Think you should reduce your salt intake to be healthy? Think again!
In reality, the recommended salt intake varies from person to person, depending on your own personal lifestyle. You will suffer from a series of health issues if you take too much or too little salt.
Our body’s sodium level is not solely determined by our salt intake but also what is lost through sweat and urine. So if you perspire more than the average person due to intensive trainings for an upcoming sport event or other reasons, you should regulate your salt intake accordingly! In fact, you might want to start thinking of ways to replenish the salt loss from exercising.
The continuous call for reduced salt intake might have left you forgetting that salt actually plays a vital role in ensuring that our body functions properly, which includes:
- maintaining fluid balance in the body
- stimulating muscle contraction
- facilitating the food digestion process
And it only takes a little pinch of salt to work its magic. According to Singapore’s Heart Foundation , the general sodium requirement is 2 grams or 2000 milligrams per day – that’s the equivalent of having just 2 bowls of Herbal Chicken Soup in a day.
However, some exercises might have you losing more sodium than the amount that you are consuming. While an average person loses about 500 milligrams of sodium through sweat after doing an hour of normal intensity workout, a study in UK showed that soccer players lose up to 10 grams of sodium in a 90-minute training session. Long distance runners can lose up to 41 grams of sodium in a 12-hour marathon run.
Without sufficient salt in your body, you will put yourself at risk of a potentially fatal health condition called Hyponatremia.
Also known as ‘water intoxication’, hyponatremia occurs when one fails to replace the sodium that has been lost through sweat. It comes naturally to us that we would drink water after an intensive exercise to replenish fluid loss. Unfortunately, water consumption alone does not help to replace the sodium loss and might induce symptoms such as:
- Nausea
- Muscle cramps
- Disorientation
- Slurred speech
- Confusion
- Seizures
In more serious cases, this will lead to coma and even death. Thus, the lack of sodium in one’s body should not be taken lightly.
Here are some simple tips for you to ensure that there is sufficient salt in your body:
1. Monitor your sodium intake by reading food labels and recording the amount of sodium you are consuming
2. Estimate the amount of sweat you lose based on the temperature and duration of your training
3. Look out for signs of a salty sweater. This includes white streaks on dark clothing when it dries after your exercise, salt crystals forming on your skin after exercise, persistent muscle cramps even after drinking water during exercise.
4. Consider increasing your sodium intake by drinking isotonic drinks (e.g. 100 PLUS, Pocari Sweat) instead of plain water before, during or after intense exercise
5. Speak to a medical professional if you experience symptoms of Hyponatremia
Disclaimer: Do take note that the content of this article applies only to those who have the tendency to lose salt excessively through sweat as compared to an average person. Both extreme ends of the salt consumption spectrum are equally life-threatening. Read the next article on “5 less-than-famous consequences for over-salting” to learn more.
BY RENA PANG
SALTSHAKERS 