Sodium and Coffee While Dieting

Diet and Nutrition
1

So I’m currently dropping excess weight and things are going well, but I have two minor questions:

  1. I once read a long time ago on an article about dieting by Lee Hayward that he used to add salt to his shakes because the lowered sodium intake while dieting negatively affected his performance. Is there any truth to this? Have any of you monitored sodium intake while dieting?

  2. Coffee seems to make me feel tired these days, why is it that I feel this way while dieting but feel the opposite effect otherwise?

2

a) sodium might help draw water into muscles, which would help strength a bit. It’s also an electrolyte (along with potassium and magnesium), which can help your brain feel less foggy if low blood sugar is getting to you. Plus, it adds flavor to bland food. If you don’t have high blood pressure, I vote to toss some sodium in there. Or Lite salt, which is half sodium half potassium.

b) no idea. Maybe you’ve built up a tolerance?

3

I don’t think you can influence sodium concentration without going to extreme measures. sodium controls blood pressure, so it is tightly regulated.