HI guys,
I came across ray peat a couple weeks ago and decided to give his methods a try. First off, I'm a 23 year old male who is experiencing some serious water retention problems that has seemed to occur literally in a month span(legs and lower abdomen). I watched my weight go from a lean 160 pounds to almost 180 pounds! Also, I've always been extremely active (lifting, running, sports, etc.) and never ate anything processed. However, January of 2013 I started to notice very disturbed sleep, which I have never had in my entire life (always slept like a baby). In addition to the sleep problems I then started to notice the weight gain. It got so bad that I was prescribed a SSRI (antidepressant) when I went to the doctors explaining my problems. However, i quickly stopped taking it after a month because it did nothing for me. Again, I've always been a health nut and know exactly how much my body needs and it is physically impossible to put on that much weight with the amount of food i was eating. I always maintained on about 2300 calories and of course when I began to notice the weight gain I immediately dropped that down a bit but the weight continued to pile on. I'm now eating no more than 2000 calories/day (this is pathetic for a 23 male who is active) because I'm afraid to put on anymore weight. Also, I always drank about a gallon of water a day and probably went to the bathroom about 20 times a day (serious).
Ok so here is my question....I have always kept my sodium intake extremely low because I thought it was bad for you. I eat whole natural foods and I can guarantee I was getting no more than 500 mg a day (never salted anything). Is it possible that I messed up some sort of balance in my body by drinking too much water and not having enough sodium? Could this cause swelling? Anyways I'm going to give the salt drinks a go ( 2-3 tsp a day) to see what happens. I'm hoping that this will correct the the swelling and sleep issues I've been having for the last year and a half.
I've been reading a lot now about how important salt is and how salt restriction can cause sleep problems, water retention, etc.
Lastly, I have had blood tests done and doctors cant find anything wrong. My TSH is 1.25 so i don't think this is a thyroid issue. Also, my sodium levels came back right in range at 140 but I have experienced low sodium levels in the past (130) when I was doing a lot of running and sweating (never thought to much about the low level because I wasn't experiencing any of the symptoms i am now
) Also, I have always had really really low blood pressure which has gotten better with age but is still considered low.
Anyways just looking for a few words of encouragement from others who have dealt with similar issues and have solved them by incorporating more salt.
Thanks everyone for reading and responding!
I came across ray peat a couple weeks ago and decided to give his methods a try. First off, I'm a 23 year old male who is experiencing some serious water retention problems that has seemed to occur literally in a month span(legs and lower abdomen). I watched my weight go from a lean 160 pounds to almost 180 pounds! Also, I've always been extremely active (lifting, running, sports, etc.) and never ate anything processed. However, January of 2013 I started to notice very disturbed sleep, which I have never had in my entire life (always slept like a baby). In addition to the sleep problems I then started to notice the weight gain. It got so bad that I was prescribed a SSRI (antidepressant) when I went to the doctors explaining my problems. However, i quickly stopped taking it after a month because it did nothing for me. Again, I've always been a health nut and know exactly how much my body needs and it is physically impossible to put on that much weight with the amount of food i was eating. I always maintained on about 2300 calories and of course when I began to notice the weight gain I immediately dropped that down a bit but the weight continued to pile on. I'm now eating no more than 2000 calories/day (this is pathetic for a 23 male who is active) because I'm afraid to put on anymore weight. Also, I always drank about a gallon of water a day and probably went to the bathroom about 20 times a day (serious).
Ok so here is my question....I have always kept my sodium intake extremely low because I thought it was bad for you. I eat whole natural foods and I can guarantee I was getting no more than 500 mg a day (never salted anything). Is it possible that I messed up some sort of balance in my body by drinking too much water and not having enough sodium? Could this cause swelling? Anyways I'm going to give the salt drinks a go ( 2-3 tsp a day) to see what happens. I'm hoping that this will correct the the swelling and sleep issues I've been having for the last year and a half.
I've been reading a lot now about how important salt is and how salt restriction can cause sleep problems, water retention, etc.
Lastly, I have had blood tests done and doctors cant find anything wrong. My TSH is 1.25 so i don't think this is a thyroid issue. Also, my sodium levels came back right in range at 140 but I have experienced low sodium levels in the past (130) when I was doing a lot of running and sweating (never thought to much about the low level because I wasn't experiencing any of the symptoms i am now
) Also, I have always had really really low blood pressure which has gotten better with age but is still considered low.Anyways just looking for a few words of encouragement from others who have dealt with similar issues and have solved them by incorporating more salt.
Thanks everyone for reading and responding!
