Aldosterone Causes Fat Gain, Sodium May Prevent It

[yerrag]

I'm looking everywhere on the net, I can only find reference range for serum aldosterone. Anyone has optimal values for aldosterone?

What is my value of 2.44 ng/dL like? Is it normal or high? Thanks.

 

[yerrag]

Progesterone is an aldosterone "antagonist" because it has the same functions as aldosterone but to a milder degree. So it is not technically an antagonist. In a sense aldosterone is just a lower quality replacement hormone for when progesterone is not produced sufficiently.

The reason progesterone is a bit milder than aldosterone is that endogenous progesterone production is also accompanied by high CO2 production, and CO2 has also has sodium retaining properties like progesterone. So the situations are:

Best case (in health): high progesterone (mild sodium retention) + high CO2 (mild sodium retention) = strong sodium retention
Backup scenario (in stress): progesterone and CO2 production fails but aldosterone on its own is a strong sodium retainer so result = strong sodium retention
Your scenario: artificial progesterone supplementation (mild sodium retention) + aldosterone antagonism by progesterone + low CO2 production = not enough sodium retention hence the fluid retention

Increasing salt consumption won't help because with low CO2, you will just dump the salt. So the trick is to increase CO2, by constant bag breathing, thyroid, etc.

Nice post.

I experienced arrhythmia once I started increasing salt intake. I took 2 teaspoons of salt at night. And then 2 more in the morning.

Would breathing of 5% carbogen for say, 1 hour, be able to help the body with the increased salt intake?

Or would it be better to take progesterone (along with pregnenolone and DHEA, just for balance) along with 1 hour of carbogen? Without salt at all?

 

[Bart1]

Progesterone is an aldosterone "antagonist" because it has the same functions as aldosterone but to a milder degree. So it is not technically an antagonist. In a sense aldosterone is just a lower quality replacement hormone for when progesterone is not produced sufficiently.

The reason progesterone is a bit milder than aldosterone is that endogenous progesterone production is also accompanied by high CO2 production, and CO2 has also has sodium retaining properties like progesterone. So the situations are:

Best case (in health): high progesterone (mild sodium retention) + high CO2 (mild sodium retention) = strong sodium retention
Backup scenario (in stress): progesterone and CO2 production fails but aldosterone on its own is a strong sodium retainer so result = strong sodium retention
Your scenario: artificial progesterone supplementation (mild sodium retention) + aldosterone antagonism by progesterone + low CO2 production = not enough sodium retention hence the fluid retention

Increasing salt consumption won't help because with low CO2, you will just dump the salt. So the trick is to increase CO2, by constant bag breathing, thyroid, etc.

Great post and confirms what i’ve been experiencing (increasing salt does not work)

 

[Lokzo]

Meanwhile I am trying to INCREASE my aldosterone levels, because mine is so LOW. Can't hold water well on my body and crave salt all the time.

 

[GorillaHead]

Usually immediately. Aldosterone release is very sensitive to serum sodium levels and that is why most doctors do not want to test aldosterone on a blood test if it's only a single test. It can change values drastically in a matter of minutes. Water retention is from estrogen and energetic failure, not from sodium.

If aldosterone is moderately high. Then sodium would reduce the aldosterone level but what high means is up for debate. Look at this study


https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1161/01.HYP.14.2.164