I can’t even eat a fucking cookie…
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Where do you get Those?
Salt is unlikely to be the critical thing impacting your gainz. Your body will already crave salty foods if your levels are too low.
The key thing about salt is most people don’t have to worry about it much. But some people have to worry more.
Western diets are already pretty high in salt. Most people exceed the recommended amounts. Salt is a unique sense since your body craves it if it needs more but also lets you know when food is too salty. If you eat too much salt and are healthy, your kidneys piss away excess salt and water (together), you feel thirsty, you drink water (in whatever drink) and then are rehydrated again.
Some people believe the recommended sodium amounts are too low. In theory, extra salt can raise blood pressure. Some people are more sensitive to this, but the increase is small in many healthy people. Japanese people eat large amounts of salt (almost twice American consumption), often in soy sauce. If salt is so bad, strokes, high blood pressure, heart and kidney concerns… how come the Japanese have perhaps the highest life expectancy? Does more fish and veggies reduce the bad stuff, or is salt not the villain some claim it to be?
Exercise gurus say people who sweat need more salt. But if there is yearly bloodwork showing adequate sodium levels and reasonable blood pressures, they are probably already compensating.
In contrast to Internet claims, a British study showed reducing salt levels reduced stroke risk. But this might be because…
Not everyone can handle salt. The above process implies a few things need to work well: your kidneys need to be healthy enough to get rid of excess salt which requires a properly working endocrine (hormone) system. You need to properly feel thirsty when you need water (some old folks don’t). You need to be able to swallow and pee easily (not everyone can). Some people have blood pressure more sensitive to salt. Some medicines affect electrolyte levels. A few medical conditions benefit from restricting salt, which sucks since low-salt diets are pretty unpalatable. Chefs love salt, but add it during cooking since this much improves taste and texture.
This medical benefit for some people is behind the low salt messages and lower levels many health organizations recommend. This applies to some people for sure. But if you are healthy, get yearly bloodwork and pressures from your doctor, can drink and pee easily… the excess salt in your diet may not be a concern. Still, if eating much processsed food you probably get your share already. No harm in adding a few shakes, unless there is. You don’t need to go crazy. Your body is probably already keeping your levels level. Probably something else is affecting your gainz, which naturally slow down some after a year or two of regular lifting. Change your program.
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if you’re eating real unprocessed foods and making most/all of your own meals with single ingredient inputs, it’s easy to fall short on sodium if you’re exercising a lot. this will definitely impede Da Gainz insofar as it compromises your performance in the gym relative to where it would be if you were sufficiently loaded up with sodium/potassium.
two similar easy ways to address this: 1. dump a spoon of salt (between five and fifteen grams) into a glass, put a splash of water on it, down it and make your face… then wash down the unpleasantness immediately with more water. not fun, but it works, and you’ll get used to it VERY quickly. downside: it’ll give you the runs and it feels like a colonoscopy preparation… but when you’re empty, you’ll feel amazing. i did this essentially every morning for years.
- the easier but more time-consuming way to do this is salt your water. i don’t know the ratio, but i put something like ~7.5-10 grams of salt in a blender with ice and fresh squeezed lemon juice and drink it for breakfast. other citrus juices (squeezed by your own hands) also work well for flavor and some potassium and vitamin C. you can drink these sorts of drinks anywhere, anytime. maybe in the gym, maybe after the gym, after the sauna, etc.
if you don’t notice immediate imrovements in your gym performance after jacking up your sodium intake (you can also buy and add powdered potassium to the drinks mentioned above), then you weren’t low on sodium to begin with. lastly, it’s way better to have too much sodium than too little. virtually no healthy person has a problem excreting excess sodium.
cheers.
The theory of lowering salt to reduce blood pressure was trying to cure a symptom; kidneys couldn’t excrete sodium causing higher blood pressure we better reduce sodium! Or, better yet, let us solve the root cause: chronic hyperinsulinemia. When insulin is raised, kidneys aren’t able to efficiently excrete sodium. Bring insulin down, problem solved.
To answer the OP, lack of sodium might have an effect on training performance. Great advice has already been given with the sodium water or the sodium/potassium/magnesium. Personally, I salt my water. I also make sole with Himalayan sea salt but that’s probably over the top for most.
Start adding sodium to your water and see what happens. Worst case you have some nice psychosomatic effect and push through to what you want.
Start small and work your way up–your pee should be mostly clear with a hint of yellow if you’re hydrated. Too much sodium at once and it’ll make you hose out of your ass. If salted water takes neutral or good your body wants it. If it tastes gross (you’ll know this when you experience it) then stop drinking it.
The white rhino is a beast. Did you see anything noticeable from the cranberry juice? I think he was proposing like 4oz a day for the iodine?
I assume since you’re in high school you’re budget conscious?
How about eggs? It’s harder to find better nutrition/$ than eggs. Maybe anchovies or mackerel, but eggs are the way for me.
I am a proponent of red ruminant animals because of the micronutrients and their omega 3 profiles. Beef, lamb, bison, venison. I typically get ground beef with liver and heart. Amazing.
What kinds of fruit are you consuming? Fruit doesn’t do well with me so every now and again I’ll do a little bit of blueberries or strawberries, but it’s more for a treat than anything else.
I avoid gluten, so my carbs are quinoa, sweet potatoes, and a few other veggies.
For you, without knowing training or diet, the best general advice I can give is be consistent. For most people, gains take extreme dedication. Sounds like you’re on a great path already though–keep it up.
I haven’t had any OH MY GOD astonishing results from the cranberry juice, just by itself.
But as part of the whole “system” the cranberry juice works well. Its super easy to drink in the morning, it helps to choke down breakfast eggs and gives some carbs/energy without having to mess with rice or toast.
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I have heard many times from many dieticians that comsuming more salt would harm your body adversely. Because eating too much salt could result in increase your blood pressure as well as your risk for heart disease and stroke.
How does salt increase your risk for heart disease? lol thanks ChatGPT
Most people:
- eat salty nachos
- feel thirsty
- drink BEvERage
- piss out water and sodium
- trust body to keep levels in check
- have little change in pressure from salt
Some people, mostly older:
- don’t feel thirsty even if sodium high
- have difficulty drinking
- are drinking seawater
- don’t have access to BEvERages
- have problems with kidney hormones
- have shoddy kidneys or prostates
- have heart issue, need high pressures
- are on meds which screw with things
- have pressure very sensitive to salt
- can’t easily pee away all excess fluid
Everything is not ChatGPT, if it was generated through it, there wouldn’t be a spelling mistake, which I have not changed in the comment. So, yes, I have heard through many dieticians and even my dietician suggested me to decrease the salt as it could increase the risk of heart dieseas. I would consult him for a better and elaborated reply and let you back soon.
I’m basically doing the same thing you’re doing
Lots of salt is a relative concept. I always think that I cook with lots of salt. Then I eat dinner at a restaurant—not nachos or pizza, real grownup food—and gain two or three pounds of water weight overnight. I spent Christmas on vacation and ate most of my meals in restaurants for a week and gained ten pounds, eight of which was just water weight from salty restaurant food.
“Salt is a cheap condiment”-Dan John
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