Salt Intake

[Machete]

I have been afflicted with prolonged leg cramps and brief spells of dizziness since changing my diet from one heavy in processed foods to one heavy in freshly prepared products. I believe these cramps and dizzy spells may be due to the lack of salt in my diet as I drink plenty of fluids and I don't add salt to my food. Before my diet change, I probably had more than enough salt from the processed foods I was consuming

How much salt should add to my daily food intake?
How often should I add it?
Is sea salt preferable to table salt?
What are the pros and cons of salt substitutes?

Thanks!

[CrackFox]

I also have this problem. My judo coach just told me to start eating crisps again.

Everywhere I look there's info on lowering your salt intake, but not much on how to get the *right* ammount. 6g is the max, but what's the min, and does it vary depending on the ammount of exercise you get?

[BudoMonkey]

I never have this problem.

Do you enjoy salt? I personally just salt the **** out of my dinner every night, be it a chicken stir fry, or meatlof, or whatever- because I love something that tastes like it fell in the ocean. If you don't like salt with your cooking however, you could try eating healthychoice meals for lunch. Low fat, low cholesterol, decent protein and 25% sodium per serving.

[DSL]

I've heard to use 'sea salt', lower in sodium or such? Maybe it's just bs, but it tastes fine.

[CrackFox]

Do you enjoy salt? I personally just salt the **** out of my dinner every night, be it a chicken stir fry, or meatlof, or whatever- because I love something that tastes like it fell in the ocean.

Since cutting back on salt, I find everything tastes over-seasoned. There's no way I could eat a bag of crisps without at least two pints of beer.


As for sea salt, I don't know if it actually has less soduium, but that's beside the point. The cramps are caused by having too little sodium, which your nerves need to send signals.

[ironlurker]

I think the recommended daily intake is about 2000-2400 mg/day, but there's a lot of factors that go into how much an individual can/should have. Age, heart/kidney status, and family history play into it.

With the cramping, I wonder if it isn't Potassium or some other mineral you're lacking. I would take a multi if you aren't and try some bannanas. If it's persistent you can get a blood screen to see what your levels are.

If you've cut out a lot of processed foods and are training hard, it's even possible your fat intake may have dropped off too much. There's a calculator here that gives a general recommendation on your age, height, and frame. You might want to try supplementing with some flaxseed/fish oil capsules. Also, FWIW, there's been a couple of threads in here that discussed the pros and cons and effectiveness of drinking water at different times during the day and/or before working out.

[Machete]

I don't mind salt. I just got into a habit of never adding it to my food because my previous dietary habits included man foods which were already quite high in salt content. Like Crackfox I now find myself in a situation where there's abundant recommendations on lowering salt intake, but scant information on getting the right amount.

I'm probably getting enough potassium as I eat bananas quite often. (They're my favourite post workout snack). A multivitamin and flaxseed/fish oil are probably still a good ideas though.

Its ironic that now I'm eating more healthily I need these supplements.