Thread: Sodium?

Personally I don't -but then I don't put salt on my food and frankly I can taste the sodium in my eggs in the morning and I don't really like it. I do notice when I've had salt, e.g. even as simple as a couple big pickles, I wake up w/ swollen hands.

I rarely, rarely watch the sodium, because i don't add salt and the stuff I eat isn't processed to the point where it's expected to have a lot.

Originally Posted by Typo

How close do you watch your Sodium?

I don't.

Originally Posted by sassy69

Personally I don't -but then I don't put salt on my food and frankly I can taste the sodium in my eggs in the morning and I don't really like it. I do notice when I've had salt, e.g. even as simple as a couple big pickles, I wake up w/ swollen hands.

WOW, happens to me as well.

I salt everything. Its a horrible habit. I almost need it for things to taste normal.

Whats sodium?

I don't watch sodium, I simply don't use salt much, like the other posters. However I *do* watch my magnesium, calcium and especially potassium since I tend to sweat a lot. Don't forget about the other electrolytes and fixate on sodium.

ThreeGigs - that's a good point. How much of each do you take daily?

i do keep an eye on my sodium intake....no table salt, no lunch meat stuff, stay away from processed foods and tv dinner things
Actually, if we are all eating the way we should be...we prolly wont come in contact with large amounts of sodium..right?
Hypertension runs in my family so I am especially on guard for the sodium

I salt my food. Sodium helps your muscles hold more water. This is a good thing.

Originally Posted by Built

I salt my food. Sodium helps your muscles hold more water. This is a good thing.

exactly !! sodium is very essential to training hard

I actually had to train myself to like the taste - I never used to salt my food at all!

salt is 1 way to get sodium into your body, but there are many other ways through use of soy sauce and other condiments

here is a little article i ran into a long time ago and it is pretty much bang on

One of the most powerful anabolic stimuli
may be sitting right on your dinner table.

Bodybuilders are constantly fed conflicting information regarding nutritional
intake. This information, dished out mainly by the magazines, is primarily
manipulated to sell you supplements. Yes, the magazines do have a vested
interest in supplements. More space is devoted to marketing their
supplements, either through articles or ads (in many cases these are one in the
same), than is devoted to non-promotional productive training and nutritional
information. Sad but true. Unfortunately you have to learn to see through the
monetarily motivated bullshit.

The Sodium Dilemma

As a whole, bodybuilders who think they are serious about their diet, generally
cut out all extra sodium intake. Most are under the false notion that sodium
will make them fat, cause them to retain extra water (as if this were a bad
thing), cause high blood pressure or is just overall an unhealthy mineral. None
of which is true. First off, sodium does not cause hypertension. This is a
disease sodium can aggravate but not manifest. Secondly, sodium will not
make you fat in any way, shape, or form. Thirdly, sodium is an essential
nutrient your body can’t live without. Many functions in the body are
"sodium-dependant". They require the presence of sodium. Many amino acids
are transported by sodium carriers.

Just recently the results of a major 10 year study were released vindicating
sodium as the unhealthy mineral. In fact this study revealed that individuals
with higher sodium intake had a lower mortality rate. That's right. Those that
consumed a diet low in sodium actually died at an earlier age than those with
higher sodium intakes. That pretty much throws a serious monkey wrench into
the generally accepted thinking on sodium now doesn't it?

With these fallacies out of the way let's see how we can manipulate our
sodium intake to help increase muscular size and strength.

Sodium and Muscle Growth

Sodium is the primary positively charged ion in extra-cellular fluid. Sodium
regulates blood volume, acid-base balance, muscle and nerve function and
ATP-hydrolyzing activity in skeletal muscle. Potassium is the primary
positively charged ion in intracellular fluid. Potassium regulates intra-muscular
fluid levels, muscle and nerve function and ATP-hydrolyzing activity in skeletal
muscle.

As you can see, sodium and potassium perform very similar functions with the
major difference being in the intra and extra-cellular fluid regulation. Most
everyone is aware that sodium has an effect on subcutaneous (under the skin)
fluid retention. Potassium has its effect on fluid inside the muscle cell. What
most don’t realize is that these two minerals are constantly striving for
equilibrium. When one gets out of line with the other your system will strive to
adjust to the underlying situation.

When you cut your sodium intake, your body will quickly compensate by
holding more sodium in and releasing potassium out thereby decreasing fluid
inside the muscle cell. When you increase your sodium intake your body will
compensate by holding more potassium in (increasing intra-muscular fluid) and
increasing the excretion of sodium.

Sodium, potassium and the balance between the two can have a prominent
impact on muscle size and anabolism (increased cellular fluid inside the muscle
cell promotes an anabolic response in muscle tissue) as well as strength
through increase joint leverage. Also, elevated sodium and potassium levels
will tend to prevent soft tissue injuries so common in heavy training.

Sodium's Influence

Increases muscle size through an increase in muscle cell
fluid volume.

Increasing cellular fluid increases protein turnover and
overload stimulated lean tissue accrual.

Increased intra and extra-cellular fluid increases joint
leverage positively impacting strength for greater muscle
overload.

Increased intra and extra-cellular fluid decreases muscle
strains and helps protect soft and connective tissue from
injury.

Many critical amino acids are "sodium-dependant". This
means they actually have to attach to a sodium molecule
to enter the muscle cell.

Getting Enough

You can get enough potassium from a good multi-mineral supplement.
Bananas are also an excellent source and are highly recommended. Each bite
has about 100 milligrams of potassium. Sodium is another story. The typical
athlete that eats a disciplined diet low in fat is probably not benefiting from
proper sodium intake as he should. Forget the myth of avoiding table salt.
Don’t be afraid to use salt liberally. This is important. I know, over the years
the media has pounded the “avoid salt” routine down your throat but you must
understand, not only this is geared towards the “average person” - if you train
and eat like a bodybuilder, you are not an average person - it's opposite of
what recent science has shown to be healthy.

Remember, the low/no sodium approach will limit the rate at which you can
put on muscle from both a fluid balance standpoint and through hormonal
suppression effects.

For a serious anabolic jolt, simply increase your sodium intake by salting your food a little more. It doesn't take a ton of salt. Just get in the habit of salting your food at
every meal. Steadily increase the amount you use over a one month period.
You'll be bigger, stronger, and much less susceptible to progress halting
injuries. And guess what? It's cheap

Yep - same article I read.

wow, i honestly didnt realize how important salt was to muscle .... nonetheless i have to watch sodium intake due to hypertension in the genes..

Thanks for the lessons, Bros!

Originally Posted by Built

ThreeGigs - that's a good point. How much of each do you take daily?

Calcium and potassium I get from diet. 500 grams of yogurt a day plus maybe a liter of milk for calcium, and 600ml of orange juice daily and 2-3 bananas a week for potassium. Magnesium I have to supplement, 350 mg a day, 5 days a week (on training days). I do a lot of cardio/aero after a workout, and I sweat a LOT. As in I drink 3 liters of water during training and still weigh less afterwards.

In addition to that article posted above about how important potassium and sodium are for muscle volume, they're even more important regarding nerve function. I was feeling sluggish and lethargic at one point, and thought it might be my electrolyte balance, so I researched everything to death. When I knew what I had to do and got my potassium straightened out I was suddenly lifting heavier weights. I'm thinking that I wasn't able to fully recruit all muscle fibers, and two days after chugging OJ down, I added 20 kilos to my leg extension and 30 to deadlift.

So lesson learned and passed on: watch your OTHER electrolytes too, not just sodium.

Great Article never watched salt intake + or - really.
only when working out in the sun in Fl did I add extra Electrolites

Originally Posted by ThreeGigs

Calcium and potassium I get from diet. 500 grams of yogurt a day plus maybe a liter of milk for calcium, and 600ml of orange juice daily and 2-3 bananas a week for potassium. Magnesium I have to supplement, 350 mg a day, 5 days a week (on training days). I do a lot of cardio/aero after a workout, and I sweat a LOT. As in I drink 3 liters of water during training and still weigh less afterwards.

In addition to that article posted above about how important potassium and sodium are for muscle volume, they're even more important regarding nerve function. I was feeling sluggish and lethargic at one point, and thought it might be my electrolyte balance, so I researched everything to death. When I knew what I had to do and got my potassium straightened out I was suddenly lifting heavier weights. I'm thinking that I wasn't able to fully recruit all muscle fibers, and two days after chugging OJ down, I added 20 kilos to my leg extension and 30 to deadlift.

So lesson learned and passed on: watch your OTHER electrolytes too, not just sodium.

I don't drink juice, and I hardly eat any fruit. How much potassium do you get from these sources? I'll need to supplement and I don't know how much.

Originally Posted by Built

I salt my food. Sodium helps your muscles hold more water. This is a good thing.

ESPECIALLY when doing this God forbidden PSMF/RFL diet.....I'm like high-fat beef jerky over here! lol.

Originally Posted by Built

I actually had to train myself to like the taste - I never used to salt my food at all!

I've rarely if ever added salt to my food after it was cooked....don't add much while cooking, even here at the restaurant...er, what's left of a restaurant....