Water & Salt

It's Laura.

Happy Monday!

Now that the warmer months are upon us, I would like to help bust a myth.

Salt is necessary for you. Some might even say it’s good for you. Before you start arguing with me and getting all defensive, read the article.

I am picking this particular topic mostly because of my mother. Every time I eat in front of her and put salt on my food, I hear “No, no, no, salt is bad for you”. “It raises your blood pressure.” She does the same thing to my father. “No salt for you your blood pressure is high.”

Well mom, I am sorry to say, (ok, not really sorry) you are wrong. It is a long held belief by most people that you should eliminate salt from your diet because it causes high blood pressure and hypertension.

In fact, you need salt in your body. Ever have a “Charlie Horse” or a leg cramp? It was most likely a result of mild dehydration. Salt in moderation, helps you body retain fluids in your muscles,which keeps them hydrated and keeps them from cramping.

In the warmer months, we sweat without exercise. Standing on the subway platform, walking to the store, working in the back yard and sometimes just standing around will cause us to sweat. If you add a little exercise to that and dehydration can come on pretty quickly.

Drinking water is great but sometimes is just not enough. Drinking too much water to compensate can aide in flushing out important electrolytes. Now I am not saying go ahead and change your whole diet to include high sodium foods. That is not the answer. I am also not advocating you drink an entire bottle of Gatorade. Marketing would have us believe that you need to drink an energy drink or a “Gatorade like beverage” every time you workout. This is untrue. Unless you are exercising intensely for more than an hour, you do not need Gatorade. Water should be sufficient.

But how much water do you need? One way to figure it out is to weigh yourself before and after exercise. You should weigh the same before and after exercise for proper hydration. If you weigh less, figure you need to take in more fluids during exercise. If you weigh more, you may want to reduce your fluid intake. Also keep in mind that if you are eating a healthy diet you should be taking in water through the fruits and vegetable you are consuming.

Staying hydrated, as we discussed, cannot be on water alone. Nor can you substitute high sugary drinks as a perfect replacement for the electrolytes you lose when you sweat. A combination of electrolyte replacement and water consumption is needed. Everyone is different and has different needs with different levels of exercise, you need to play with your own formula to find the right balance.

 And since we are on the subject of water, my challenge of hydration is not failing it is just not going as well as I hoped.  I am drinking at least one glass of water before my morning coffee and I do continue to drink water during my workouts but the rest of the water I have been aiming for has been hard to swallow.  Everyday I am trying, I got one extra so far as part of my daily habit.  How are you doing with your intake?

Play hard!

Laura