Does Sodium Cause Weight Gain/Regain?

When you read or hear about foods or ingredients to avoid for a healthy lifestyle, one that comes up often is sodium. Found naturally in some foods and added to others, sodium is a mineral that should be controlled for maximum health. But does it cause weight gain? The answer: Sort of. If you’re curious about the role of sodium in weight gain (or regain after weight loss), we’ve got the answers here.

Sodium: Necessary For Life…But Not Too Much

Contrary to popular thinking, eliminating all sodium (or salt) from your diet isn’t good. Sodium helps our bodies maintain healthy blood pressure and aids our normal muscle and nerve functions. You need at least 500 milligrams per day to stay healthy and avoid hyponatremia, a dangerous condition of low salt in the body that can lead to serious illness and even death. But since those 500 milligrams are only about ¼ teaspoon of salt, it’s rare for a healthy person to develop hyponatremia. (Sometimes athletes get it when they drink large amounts of water quickly.)

On the other hand, it’s easy to take in too much salt. The USDA’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day for adults, but most Americans get well over that – typically, around 3,300 milligrams. How is this possible? Many foods popular in the U.S., especially packaged or processed ones, have lots of sodium, even if they don’t taste salty; this includes pizzas, soups, sauces, and rice dishes. Even healthier foods can contain sodium; a serving of milk, for example, has about 100 milligrams. And though it’s calorie-free, taking in too much salt can lead to weight gain.

Salt = Water Retention

Eating too much sodium makes your body retain more fluid than usual. This is so your system can maintain the sodium-to-water ratio needed for optimal function (avoiding hyponatremia, as explained above, or the opposite, hypernatremia, caused by too much salt in the body). The excess fluid often translates to a few extra pounds on the scale, commonly known as “water weight.” You may also notice that your clothes fit more tightly than usual for a couple of days after a salty meal. If you’re tracking your weight, this can be frustrating. The good news? Water weight is relatively easy to eliminate simply by eating less salt. A few days to a week after you reduce your sodium intake, your body will naturally shed those pounds.

Sodium and Stubborn Pounds

While salty foods cause some water weight gain, they can also indirectly lead to excess body fat, which is a bit tougher to get rid of. Processed foods, such as crackers, pastries, and fried dishes, are typically high in sodium – but they’re also full of fat, calorie-dense, and less satiating than healthier foods. This means you’re likely to be hungry again just a couple of hours after eating fast food, while a meal rich in veggies and whole grains can keep you satisfied for a long time. Eat enough of these unhealthy meals, and you’ll gain pounds that don’t go away without longer-term calorie reduction and exercise. Further, salty foods make you thirsty, and if you’re not drinking enough water, your body may mistake that for hunger, and you’ll end up eating more (head hunger).

Heart Health Through Sodium Reduction

Minimizing sodium intake can help you maintain a healthy weight and reduce your risk of heart disease. When you retain water due to excess salt, your blood pressure increases, albeit temporarily. This means your heart must work harder to pump blood through your body. Over time, this excess stress can lead to heart disease or even heart failure. Keeping your salt intake at or below the recommended daily limit can go a long way toward maintaining a healthy heart.

Easy Ways to Reduce Sodium

Fortunately, lowering your salt intake usually requires only minor adjustments to your diet. These include:

• Reading labels. Never assume that packaged food is low in salt because it doesn’t taste salty. Even simple foods like salad dressing and breakfast cereal can hide large amounts of salt. Track the salt content of everything you eat and your portions (this is easily done with any one of many free apps) and keep a daily running total. This will ensure that you stay under the recommended 2,300 milligrams (those with heart disease may need to eat even less).
• Being picky at restaurants. A meal out doesn’t mean you have to blow your salt budget. Ask for a leaner dish, like chicken or fish, and ask the chef to prepare it with little or no salt. Avoid adding sauces and other condiments to your food, too, since those can also be full of sodium.
• Going for less convenience. If you need rice for dinner, cook it plain on the stovetop and season it with lower-sodium ingredients rather than using “instant” rice that comes with high-salt seasoning in the package. For beans, cook the dried version instead of using canned. These small sodium reductions can significantly benefit weight loss and heart health.

The Bottom Line

We all need sodium, and staying within the recommended guidelines is not difficult with some preparation and thought before each meal. As bariatric patients, we must control our sodium intake as it is an important component of hitting our overall weight loss goals. Of course, we always encourage our patients to speak to their bariatric surgeon or one of our nurses for any questions or concerns about their diet. Monthly support groups are also great for discussing these and other concerns.

We look forward to hearing about your successes after surgery and helping you whenever you need us.