Is sodium to blame for your weight gain?

Your pants are snug. Your wedding band feels too tight. There's no doubt about it, you've put on a few pounds. Now the good news: the route to a slimmer, trimmer you may be as simple as lowering your sodium intake.

"Sodium creates weight gain, but not fat gain: It's water retention," says Rosie Schwartz, Toronto-based registered dietitian and author of The Enlightened Eater's Whole Foods Guide (Viking Canada). "You need a certain concentration of sodium in your blood and if you take in too much salt, you can see a real fluctuation in your weight," as your body holds on to more water to compensate, says Schwartz.

This water retention can be significant enough to make clothes feel too tight – thereby causing one of those awful "fat days."

Dangers of sodium
Beyond cosmetic concerns, excess sodium has other, more serious dangers, says Schwartz, including an increased risk of heart disease, hypertension, kidney disease and even bone thinning.

"If you consume a lot of salt, it can cause calcium loss in your bones. Many women take calcium supplements [to help prevent future osteoporosis], but if your sodium levels are off the wall, you're not doing yourself any favours," says Schwartz.

For both health and vanity's sake, cutting back is a smart idea.

How much sodium is too much?
The 2004 Canada Community Health survey (CCHS) found Canadians consume way too much sodium.

According to the US Institute of Medicine, as cited by the CCHS, here is how much sodium we should be consuming:

• 1,000 milligrams (mg) per day for babies and little ones aged 1 through 3
• 1,300 mg/day for kids aged 4 to 8
• 1,500 mg/day for people aged 9 to 50
• 1,300 mg/day for adults aged 51 to 70
• 1,200 mg/day for seniors over 70

Meanwhile, another amount, known as the Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL), represents the maximum daily amount we can consume without proven adverse health effects. The further your sodium consumption overshoots the UL, the more likely your chances of developing conditions like hypertension.

ULs for sodium range from 1,500 mg to 2,300 mgs, depending on age. The CCHS report is blunt: "In 2004, regardless of age, Canadians' average daily intake of sodium was far beyond the recommended UL."

Men aged 31 to 50 averaged sodium intakes of 3,600 mg per day. Women in the same age group, 2,800 mg. Teenage boys consumed a whopping 4,200 mg per day! (The UL for all these groups is 2,300 mg.)

Page 1 of 2 – On page 2, learn simple ways to reduce your sodium intake and make healthier food choices.