Wellness Wednesday: How Salty Are You?

As we enter the summer season I’ve been running almost daily, while at the same time tweaking my eating patterns. For a two-week stretch, I’ve eaten only unpackaged food that I have prepared at home, just to get ready for a 10k race within the next month. 

I’ve sprinkled the smallest amount of salt on my cooked food that I could tolerate, with none on my salads. The hope is to reduce my sodium content as low as possible, as well as other chemicals in processed food, to detoxify and help my blood pressure.

When you’re physically active outside in the sun, of course, you sweat a bit. Some of it gets in your eyes and burns a bit. Some may get in your mouth that you can taste. The funning thing is I’ve been running all my life, but I never noticed how salty my sweat was until those two weeks when I reduced my salt consumption. 

Prior to that two-week stretch, I had not put a lot of salt on my food, but I did eat out a couple of times a week. A lunch here or there or maybe take-out from one of my favorite restaurants was a regular occurrence for me. A friend would call me for dinner and off I would go.  Combine that with not running as hard and not sweating profusely during the winter and my sweat was much saltier.

The thing to keep in mind is that, although you may not put a lot of salt on your food or eat out only a few times a week, it may still be too much. But, reducing processed food consumption as close as possible to zero percent may make the difference in lowering your blood pressure readings and other vitals stats. Sometimes you have to go all the way to get the results you want.