One of my clients and mentors Professor Scott Galloway’s most recent presentation at Code featured overhyped and underhyped concepts in the world of tech and business. This inspired me to consider all of the overhyped and underhyped areas of health, nutrition, and exercise. In my first edition of Overhyped vs. Underhyped, I’d like to tackle Water (overhyped) and Salt (underhyped).
Why is water overhyped? Anecdotally, I have seen few clients that I work with not consume any water. Again, I am biased because I don’t usually work with traditional western population. I am usually working with or consulting fitter populations who already have a basic idea of hydration. As a baseline, I try to have clients drink 1/2 their bodyweight in ounces each day in fluid (i.e. 180lb. person would drink 90 ounces, roughly, 11 glasses of water daily). Consuming adequate water doesn’t worry me too much as this benchmark doesn’t factor in fluids we take in from food. Watermelon for instance is 92% water. So if you eat 12oz. of watermelon, you just consumed over a cup of fluid. If you are eating a diet that is filled with fruits and veggies and you are at least considering your water intake, you are probably fine with your hydration. That’s why I believe for most ageless athletes, hydration is overhyped.
Why is salt underhyped? Since ageless athletes and more fit populations consume more whole foods (not processed foods), they consume minimal amounts of salt (if they aren’t supplementing or salting their foods). In fact, the majority of our sodium intake in western diets, over 70%, comes from packaged, processed foods and restaurant meals. Since whole foods are minimally processed, you aren’t taking in much salt. “But isn’t salt bad for me?” you may ask. Actually, if you didn’t have any salt, you’d be dead. “But what about high blood pressure? Doesn’t a diet high in sodium cause by blood pressure to sky rocket?” The theory is that high sodium diets cause the body to retain extra water, which puts stress on the heart and blood vessels and can cause blood pressure to rise. For this reason, some providers tell their patients to limit salt to 2,300 mg a day (or less) (whole30.com). Roughly 1 in 4 people are salt sensitive, meaning increases in sodium will cause your blood pressure to increase (if your healthcare practitioner has diagnosed you as sensitive, listen to them!). However, if you find yourself in any of the following categories, you may see benefit increasing salt:
Those following a low-carbohydrate or keto diet since they excrete more sodium
Those who are nursing and thus losing water and electrolytes at feedings
Those who sweat a lot and/or workout in hot/humid climates
Strength and endurance athletes
Those under chronic stress, experiencing “adrenal fatigue” (known as HPA-axis dysfunction) may feel better since low sodium levels elevates stress hormones.
Those with low blood pressure may find it helps with orthostatic hypotension (feeling dizzy upon standing)
In the near future, I will be interviewing the CEO of a great company LMNT, that specializes in salt supplementation, so stay tuned!
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