Effects of salt

I'm well aware of the impact of salt on blood pressure and on temporary water retention.  But, every once in a while I get an extreme craving for salt.  Before beginning this wls journey, I would have eaten a bag of chips or munched on feta cheese with salty crackers to satisfy it.  On those days I generally consume more water, my eyes get puffy and I weight more the next morning.  Because I'm trying to lose a few lbs b/4 my 9-25 surgery when I got THE salt craving yesterday I added salt to my cottage cheese, salt to my fruit and even ate a lemon with salt.  Naturally, this morning I was up 1.5 lbs. MY QUESTION IS:  Does the temporary water retention interfere with actual weight loss?  That is, does it impact the weight I might lose for the week?  Or does it just make me heavier for one day? Thanks for your input, Chickita

How much water are you getting in a day? Consuming water will help you get rid of the water from salt

On normal days I do get my 64 oz and on my salt-frenzy days I drink an extra 3 or 4 more glasses of water.  I do get rid of the extra water within a day.  My question is about how that affects my long term efforts to lose weight.  Would I have lost more weight that week if I didn't have my 1 day of over-salting? Chickita

Adding more water can be true - and not true. Salt attracts water.  The mechanism of adding water to beat fluid retention starts with the premise that you were depleted of water to begin with, which is why your body is holding on to it for dear life!  In a person who is "salt sensitive" there is an alteration in the way the body processes salt and in the way it decides on the amount of fluid to release. The recommendations for salt restriction with high blood pressure is effective for those people who are "salt sensitive" (estimated to be about 10% of the population).  Problem is, people don't come with labels so it may be hard to tell who is salt sensitive, and who is not. If you eat salt, retain water, you will weigh more.  Is this "real" weight or "water" weight - well what the scale says is real and if your doc is looking at your weight on a scale to assess your success with weight loss, that weight from water will be just as real as weight from fat.  The weight from tha****er is yours until your lose it. You are going to have to deal with the cravings if you want to be successful with your pre-op weight loss.  Post-op, your cravings may completely disappear (or not).  My suggestion - lemon can be a good substitute for salt, squeeze it all over everything.  If that doesn't work, you're going to have to take a walk or something to distract yourself.  It's not easy, I know, but it may be necessary! Good Luck! Danielle Halewijn RD eNutritioncare.com

HI there;    I had some very serious salt cravings; and then I found out that I had a serious vitamin B-1 deficency! After getting it under control somewhat I have found salt cravings are a lot less than they once were! Make sure to keep up on your vitamin levels (VERY SERIOUS); lots of serious problems if we don't. Sincerely, Judy R

Thank you for this advice... I never knew that.