Yesterday morning I was telling a young, inactive man how to lower his blood pressure. By afternoon I was pleading with a pro athlete to use the salt shaker. The response I received was expected, “but I thought salt was bad for me? Both of my parents have high blood pressure.” Ah, but do YOU have high blood pressure? If the answer is no (and I’d be shocked if it’s yes if you are an athlete, especially a young athlete), then you absolutely need sodium.
The collective “skip the salt shaker” and “lower your sodium” advice is geared to the general population. The masses of inactive, overweight and obese inactive adults that populate the U.S. and many Westernized nations. But for athletes, salt is critical for a few reasons:
- Sodium is the electrolyte you lose the most of through sweat
- Low sodium levels = more fluid lost through sweat = dehydration, increased likelihood of overheating, heat illness
- Low sodium + fluid loss can lead to low blood pressure. And, low blood pressure sucks since it can leave you feeling dizzy, lethargic and with orthostatic hypotension (get up too quickly and the room spins and everything goes blurry for a few seconds). And, you can even faint from low blood pressure (again, no fun). Oh and by the way, athletes tend to have lower heart rates and blood pressure then non-athletes anyway.
- Very low blood sodium is called hyponatremia, a very dangerous condition (read more about hyponatremia here)
- And finally, your body can get rid of excess sodium.
So, as an athlete, please don’t listen to the general advice for the masses. If you have specific questions, go to a sports dietitian.
Thank you Mattius!