In This ArticleView AllIn This ArticleWater RetentionFrequent HeadachesSuper ThirstyBathrooms TripsSalt Cravings
In This ArticleView All
View All
In This Article
Water Retention
Frequent Headaches
Super Thirsty
Bathrooms Trips
Salt Cravings
If you’re sprinkling salt on everything from mashed potatoes and steak to your morning omelet or happy hour cocktail rim, it may be obvious that you might be taking in excess sodium. However, it’s also really easy to overdo it on the sodium even if you never—and I repeat,never—add extra salt to your meals.
How? Well, if you’re regularly dining out, eating canned orpackaged foods—like soup, canned veggies, canned beans and frozen meals—or drinking sports drinks and other beverages that have electrolytes added to them, you could be consuming way more sodium than is best for your health. In fact, you could be getting a full day’s worth of sodium from packaged foods without ever picking up a salt shaker.
While your body needs sodium, most people take in about 3,400 mg of sodium a day, which is way more than your body needs in a day and is not good for your heart.It also raises the risk of heart disease and hypertension (high blood pressure). You’re better off keeping your sodium intake at or below 2,300 mg daily, with a recommendation from the American Heart Association to cap it at 1,500 mg.
However, it can be hard to figure out how much you’re eating based on numbers alone—and who really wants to track every bite and salt shake? Instead, consider these common signs that you might be getting too much sodium. If you find that you are, work on cutting back. This means eating more fresh foods, ditching the salt shaker,staying well-hydratedand limiting eating out.
What Actually Is Sodium—and How Does It Affect Your Health?
Photo: Getty Images / Liudmyla Chuhunova
You’re Swollen and Puffy
“Too much salt will cause your body to retain water, and due to the excess liquid in the body’s tissues, it leads to swelling, bloating and puffiness,” saysMaggie Michalczyk, M.S., RDN. This can make you feel uncomfortable in your clothes, and you just won’t feel or look as refreshed as you might be without all that sodium (hello puffy, under-eye circles, fingers and ankles).
What’s more, it might have an effect on your fitness, too. “While excess salt doesn’t directly impact your workout, some athletes have noted that the heaviness they feel from bloating after eating too much salt hinders their performance,” adds Michalczk.
So, while it’s good to take in a bit of salt and other electrolytes after that sweat session to replenish lost stores, you don’t want to overdo it on sodium before a workout.
You’re Getting Frequent Headaches
“Excess sodium messes with the fluid ratio in your body, which can result in the sodium leaching off of your body’s supply of water and leave you with a dehydration headache. And when the body loses too much water the brain contracts from the loss,” explains Michalczyk.
Consuming too much salt can also bring with it some dreaded symptoms, including nausea, dizziness and vomiting (in extreme cases)—all of which make thatpounding headachethat much worse. If you do get a headache, drink a lot of plain water to help flush out the sodium, which should help the headache dissipate.
You’re Super Thirsty
Do you tend to have a dry mouth and crave something to drink to relieve it? It could be due to high levels of sodium. “Because salt causes your body to retain water and it pulls from your stored fluids, excess salt in the body causes a deficit of fluid thus resulting in thirst as your body’s way of signaling to you that its fluid balance is out of whack and it needs help getting back to equilibrium,” says Michalczyk.
The fix? Drink water to satisfy that thirst, but also take note of what salty foods you’re eating. This includes reading labels from store-bought items since sodium can be snuck into foods you might not suspect.
It’s important to note that excessive thirst can also be asign of diabetes, so if you cut back on salt and that doesn’t help quench your thirst, a visit to your healthcare practitioner may be in order.
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You’re Always Running to the Bathroom
If you feel like you’re dating the toilet, it could be a sodium issue. “Since salt impacts the levels of fluids in the body resulting in extreme thirst, once the thirst is satisfied, then the body responds with an increase in bathroom breaks to help filter out the excess salt that caused the thirst in the first place,” explains Michalczyk.
The moral of the story here:To reduce stress on your kidneys, reduce your salt intake.
You’re Craving Salty Foods
Can’t stop thinking about that bag of chips or salty french fries? Once you’re used to eatingsalty foods, you tend to want more and more. “When your body gets used to the taste of salty foods it adjusts and adapts to the flavor and you then find yourself craving more of that same satisfying flavor,” says Michalczyk.
To make up for the loss in flavor that salt provides,replace the salt shaker with spices and herbs.
The Bottom Line
If you start noticing that you’re retaining fluid, always thirsty or craving salty foods, these can be signs of excess sodium intake. They can also be signs of other conditions, though, so pay attention to what you’re eating and how you’re feeling. If reducing your sodium intake doesn’t reverse the symptoms, work with your healthcare practitioner and a registered dietitian to figure out what the root cause is and help correct it.
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SourcesEatingWell uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable and trustworthy.U.S. Food and Drug Administration.Sodium in your diet.U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.American Heart Association.How much sodium should I eat per day?
Sources
EatingWell uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable and trustworthy.U.S. Food and Drug Administration.Sodium in your diet.U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.American Heart Association.How much sodium should I eat per day?
EatingWell uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable and trustworthy.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration.Sodium in your diet.U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.American Heart Association.How much sodium should I eat per day?
U.S. Food and Drug Administration.Sodium in your diet.
U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
American Heart Association.How much sodium should I eat per day?
