet may directly lead to fat accumulation in the body (7).
Read also: Healthy Kidney Diet Guide
Identifying High-Sodium Foods
Surprisingly, some foods that don’t taste salty can still be high in sodium, which is why using taste alone is not an accurate way to judge a food’s sodium content. For example, while some foods that are high in sodium (like pickles and soy sauce) taste salty, there are also many foods (like cereals and pastries) that contain sodium but don’t taste salty. Also, some foods that you may eat several times a day (such as breads) can add up to a lot of sodium over the course of a day, even though an individual serving may not be high in sodium.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 40% of the sodium consumed by Americans comes from the following foods:
- Deli meat sandwiches
- Pizza
- Burritos and tacos
- Soups
- Savory Snacks (e.g. chips, crackers, popcorn)
- Poultry
- Pasta mixed dishes
- Burgers
- Egg dishes and omelets
Practical Tips for Reducing Sodium Consumption
Learning about sodium in foods and exploring new ways to prepare foods can help you achieve your sodium goal. If you follow these tips to reduce the amount of sodium you consume, your “taste” for sodium will gradually decrease over time-so eventually, you may not even miss it!
- Read the Nutrition Facts label: Compare and choose foods to get less than 100% DV (less than 2,300 mg) of sodium each day.
- Prepare your own food when you can: Limit packaged sauces, mixes, and “instant” products (including flavored rice, instant noodles, and ready-made pasta).
- Add flavor without adding sodium: Limit the amount of table salt you add to foods when cooking, baking, or at the table. Try no-salt seasoning blends and herbs and spices instead of salt to add flavor to your food.
- Buy fresh: Choose fresh meat, poultry, and seafood, rather than processed varieties. Also, check the package on fresh meat and poultry to see if salt water or saline has been added.
- Watch your veggies: Buy fresh, frozen (no sauce or seasoning), or low sodium or no-salt-added canned vegetables.
- Give sodium the “rinse”: Rinse sodium-containing canned foods, such as beans, tuna, and vegetables before eating. This removes some of the sodium.
- “Unsalt” your snacks: Choose low sodium or no-salt-added nuts, seeds, and snack products (such as chips and pretzels)-or have carrot or celery sticks instead.
- Consider your condiments: Sodium in condiments can add up. Choose light or reduced sodium condiments, add oil and vinegar to salads rather than bottled dressings, and use only a small amount of seasoning from flavoring packets instead of the entire packet.
- Reduce your portion size: Less food means less sodium. Prepare smaller portions at home and consume less when eating out-choose smaller sizes, split an entrée with a friend, or take home part of your meal.
- Make lower-sodium choices at restaurants: Ask for your meal to be prepared without table salt and request that sauces and salad dressings be served “on the side,” then use less of them.
Decoding Food Labels
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is working with the food industry to make reasonable reductions in sodium across a wide variety of foods. Even though sodium may already be in many packaged foods when you purchase them, you can lower your daily sodium intake by using the Nutrition Facts label.
Use the Nutrition Facts label as your tool to make informed decisions! The Daily Values are reference amounts of nutrients to consume or not to exceed each day. The Daily Value for sodium is less than 2,300 milligrams (mg) per day. Use % Daily Value (%DV) as a tool. The %DV is the percentage of the Daily Value for each nutrient in a serving of the food and shows how much of a nutrient contributes to a total daily diet. Use %DV to determine if a serving of the food is high or low in sodium and to compare and choose foods to get less than 100% DV of sodium each day.
Read also: Comprehensive Guide: Low Sodium Meals
As a general guide: 5% DV or less of sodium per serving is considered low, and 20% DV or more of sodium per serving is considered high.
Check the package for nutrient claims You can also check for nutrient claims on food and beverage packages to quickly identify those that may contain less sodium. Here’s a guide to common claims and what they mean:
| What It Says | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Salt/Sodium-Free | Less than 5 mg of sodium per serving |
| Very Low Sodium | 35 mg of sodium or less per serving |
| Low Sodium | 140 mg of sodium or less per serving |
| Reduced Sodium | At least 25% less sodium than the regular product |
| Light in Sodium | At least 50% less sodium than the regular product |
| No-Salt-Added | No salt is added during processing |
Health Implications of High Sodium Intake
The primary health effect associated with diets high in sodium is raised blood pressure, which increases 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. High blood pressure (also known as hypertension) is a condition in which blood pressure remains elevated over time. Hypertension makes the heart work too hard, and the high force of the blood flow can harm arteries and organs (such as the heart, kidneys, brain, and eyes). Uncontrolled high blood pressure can raise the risk of heart attack, heart failure, stroke, kidney disease, and blindness. In addition, blood pressure generally rises as you get older, so limiting your sodium intake becomes even more important each year.