Sodium And Weight Gain
Saltiness is ruining your life.
Whoa there, grumpy!!!
While you’re well within your rights to take those two middle fingers out of their holster for thinking I’m going to talk some dumb shit about how you should be nicer to people to expand your social circle to increase networking opportunities for greater outcomes in your professional career, I’m most certainly not going to talk some dumb shit like that!
No, I’m talking about how your life is being ruined by all the weight you’re gaining from the packaged and processed food you live on that’s loaded with sodium!1Sodium is most commonly found in table salt as sodium chloride (NaCl) but other sources include monosodium glutamate (MSG), sodium nitrite, sodium saccharin, and baking soda. In total, the average American eats 3500 mg of sodium per day, with 75 percent of it coming from processed foods and restaurant meals. Compare that intake to the recommended daily intake of less than 2300 mg.
As is most commonly known about sodium, it makes you retain water, which leads to temporary water weight. But sodium being one of the causes for fluctuations on the scale isn’t the only effect it has on weight.
Nope!
The body has mechanisms in place to tell us when to stop eating. In most people, those mechanisms are activated by the taste of fat. Well, excessive sodium blunts those mechanisms, leading to an increase in appetite. And because most foods that are high in sodium are also high in calories, you end up eating significantly more calories as you continue eating. And what happens when you eat more calories than you should on a regular basis? Yup, weight gain!
That’s not all, though…
Contrary to the popular belief that salty food makes you thirstier, research suggests that it doesn’t. Rather than causing you to drink more fluids to flush the excess sodium out, the body instead elevates glucocorticoid hormones. This hormonal response triggers the breakdown of fat and muscle to release water, a metabolic process that requires energy and makes you hungry. As a result, you eat more, with you consuming more calories than were needed to offset what was burned to deal with the salt.
Sodium by itself won’t make you gain weight. After all, salt doesn’t have calories. Be that as it may, however, it sure as hell can contribute to weight gain.
Beyond that, excessive sodium intake can lead to high blood pressure and increased risk of stroke, heart failure, osteoporosis, stomach cancer, and kidney disease, which are all the more reason to be wary of it.
Some tips to reduce your sodium intake include
• eating more fresh fruits and vegetables;2If you can’t buy your produce fresh, then choose canned fruits and veggies with no added salt and frozen ones labeled “fresh frozen” without seasoning or sauces.
• buying fresh or frozen lean cuts of meat without saline or salt solution;
• reading nutrition labels to compare sodium levels between competing products;
• limiting condiments like ketchup, barbecue sauce, and soy sauce;
• rinsing canned foods like tuna and beans;
• cutting back on instant or flavored rice, pasta, and cereal grains; and
• cooking with herbs, spices, and salt-free seasonings.
I know, that’s a lot of shit to do and sacrifices to be made, such as eating less bacon, ham, and other processed meats, for example.
This is a free country though, so you don’t have to reduce shit if you truly don’t want to. So fuck, if you’re content with your appearance, then continue as is! And if you’re only here for a good time, not a long time, then there’s no need to watch your sodium intake for health reasons, either! Between the two of us, that longevity shit is overrated. Like, who the fuck wants to see their children grow up, go to college, get married, possibly have children of their own, and then see those children grow up too? Yeah, fuck that!
Do your thing, baby!
Glossary: calories, dietary fat, fat, hormones, muscle
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