Adding salt to drinking water? (Read 4474 times)

Heh... beer, it's not just for breakfast any more. This stuff has plenty of sodium. And you can dump vodka into it and people still think you're some sort of health nut:

Lately I have been having a hard time getting myself hydrated. I can tell my blood value is low by looking at the veins in my hands and arms. I can drink and drink water and I just pee and pee... yet my blood volume seams low and I'll get a bit dizzy if I stand up too quickly. (I'll mention I was on BP meds up until last year and it has just become habbit to be low sodium) So... I started lighty salting my foods. And I just wonder if I should add a little salt to my water? If I am drinking 4-8, 24 oz glasses of water throughout the day am I just leaching electrolytes from my body?

The part about getting dizzy when you stand up, could just be more of a orthostatic hypotension. Your problem could be that your blood pressure is low, not your volume. It's kinda crazy think but when your volume gets lower, your pressure/pulse rates jump up to compensate. I would check with your doc about pressures more than volumes. hope this helps

i havn't posted in like a year, but this post scared me the salts your body loses when you are not properly hydrated is NOT the kind of salt you put on foods. It's electrolytes (yes, like alot of you said is found in great concentration in gatorade or tablets) that being said, electrolytes are needed for nerve impulse conduction-lamen tearms now--its the reason you feel sluggish and have a headache if you get hungover...or for you non-drinkers it's the reason you get a headache after a long long long run without proper hydration. BETTER THAN GATORADE!??? YES!! Your body needs ESSENTIAL SALTS such as calcium and potassium. Calcium, famously found in milk(which is not the greatest post-run treat to me) is also found in great levels in veggies, V8, and other dairies. The second is Potassium, banananas anyone? I suggest Vitamin water, they have tons of nifty flavors with different vitamins and such...but that stuff brings me back to life from whatever it may be. hope that helps out p.s...yes you need Sodium (table salt kind) as well, BUT with the way MOST people eat (runner or not) you get PLENTY more than you need.

scubagrrl , I am glad you went to doctor. Trent is right this is serious. I was not feeling well and dizzy all month and landed in the E.R. and hospital. My blood pressure had been low but when I went to doctor various times in the month they said that was good. They dismissed it as, "You're a runner, it will be low". The week before my visit to E.R. I ate perfectly healthy and I stopped eating junk. Unconciously lowering my sodium levels. I had a terrible time concentrating and felt like my brain was in a fog. The worse I felt, the harder it was to drink water, which just made my BP lower. I didn't know what was wrong. I was at the doctor's office when I collapsed. When in the E.R. it dropped to as low as 75/35 and caused a heart arrhythmia. At least this is what the cardiologist believe happened, and that not the other way around, now I have to see a cardiologist specialest. I was told most people's blood pressure will go up when their blood volumes go down, mine is the extreme opposite. I was told to drink more water or energy drink and add salt to my food. I'm still getting some dizzy spells but drinking water and eating a banana has helped. Yesterday before my run I was tired, but drank some water with added salt, and got my energy back. I'm a ton better than I was a week ago. My blood work all came back normal, just a little dehydrated, but not enough to explain what happened. My advice, take it serious, avoid the E.R. and the crash cart. MTA: Through all this my running legs were heavy, I could not run fast, but when I got done running I felt like my normal self. Doctors dismissed as endorphins.

Hey now I really appreciate Trent's advice. It was because of him that I was at the doctor's office at all when I passed out, much better than while driving. I appreciate the vitamin water idea too. I am not exercising so much that I like to drink the energy drinks, but maybe an occasional vitamin water is worth the try. I have heard that sea salt is a better choice than table salt. Thoughts?

Hey ninja ice cream bass playing dude. Did I say something to offend you? Have you not a sense of humor? Did you not see the emoticon? Goodness. Chill. Have some more ice cream. And while I did take biology courses in both college and in medical school, I must say that sometimes google does in fact provide links to useful information. Such as the textual material I linked to, provided by the National Institutes of Health. Wise? Ha, thanks. Not very likely, since I do dumb running stuff. If you can call what I do running, that is.

JK. 1) I gave up on the leaky Camelback after just 5 hours of running. 2) At least I was wise enough NOT to choose Trent as my running partner for a 42 mile run. 3) Did you notice how I made it on that 8 hour run drinking a fluid that contained sodium as the only electrolyte? 4) It took three showers for the orange staining to go away. Criminy.