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Eat More Sodium

July 1, 2008

gsp 280x390 417940a Eat More SodiumWhile most doctors and health professionals try to scare you into avoiding sodium at all costs, this could actually be the worst advice around for anyone looking to enhance their performance or build a better physique. In fact, there are studies which have shown that high levels of dietary sodium produce very few negative effects or are actually linked to hypertension and other diseases and conditions.

For most of my athletes and clients, eating too much sodium is never a problem; it’s actually consuming too little sodium that is the problem. Once I get them to consciously add more sodium to their diets things begin to improve across the board.

Optimal sodium levels will help you recover better, lead to greater energy and endurance and help produce a more muscular, rock hard physique. Not only that, but low sodium levels can sometimes be even more dangerous than high levels of sodium in the diet. In fact, a low sodium diet is one of the main causes of dehydration and low blood volume. This leads to many negative effects for those seeking improvements in their physiques and overall performance.

Sodium is lost through sweat, and if you are training hard, especially in the summer months, you will be sweating a lot. If you are not consciously replacing the lost sodium, your performance and your physique will suffer.

The first thing I recommend to most hard training athletes and clients of mine is to start by adding a little sea salt to most of their meals. Sea salt is the kind of sodium you want, not table salt. Table salt is sodium chloride; we want sodium, not sodium chloride. The next thing I tell them is to eat pickles. Personally, I love Spanish olives and contain quite a few of these on a regular basis.

Recently I experienced the negative implications of low sodium, myself. I was traveling a lot and quite busy. The majority of my diet was fruits, nuts, veggies, and seeds with a couple Vega shakes a day for protein. I should have known better but I wasn’t even thinking. All the while I was playing and training outside and sweating profusely on a regular basis. Within a few days I started to feel weak and lethargic and my physique started to smooth out. After one particular workout I was craving salty foods more so than ever. Usually after training I crave something sweet. I instantly realized the problem and corrected it.

If you are craving salty foods, that is indication number one that you need more sodium. Also, if your performance is starting to suffer and you aren’t as lean or hard or vascular as you used to be it could be because you are sweating more in the hot summer sun and need more sodium.

I consulted with a mixed martial artist recently who was severely restricting his sodium levels in order to stay in his weight class. I got him to add more sodium to his diet and only restrict it around weigh in and his performance improved dramatically.

One thing I must tell you, though, is that if you are sodium deficient and start loading up on the sodium immediately after reading this, you will probably experience a water retention affect for a few days. Don’t worry, it will subside and you will be leaner in a few days once your body gets acclimated.

To really boost your performance on the beach volleyball court, the weight room or the track or to make dramatic changes to your physique and build muscle fast while dropping body fat, start increasing your sodium levels immediately.

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Written by jasonferruggia · Filed Under Nutrition | 4 Comments