Here’s how salt is making you fat!

You know that eating too much fat or sugar can make you gain weight, but did you know that salt can also be a reason for why the numbers on that scale aren’t going down?

How salt makes you gain weight?

• While too much intake of salt can have many adverse effects on your health, it can also increase water retention, which increases your weight. If you eliminate the excess salt, the water will flush out, and the weight will go back down.
• Salt may not have calories, but excessive intake of salt can make you feel hungry [1]. Therefore, ensure that you check the nutrition labels of packaged foods for high sodium levels. Here’s how to read food labels right and be healthy. Also, most salty foods are processed foods that contain a lot of sugar as well.
• The increase in thirst also accompanies excessive intake of sodium-rich foods. It is okay if you quench the thirst by drinking water, but salt increases your cravings for high-calorie soft drinks and sugary beverages.
• Studies show that when you consume too much salt, the body starts to produce a greater amount of insulin. An increase in the production of insulin keeps the fat stored in the body making you gain weight[2].

The bottom line — salt is an important electrolyte, but you need to limit its intake especially if you are getting it from processed and refined sources. Pizzas and French fries are the kind of foods you need to avoid. Follow these tips to reduce your salt intake.

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Reference:

[1] Stachenfeld, N. S. (2008). Acute Effects of Sodium Ingestion on Thirst and Cardiovascular Function. Current Sports Medicine Reports, 7(4 Suppl), S7–13. http://doi.org/10.1249/JSR.0b013e31817f23fc

[2] Ma Y, He FJ, MacGregor GA. High Salt Intake: Independent Risk Factor forObesity? Hypertension. 2015 Aug 3. pii: HYPERTENSIONAHA.115.05948. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 26238447.

 

 

 

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