low sodium, dieting & dangers (veggies, Alli, supplements, daily basis)

[windandrain]

I thought I would start another thread because I didnt want to have a post quickly buried in the other thread.

Ok, so here is the deal. Has anyone heard of the 6 week body makeover diet plan? So I purchased the program and tried it a few years back. One of the main points is seriously limiting the amout of salt you eat, right down to egg yolks because they have sodium in them. I tried it for two weeks and indeed lost weight. One day I woke up light headed and my legs were tinkly-like. I went to work, where I was required to stand the entire day. Soon my legs felt so tired that I felt like I had gone back to high school and my long cross country runs having just finished a 5 mile run. I barely made it to the breakroom, where I tripped on a chair leg but my mind could not make my legs move fast enough to catch myself and I fell on my face.

An hour later, after being nearly carried out of work by DH, the tests results came back that I had both low sodium and low potassium. Sodium is what holds in potassium and the symptoms I had were thanks to the low potassium.

Here is the full deal, especiall for you women. I DO NOT recommend any low sodium diets unless you have been checked out for thyroid and andrenal issues, which could be the root cause of the weight gain. If you have these problems, they could cause low potassium and taking the salt out our diet that would be holding any potassium you are putting in your body can become very dangerous.

If you are uncomfortable will talking with your doctor, or don't want to pay the upwards of $800 for the testing that they charge, you can have E1 and E2 Estrogens, Progestrone, Testostrone, HEAS, all 4 Cortisols, AND all your thyroid hormones checked for between $400-$500 by purchasing the test kits yourself and sending to an independent lab where you can get an unbiased and full answer. There are multiple sites online to purchase your tests. I HIGHLY recommend that you look at all the symptoms of thyroid and adrenal issues and if you have some of those issues, test BEFORE limiting sodium in your diet.

[grannynancy]

My goodness, how low did you go?

The typical sodium restricted diet is about 1500mg a day [which is still about 200mg above the RDA] and I can tell you that this is VERY hard to get down to eating zero processed foods, and adding zero salt to your food.

I think it is very hard to get adequate potassium in a calorie controlled diet since the RDA for that is 4700mg a day. I have to really work at it.

[Herbrocks]

Certainly a good idea to run any major diet changes by your doctor, esp any fad diet plans availible for purchase.

Potassium in excess can be dangerous for some people, but most people don't get enough. Diuretics can also cause low potassium, as can dehydration.

I think you would be very hard pressed to find a doctor who would recommend against a lower sodium lifestyle though.

[Herbrocks]

Certainly a good idea to run any major diet changes by your doctor, esp any fad diet plans availible for purchase.

Potassium in excess can be dangerous for some people, but most people don't get enough. Diuretics can also cause low potassium, as can dehydration.

I think you would be very hard pressed to find a doctor who would recommend against a lower sodium lifestyle though.

[windandrain]

Originally Posted by grannynancy

My goodness, how low did you go?

The typical sodium restricted diet is about 1500mg a day [which is still about 200mg above the RDA] and I can tell you that this is VERY hard to get down to eating zero processed foods, and adding zero salt to your food.

I think it is very hard to get adequate potassium in a calorie controlled diet since the RDA for that is 4700mg a day. I have to really work at it.

Actually I hate processed foods, we eat out about once every two months (Chinese), we never stop anywhere with a drive thru cause it makes us sick, go out for ice cream with the kids two or three times in the summer, I even like to make my own pasta and bread. I like to purchase everything raw fresh or frozen fresh, never canned, boxed, or frozen-easy dinners. My kids didn't even know what chicken nuggets were until my sister tried to feed them to them and didn't understand why I wouldn't force them to finish them...I was depriving them she said, how sad. Doughnuts, what are those? Potato chips are in our house maybe once a year to two years, though cookies and other homebaked goodies are big during the holidays, and there is chocolate for Valentine's, and candy for Easter and Halloween, other than that, there is no junk food in our house. I don't like it. I don't like the taste, texture, or calories. I was allowed zero amount of this growing up and never acquired a taste for it. Pop, I might crack open a can every now and then but have a hard time finishing it. Really, my preferred drink is water.

We are not ZERO processed food but we are pretty close.

High potassium foods we eat regularly are: banana's, apricots, oranges, avocadoes, strawberries, raisins and other dried fruits, Bananas, potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage (yes and lots of it), squash, broccoli, spinach (baby spinach, walnuts, raisins, fruits, berries and some walnut vinegrette make a yummy breakfast salad), plain yogurt (daily to cut down on candida growing in my sinuses), brussel sprouts, carrots among others and wild edibles we pick from our land such as lamb quarters. I have eaten at least one banana a day for years (usually 2 since they make a good afternoon snack). There is no reason I should ever have low potassium and eat ingest a lot, just did a quick count on just my yesterday's breakfast and had more than 1500mg in potassium not to mention what is in my multivitamins and everything else through the day.

They never told me how low I went and it made no difference how low I went. I was low before I started the diet and the diet threw me over the edge. Later I went later with the same problem, without the diet, thinking that the diet had caused it the first time. Not. Is was the lack of sodium in the diet that made it bad as I couldn't hold in the potassium I was ingesting. The diet was actually was based on healthy eating, showing which foods to take out of my diet based on my body type. It was healthy, encouraged chicken breasts, fish, along with a very wide range of fruits and veggies. I don't add salt to my food after cooking as I never did as a kid so it wasn't something I ever grew a taste for, but it is in most foods you eat anyhow, it is added during cooking in moderation. It was a very healthy diet change, though for the salt part, it just meant that I cut adding salt to the meat I cooked for myself, and I eliminated pizza, foods with pasta and sauces. (stuff we didn't eat often anyhow) I planned to stick with it. I liked all the extra fresh veggies and fruit.

Potassium in excess can be dangerous for some people, but most people don't get enough. Diuretics can also cause low potassium, as can dehydration.

I think you would be very hard pressed to find a doctor who would recommend against a lower sodium lifestyle though.

Really? The doctor I saw gave me a prescription for potassium supplements and told my husband to take me home and feed me pizza and did exactly that, recommended that I eat more salt. I had taken a food diary since I started the diet and reviewed it with him and he said that he wished all his patients ate like that. It was very balanced (I didn't take out the egg yolks as recommended (among other things) and drank a glass of whole-hormone free milk everyday besides (which was againt the plan), drank tea and took one a day multi vitamins just in case. I properly amended as I saw fit but did cut out those unneccessary foods. The only reason I got the plan was because I wanted to see what body type I was and learn about the few key foods to took reduce out of my diet, and get the excersize video and try to drop a few pounds before my sister's wedding in a couple months as I was in it.)

It was just the switch that had lesser sodium, a diet that this doctor would recommend to anyone, that put me in danger. He suggested that I get further testing with my doctor, though my doctor just tested me for mono (for the fatigue) and never did anything further at that time since my sodium and potassium were back up, thanks to DH adding salt to everything I ate () and the supplements I took. He never listened. I was just lucky I learned about it and did my own research as later, pregnancy causes lower potassium in the first trimester and it was nice to be able to stay on top it.

FOR ME, diet is NOT the cause of my weight. But a couple years ago, I did begin to loss my confidence and started a daily diary to count calories and I was taking in between 700-1500 a day, thanks largely to the low amount of calories non-salted or buttered veggies have, eating three meals and maintaining my weight. Just one day I was 138 pounds and got on the scale cause I thought I had gained a few. Over 10 days I gained 20 pounds and have there was nothing I could do to stop it.

I went to that clinic TWICE with low sodium and low potassium. When you look adrenal disease, they, as my doctor mentioned, say that the testing can be expensive so if you are concerned, get tested for low potassium and low sodium as that is a red flag for adrenal disease.

Point is, BEFORE you lower sodium in ANYWAY in your diet as a women, you need to take in account of any and all symptoms, regardless if your doctor has or not, and look at them side by side with thryoid and adrenal issues BEFORE lowering your sodium in anyway. Your doctor may very easily overlook the problem or refuse to test for it (And dont try telling me that is BS. My sister, my mother and I have seen a total of 8 different doctors among us and all have denied adrenal testing) so sometimes you just have to look very carefully at it yourself, especially when you know you've had some unusual issues like rapid weight gain in a short amount of time, or know in your heart you eat pretty dang healthy even when compared against your thin friends. Adrenal disease is often overlooked and depression is usually diagnosised as the problem once the thyroid tests come back free and clear since adrenal disease is more rare and since fatigue is such a dominate symptom, which runs right along with the statisic that depression is the number one cause of fatigue.

[grannynancy]

IT is good advise that someone talk with a doctor before starting a diet and a typcial blood panel has sodium and potassium values in it.

I would buy the take home that you should know your values. Also drinking an excess of water can cause you to blow off salts and has killed folks. Diuretics and diarreah can also deplete these salts.

But you are talking about a disease state.

The overwhelming majority of people are not going to be hurt by eating a low sodium diet. On 1400 calories, I am having a hard time keeping my sodium between 1400 and 2000 mg a day which is still above the RDA. Forget processed food; one subway turkey sub can give you an entire day's worth of sodium. My blood values for sodium and potassium, are in the normal reference ranges, if on the low end.

[pitt_transplant]

I am healthy but I was taking pain pills a lot when I felt washed out from low salt. I have been trying to get less salt in my day and have been lately without feeling like crap. And guess what my little hands never touch anymore and even more so recently...advil, tylenol etc.

I just stopped taking it because I was sick of the price and felt arnica and peppermint oils worked better anyway...but that aside....

Thanks for possible mystery solving salty posters!

I thought it was the low meat intake...but it was DA' DRUGS!


Random note: I think I am sleeping better with eating less salt.
Strange...

[windandrain]

Originally Posted by grannynancy

IT is good advise that someone talk with a doctor before starting a diet and a typcial blood panel has sodium and potassium values in it.

I would buy the take home that you should know your values. Also drinking an excess of water can cause you to blow off salts and has killed folks. Diuretics and diarreah can also deplete these salts.

But you are talking about a disease state.

The overwhelming majority of people are not going to be hurt by eating a low sodium diet. On 1400 calories, I am having a hard time keeping my sodium between 1400 and 2000 mg a day which is still above the RDA. Forget processed food; one subway turkey sub can give you an entire day's worth of sodium. My blood values for sodium and potassium, are in the normal reference ranges, if on the low end.

Lol, you sound just like my sister! Turkey sub, and she thinks that is healthy as well. If its eating out, its loaded with something you don't need...how about the 90% bread for a meal. LOTS of health value to that Yes maybe you are right, an overwhelming percent of the population just eats so much crap that it probably is hard to keep down because they can not break the habit. Worse now is that people are feeding the junk to their babies (my sister gave her 5 month old cheesits and cheese puffs, poptarts, fries, chicken nuggets, ect daily) regardless of the well know fact that life long eating habits are developed in the first few years of life.

I'm fat inspite of the fact that I have to ADD salt in order to get to any real percent. I just added up the salt that was in everything I ate yesterday and it was between 1250-1300mg and I ate crap yesterday.

Another thing to the list I don't eat, deli meats and hot dogs. Did you know that deli meats and hot dogs are on the list of things you should not eat while pregnant because you can get listeria? I worked in a deli and I know just how long they sit out. Ick. Nor do I like the packaged stuff from the meat department, it is fake food, slimy and tasteless. Usually they have nitrates added as a preservative. Also another reason to say away from sauage and bacon. We will have subs occasionally, maybe once a year if that, but I go to the store and purchase all the ingrediants and make my own so I can add less meat, more veg and we always have it as part of a meal, not the entire meal, a small sub with some fresh veggies on the side like carrots, broccoli and a little ranch.

I do drank plenty of water but I don't over do it. I am pretty up on nutrition and know that if I'm sweating it up, I had better get some salt into me and a glass of Emergen-C gives me a quick 60mg.

Yes I am talking about a disease issue. I just wanted people to be aware that there can be dangers. While it is rare as a whole, a lot of woman in my family have this issue, 4 sisters, a mother, a grandmother, one of my mother's two sisters, one of my granmother's sisters, my great granmother also had the same problems just on my mother's side. On my fathers side, I remember my aunt getting so low on potassium, another aunt who was talking on the phone with her, called us cause we lived closer to go check on her and be with her kids when she suddenly passed out while talking to her...hauled off by an ambulance...scary stuff for kids. That is a lot of people and for every single one of us, we have been denied the testing by our doctors. I have a sister who has moved to a new area and she is going to tell her new doctor that her old doctor suspected it but she moved before getting tests done to see if that will make someone listen and convince them to test her. We are all laughing and refusing anti-depressents, and have all gone along for the testing of mono, diabetes, ect just to prove the doctors wrong again and again.

With those with adrenal issues, it is recommended that you do NOT restrict salt in your diet. While your doctor might do a blood panel, it is important to make sure that the weight issues are not directly related to adrenal issues before starting any low sodium diet as he might see that you have low potassium and sodium but not make the connection themselves, as the multiple doctors I have seen have missed or refused to test for when I asked and pointed it out myself but been tested for lymes disease, mono, diabetes...twice, and been in with low potassium and sodium...twice, and talked directly with my doctor on multiple occasions. Then there was the doctor that my husband wanted to punch in the face when the testing came back with low potassium and sodium...he actually told DH I was making it up and pretending for attention...finishing it with...you know how women are...regardless of the fact that DH had refused to let me go to work and forced me to go back to the doctor. Doctors may not test for it so talking with one can be useless, as we have seen in our family.

I just don't want anyone to have to go through what I did. Talking with a doctor may sound like sound advice but my experience is you need to be your own advocate, talk with your family members to research symptoms and find the root cause of your wieght gain. Is it because you eat crap everyday and can be honest with yourself becaue of it or do you know, really know, that is not an issue for your? Doctors make a profit from your ill health and only you make a profit from your good health.

Low sodium diets are good for many...but you don't have high sodium if you eat healthy in the first place. For those that do eat healthy and still have problems, then you should be aware.

[windandrain]

Originally Posted by pitt_transplant

I am healthy but I was taking pain pills a lot when I felt washed out from low salt. I have been trying to get less salt in my day and have been lately without feeling like crap. And guess what my little hands never touch anymore and even more so recently...advil, tylenol etc.

I just stopped taking it because I was sick of the price and felt arnica and peppermint oils worked better anyway...but that aside....

Thanks for possible mystery solving salty posters!

I thought it was the low meat intake...but it was DA' DRUGS!


Random note: I think I am sleeping better with eating less salt.
Strange...

This I don't get. I live by and teach my kids to so no to drugs...all of them. Meaning, they don't take any drug, over the counter or otherwise, unless it is for a life threatening reason. Drugs do mess up how you feel on a daily basis and can mess with how your body absorbs certain things, make you feel fatigued, lower your natural pain tolerance, make you sensative to certain things, and make you gain or loss too much weight.

I also sleep easier with less salt. It has gotten so low that I can hardly sit up and could sleep all day. That is when I know that I am getting dangerously low. DH gets very concerned cause i get so dizzy and nauseated that he has had to hold me up to keep me from falling over.

Low meat intate? I guess I am confused with that. You saying I must be fat from the healthy portions of boneless, skinless chicken breast in my diet and stirfrys (veggie loaded..mmm...broccoli, no oils added either), or the fact I eat beef or pork once or twice a week which is still to much because they always give me bad heartburn that only cider vinegar can get rid of?

[grannynancy]

Originally Posted by windandrain

Lol, you sound just like my sister! Turkey sub, and she thinks that is healthy as well. .

Uhhh, no - I was saying that one turkey sub loads you up with one day's worth of sodium. Your problem is the exception, not the rule. Processed lunch meat, iceberg lettuce, highly processed bread......no, that is crap food..........you missed my point.

I think the point of your thread is being lost because your problem does not apply to the overwhelming majority of people who ingest WAAAAY too much sodium. The point you are making is - hey - there are disease states with the adrenal gland that require you to eat MORE salt. And I guess you are referring to adrenal fatigue which has a constellation of symptoms to consider discussing with your doctor.