Will Cutting Down On Sodium Help My Workouts?

Logo SOURCE: Neighborhood Trainer

Salt is both essential and bad for you at the same time. A nutritionist or a trainer with nutrition credentials can help explain the exact science and tailor an individual diet plan, but here are some basics.

When too much salt is present in the body, excess water causes blood pressure to rise which puts a strain on the heart and can stress arteries and kidneys and the brain. 

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Westchester Personal Trainers will tell you that you need salt to regulate concentrations of bodily fluids. It helps the body absorb nutrients and is necessary for healthy muscle and nerve activity. If your salt level is too low during a workout you may experience dehydration and muscle cramping. 

But how much is too much

About 75% of the salt that we need comes from the food we eat, which we can then top up with the sprinkling we put onto our food.

A good Nutritionist Manhattan professional will point out that the thing to look out for is hidden salt. Bread, cereal often have high salt content which is worth checking. But other places we would not expect it, tinned soup, cheddar cheese and stock cubes can also be especially high.

These are things that you could leave out of your diet without having to move to a low sodium diet which as we see can be counter-productive.

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Salt cravings after exercise 

This is your body telling you it needs salt. If you usually drink a sports drink you will see that it contains approximately 7% of the daily recommended intake of salt, which is one of the reasons it feels so good, especially if you have been sweating a lot. The trick is not to go to a low sodium diet but rather to limit how much extra salt you add on top of your normal diet. Avoid the salty snacks, and taste your food before you add salt, which is good manners after all.