Salt intake on LCHF diet

From the reading I've done on the LCHF diet, my understanding is that it's important to drink lots of water, also to have some salt daily on the LCHF diet.

How long do I need to do this? At the start of the diet only? Or for the entire time I'm on the diet?

Also, how do I know how much salt is needed?

For now, I'm dissolving an 1/8 teaspoon of salt into a cup of hot water and drinking it once a day. While I'm eating some processed foods - (butter; FAGE, 2% fat, unsweetened yogurt; a variety of cheeses; bacon; and ham) - I'm not eating much so adding some salt daily makes sense to me.

What have you heard or read? What has been your experience?

Thanks Jack412!

I'm going to bump up my intake to 1/4 teaspoon with each meal to see how I feel.

Here's how that information translates into teaspoons...

Sodium chloride or table salt is approximately 40% sodium. Understand just how much sodium is in salt so you can take measures to control your intake. These amounts are approximate.

1/4 teaspoon salt = 575 mg sodium
1/2 teaspoon salt = 1,150 mg sodium
3/4 teaspoon salt = 1,725 mg sodium
1 teaspoon salt = 2,300 mg sodium

http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/HighBloodPressure/PreventionTreatmentofHighBloodPressure/Shaking-the-Salt-Habit_UCM_303241_Article.jsp

From the three articles I've read so far, it looks like there's a lot of disagreement about salt. Lots of variables. You'd think after all these years, we'd have better answers. The Washington Street Journal artlcle was interesting, as was this one... http://www.webmd.com/diet/salt-dont-ban-entirely?page=3

Okay, I did a quick search in Volek's and Phinney's book, The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living. This is from pp. 240-1...

"When the human body adapts to a low carb diet, the kidneys fundamentally change how they handle sodium. Removing most carbs from the diet causes your kidneys to aggressively secrete sodium (and a long with it, extra fluid). This is why many people experience a dramatic early weight loss with carb restriction. But this means that a continuous moderate intake of sodium is necessary to keep your circulation adequate to handle 'heat stresses' like hot weather, endurance activity, or even a hot shower.

If you are eating less than 60 grams of carbohydrate per day, you need to purposefully add 2-3 grams of sodium to your daily intake (unless you are still taking diuretic medication under a doctor's directions for high blood pressure or fluid retention). And if you do hard or prolonged exercise (enough to make you sweat), one of those 'grams' needs to be consumed within the hour before you start. At or above 60 grams per day of carbs, this prescription becomes optional. However if you go out planning to exercise for 30 minutes, but find you have to stop after 15 because you feel lousy or light-headed, try it the next time with a cup of broth within and hour before exercising and see how things go."

So if I'm understanding what they're saying here, if I'm consuming less than 60 g of carbs a day, I need to consume 2,000 - 3,000 mg sodium a day, unless I am "taking diuretic medication under a doctor's directions for high blood pressure or fluid retention".

Brunneria said:

I was going to recommend Volek and Phinney.
They explain it so well.

I don't think I could do the water in water.
I drink broth. And add salt to food.

Years of low carbing, and regular cramps, and now I supplement potassium and magnesium and take enough salt.

Muscles feeling better, no cramps. Delighted.

Click to expand...

Burnneria, I started with 1/8 teaspoon salt in 8 to 10 oz hot water. I wouldn't say I liked it the first one or two times, but now I kind of do. I usually make a drink it within an hour or so after eating a meal. I've started flossing again after each meal too. I find if I swish it around in my mouth a bit, my gums feel better.

After reading some of the links that jack412 posted for us, I tried a 1/4 teaspoon salt, and it wasn't that different, perhaps because I'm used to it now. The reason I chose to do it this way is because I rarely add salt to my food, and I no longer eat salty things like corn chips topped with melted cheese...[sigh]... I also don't want to use bouillon cubes because of all the added ingredients.

If anyone tries drinking salted water, I hope you'll post about it here. Again, I'd start with no more than an 1/8 teaspoon.

Safi, thanks for your question. I was wondering the very same thing. Jack412 and Indy51, thanks for the excellent links. Jack412, when I first came here to this forum, you helped me overcome a lot of my fears about the LCHF diet by posting so many excellent lectures based on research. I'm always learning from you.

Going to go make myself a cup of salted water now, and then we're going to watch The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. The DVD was released today in the US.