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Drinking Water to compensate for sodium?

post #1 of 10
1/15/10 at 4:01pm
Thread Starter 
So i'm currently at school with no real dining options save cook for myself. However, I don't have a ton of time/money to make meals with lots of fresh produce so I've been cooking up stuff that's not too hard (I'm a vegetarian, so mostly canned veggies/tofu, etc.). However, everything i seem to be using (veggies, sauce, yellow rice, etc.) is really high in sodium. I know excess sodium causes you to retain water and look bloated, but can that be compensated for by drinking a lot of water throughout the day to flush it out of your system? Or does it not work that way? Thanks in advance for your help!
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post #2 of 10
1/15/10 at 4:14pm
Why canned? Eating fresh veggies should be easy and cheap and go a long way towards cutting down the salt.
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post #3 of 10
1/15/10 at 4:32pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scrumhalf View Post
Why canned? Eating fresh veggies should be easy and cheap and go a long way towards cutting down the salt.

Availability and storage, mostly. The on-campus deli is within walking distance only has canned stuff. I could go to the store and stock up (and I have done that) but I only have so much fridge space to store veggies.
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post #4 of 10
1/18/10 at 6:25am
This recent sodium-phobia thing really needs to stop. Do you have hypertension? If not, stop worrying about the salt. Geeky reading: http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/71/5/1013
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post #5 of 10
1/18/10 at 1:40pm
I don't believe that upping your water consumption mitigates excessive salt intake - you won't be as thirsty, but your body ultimately still needs to process the sodium. That being said, aren't there multiple options for low-sodium canned veg? Or try flash-frozen, which tastes better and has a higher nutritional content. Chuck a few bags in the freezer and you're good to go...
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post #6 of 10
1/18/10 at 1:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by turbozed View Post
This recent sodium-phobia thing really needs to stop. Do you have hypertension? If not, stop worrying about the salt.

Geeky reading:

http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/71/5/1013

Perhaps, but vanity is also a valid reason to go easy on the salt. The OP did indicate bloating as a primary reason for his concern about his salt intake.

To the OP: I think canned veggies have a shitload of salt in them. You might really want to consider fresh or at least frozen if you have more freezer space than fridge space.
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post #7 of 10
1/19/10 at 2:12am
If you want to, you can try dandelion root to help rid of water retention (some supplement stores have them).
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post #8 of 10
1/19/10 at 2:13am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scrumhalf View Post
Perhaps, but vanity is also a valid reason to go easy on the salt. The OP did indicate bloating as a primary reason for his concern about his salt intake.

To the OP: I think canned veggies have a shitload of salt in them. You might really want to consider fresh or at least frozen if you have more freezer space than fridge space.

I actually have a ton of freezer space (shared common kitchen has a giant freezer, no fridge). That's perfect, thanks!
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post #9 of 10
2/2/10 at 3:01am
Drinking water is natural after taking in a lot of sodium, because what the sodium in your body does is pull the water out of your cells. This means increased blood volume.With increased blood volume,this means the heart needs to do more work to pump it all. Multiply this effect day after day after day after day after day over years, decades,and you end up with an overstressed heart.Once or twice won't kill you but chronic high salt intake will have an effect measurable on your heart.High salt intake of some Asian cultures has been theorized to be linked to their higher incidence of stomach and gastrointestinal cancers as well.But to answer the question, no, probably not in any measurable sense.If you were doing landscaping and sweating heavily 8-10 hours of the day, by all means you would need additional sodium to compensate for all of the salt lost in sweat.But for someone sweating 45 minutes on a treadmill...
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post #10 of 10
2/2/10 at 3:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by GraphicNovelty View Post
So i'm currently at school with no real dining options save cook for myself. However, I don't have a ton of time/money to make meals with lots of fresh produce so I've been cooking up stuff that's not too hard (I'm a vegetarian, so mostly canned veggies/tofu, etc.). However, everything i seem to be using (veggies, sauce, yellow rice, etc.) is really high in sodium. I know excess sodium causes you to retain water and look bloated, but can that be compensated for by drinking a lot of water throughout the day to flush it out of your system? Or does it not work that way? Thanks in advance for your help!
Invest in dried beans, lentils etc... get a good spice rack. Canned crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, veggie stock. Buy some of that red rice, better for you. Canned vegetables are fucking vile. They are often loaded with salt and cooked into oblivion to the point of having little flavor or nutritional value. You are probably eating a lot of very empty food. You can make a lot of lentil curries and other bean type dishes that you can make in large quantities and put in the fridge. The only fresh veggies you'd need are basic aromatics which actually keep quite well save for celery. (Garlic, onions, carrots). Just get rid of the canned stuff. The sodium is terrible for you. Reconstituting beans and lentils is incredibly cheap and far healthier than what you're doing.
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