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By
Phil Stevens |
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Another of my client's blood
results brought this topic up for me again. A topic I seem
to face quite often enough I thought I might write something
about it.
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Write something not to be an end all
be all instructional manual on your proper sodium intake (there
are others much more qualified than me in that area) but to shed
some light, and possibly get people to open an eye to their own
possible mistakes when it comes to sodium intake. To possibly get
them to do some research of their own possible symptoms of a deficiency
and get a simple test done.
| Symptoms:
The early warning signs are
often subtle and may be similar to dehydration; nausea,
muscle cramps, disorientation, slurred speech, confusion,
and inappropriate behavior.
At this point, many athletes
get into trouble by drinking water because they think they
are dehydrated. In fact, water alone will increase the problem
of hyponatremia. At the most extreme an athlete may experience
seizures, coma, or death.(1) The symptoms can be anywhere
from minute to extreme. If you have a case of simple muscle
cramping I would suggest a direct look at your sodium first
and then other micronutrients.
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You here it time and time again, LOW
sodium this, no sodium that. Oh man that's a lot of salt your killing
yourself. True an excess of salt, a very large over abundance of
sodium in the diet, is doing an in service and could lead to real
health problems, especially in those (like most of the studies that
state it as a hazard) who have pre-existing high blood pressure
/ hypertension, or renal problems and continue to have a highly
processed diet loaded in excess sodium.
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Is Sodium Toxic?
Sodium is generally nontoxic
in healthy adult individuals because the extra is excreted
through the urine. (3)
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The problem arises due to the fact these same people lose, or ignore,
the fact that sodium is an ESSENTIAL electrolyte in your body needed
for proper functions such as:
1. proper distribution of water in
the body, as well as blood pressure.
2. maintaining the proper acid-base balance
3. in the transmission of nerve impulses including muscle contraction
4. Maintenance of normal fluid balance on either side of cell walls
5. Sodium helps to keep calcium and other minerals soluble in the
blood
6. stimulates the functioning of the adrenal glands.
7. Sodium helps in preventing heat stroke.
8. And more, such as being beneficial for the treatment of diarrhea,
muscle cramps, dehydration, and fever, since it has the property
of holding water in body tissues.
So you can see this can be problematic
when working with not only healthy, but active or even elite individuals.
We in fact are not the same sick and or sedentary individuals most
studies which state a problem use for their populous and we have
varied needs. As well we have nearly polar opposite habits.
First and foremost, we sweat more.
We work and terrain hard. In this action we both use and expel sodium
from the body in large amount. As much as 1-2 grams for each liter
of water we expel be it in urine or sweat. Then many make the mistake
of adding that liquid back in with a fluid devoid of sodium which
then further leads to the dilution of our sodium levels. By making
the salt we do have a smaller part of the hydration whole.
Second. We tend to be a LOT more health
conscious as it pertains to diet. This means in general unlike our
typical overweight sedentary counterparts we pay a lot more attention
to what were putting in our pie whole. Were not knocking back sugar
and salt laden drinks and foods that top of and spill over our sodium
levels despite our escalated need in comparison. Many of us take
the "sodium is BAD" thing as far as well have or do the
"FAT IS BAD" fallacy, which is at the least doing us a
disservice as far as it relates to performance and then possible
health issues such as, Hyponatremia, a low concentration of sodium
in the blood.
Although hyponatremia is not likely
to be a major risk factor for the general population, and possibly
even many of us hard training iron heads, even those of us who tend
to sweat like a whore in church. There is again, a HUGE difference
between health risk, and being in an optimal performance state.
A performance drop would come well before a genuine health risk,
and studies have shown even a small decrease in our optimal levels
of sodium can lead to such a decline. I don't know about you but
I have no desire to have my muscles tightening up, my fluid retention
at the cellular level to decline, and with it my neural efficiency
when I am trying to give my all to break a new personal, local,
state, national, or even world record. Do you?
| NOTE***Ultra-endurance
athletes and people with occupational physical activity and
heat exposure should however take an even higher attention
to sodium reuptake. |
I'm sure you don't, so step back take an objective look at your
intake. Spend a few dollars and get a Blood pressure and sodium
test done. In my opinion every hard training individual who doesn't
have an existing blood pressure or health issue should be rather
liberal with your intake of salt as well as getting in its much
prettier and fancied step sister potassium. 1
After your training when you have
worked up a great sweat as well make an effort to replace you lost
sodium levels to assure you continue to hydrate, function, and recover
at an optimal level.
Studies in this area suggest that
if water is consumed, the volume ingested needs to exceed the fluid
deficit by approximately 150% to compensate for the urinary losses
that will occur with water ingestion. Inclusion of sodium….
in the rehydration beverage reduces urinary water loss, leading
to more rapid recovery of the fluid balance. Data are presented…suggest
a quantifiable interactive relationship between sodium content and
fluid volume in promoting rapid recovery of fluid balance after
exercise and thermal-induced dehydration.
Some steps to I would take to assess
and avoid sodium deficiency:
- There are no steadfast guidelines
for everyone, so learn your individual fluid needs. I suggest
getting a simple blood test done at your usual intake.
- Increase salt intake several days
prior to competition. The increased sodium concentration will
allow additional hydration with water to remain balanced so that
the dilution of blood sodium does not occur.
- Use a sodium containing sports
drinks during high intensity or long distance events.
- Eat salty foods before, during,
and following competition if possible.
- Weigh yourself before and after
training and drink enough sodium based fluids to offset any fluid
loss during exercise
REFERENCES
1. Sodium - Salt - Needs for Ultra-Endurance
Athletes, Elizabeth Quinn; About.com
2. Role of Sodium in Fluid Homeostasis with Exercise, Rick L. Sharp,
PhD; Journal of the American College of Nutrition, Vol. 25, No.
90003, 231S-239S (2006)
3. Sodium, Benefits Of Sodium , Sodium Deficiency And Sodium Food
Sources, Candy Williams; isnarearticles
About The Author
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Coach Phil Stevens is an accomplished
strength athlete with considerable experience in both powerlifting
and strongman competition. Phil is the 2007 APA World Champion
in the 242-pound class (total). He currently holds the APF
275-pound class raw National bench, squat, deadlift, and total
records. Phil’s marquis lift was his 700-pound raw deadlift,
performed on February 14, 2009 in Phoenix, Arizona.
Phil has been ranked in the “Top 10” in the deadlift Nationally across all powerlifting federations, also serves as the Arizona State Chair for the North American Highlander Association, as well as the founder of Lift For Hope, an annual strength-competition
with proceeds donated to Charity (www.Lift4Hope.org).
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