Theres a 99% chance that youre eating too much sodium and too little potassium

[Zimbabwe]

This is mportant to put it in picture that even people aware of this are most likely not practicing it

The average man needs about 2.5 grams of sodium per day and about 4.5 grams of potassium. That much salt comes from a single tea spoon. I easily put more than that when making pasta or cooking meat etc and that's a single meal, not considering the sodium that's natural in foods + the salt used in dairy products like cheese, so the salt you should be taking in is literally even LESS than a single teaspoon, which is already TINY if you like salty food like me

And unless you're chowing down on beans, bananas and potatoes (highest accessible sources of potassium), you are most definitely deficient in potassium. Your body recycles these electrolytes to an extent which is why you're not dead, but it doesn't mean you're optimally healthy

Something to think about which might explain why 99.9999% of men are walking around with soy bloated non defined faces (bones and bodyfat considered)

Keep in mind that your body will retain water both with high blood pressure and low blood pressure so lower sodium severely is a stupid idea too.

 

[9-3enthusiast]

Yep - I've avoided salt for a couple of decades now... and when I do use it (in cooking), I use a product called 'Lo-Salt', which is potassium chloride.
I also had a blood-pressure problem a few yrs back - one of the meds was a diuretic which would drop potassium levels so I started eating foods rich in potassium.... One of them (bananas) is a particular fave, so I still eat a lot of them, even tho I'm no longer using the diuretic.

 

[Plinco]

I made a thread about trying to get enough potassium

How do you get enough Potassium?

Potassium is a mineral that is needed in basically every biological function including muscle building and digestion. The recommended daily amount is 4700 mg. I eat a lot of beans and potatoes to get to to the 4700 mg number, but if you are trying to build muscle, you probably need more. How...

www.sosuave.net

 

[SargeMaximus]

My diet consists of beans and potatoes but nice try OP

 

[EyeBRollin]

Good post. Most food contains potassium. They only recently started showing it on nutrition labels in the USA.

I am salt-sensitive, with a family history of high blood pressure. I just recently became a salt critic cause my blood pressure started creeping up. I caught my wife one day dumping loads of salt into our food. In her defense, she has baby blood pressure. Eats salt all day and consistently 110/70. Genetics are a bvtch.

I had to make some draconian changes to get it under control. Pro-tips to lower salt intake:

1) Don’t use salt or any seasonings with salt
2) Check the sodium content on all dressings and sauces. Buy lowest salt versions or even better… make your own at home
3) Cut out animal products. Meat, eggs, and dairy especially. You’re going to put salt on all your meat and eggs, and most dairy products have high salt content already
4) Eat more fruit. Just by virtue of taste, you won’t be mixing salt and sugar. Fruit ups the potassium and lowers the amount of salt you eat.
5) Drink more water. Get one of those daily water jugs (half gallon minimum), fill it up, and drink it daily. You’ll piss all the excess salt out.

 

[jafman]

I’m not average by any definition. I don’t have salt in my house and I eat 2 bananas a day. All my food is made from scratch. This is why I get laughed at when I tell a person I just met my age. If I shave I look 15 years younger…..

 

[Murk]

Yep - I've avoided salt for a couple of decades now... and when I do use it (in cooking), I use a product called 'Lo-Salt', which is potassium chloride.

Same, but I use "no salt" which is also potassium chloride.

I have never added salt to food, but these das I do add potassium chloride now and again. If I do a multi-day fast I'll add 1 teaspoon of potassium chloride, 1/2 tsp of sodium chloride (pink Himalayan) with a 1sp of baking soda to 2L of water. Just drinking plain water will flush your electrolytes down the toilet and make you feel like ****.

 

[HaleyBaron]

Pseudoscience. Causation being confused for correlation and coincidence. People with bad diets tend to have multiple problems, so you got stupid doctors and health experts who sees someone eat a lot of one thing and assume that's the reason for it. Just like NoFap, it's not a cure-all. High salt means you appear bulkier cause your body holds water more. Naturally, bodybuilders and athletes want more efficient bodies for performance, so they cut their salt down to zero. And even then, they need it cause they sweat so much fluid out of their body.

Potassium is gotten regularly as long as you have a good balanced diet. And not the ****ty food pyramid the government set up that's mostly used to prop up their lobbyists to make people buy the ****ty subsidized food.

 

[BackInTheGame78]

If you are eating a lot of processed foods or eating out a lot you are probably getting multiple times the amount of sodium you need. Both contain massive amounts of sodium.

This is why you should be cooking for yourself. You control the amount of sodium you get.

 

[FlexpertHamilton]

It's better to have too much salt than too little.

To get enough potassium, just put some salt substitute in a glass of water, small amounts at a time. Salt substitute is just potassium chloride. Extremely cheap.

 

[Eljayem]

Coconut water is a great source of Potassium

 

[shwami_salami]

Call me crazy, but when I do not have sodium it murders me. I have to have 100% a day of the recommended value. If not I get extremely lethergic, it is almost of pain is there but not there. Groggy as hell. Its very very terrible. Just my 2⅓ cents. Also i get super sore muscles. And i won't wake up on my usual times.

 

[EyeBRollin]

It's better to have too much salt than too little.

IIRC, the daily physiological minimum for sodium is low something like 500 mg… which would require an intentional effort at malnourishment or a sickness to undershoot. Sodium is not something Westerners need to consciously worry about adding to a diet.

 

[BackInTheGame78]

IIRC, the daily physiological minimum for sodium is low something like 500 mg… which would require an intentional effort at malnourishment or a sickness to undershoot. Sodium is not something Westerners need to consciously worry about adding to a diet.

Agree...processed foods and most restaurant foods contain excessive amounts of sodium, which means most people get plenty of sodium on a daily basis since that's the typical American diet.

 

[RazorRambo24]

At some point when I was working out 4-5 times a week, playing basketball maybe 3 times a week, and getting laid every single day, I started getting such bad cramps.. like really bad cramps that would take a good 4-5 mins to go away at times.. and I couldn't figure out what was going on.. The worse was when I got done with a huge workout, i dropped something on the floor (Bottle cap or something), and i went down to pick it up and one of my triceps cramped/locked up completely.. then the other one did too and it was one of the most painful things ever..

I went to my doc and told them everything and he said you're probably using up or deficient in some key electrolytes/minerals.. So he told me to take magnesium and potassium (Which I already had in my pantry.. just stopped taking them for a long time).. and it sorted itself out.

Nowadays I take that stuff on the regular.

 

[EyeBRollin]

Follow up on this. I’ve been drinking 3 liters of water per day, cut out meat (except for fish) and substituted table salt for potassium chloride. In 9 months Blood pressure has dropped from 125-130/80 to a consistent 110-115/75. Trust the science!