Always consult your physician before making any changes to your diet or supplementation regimen to ensure optimal mental, physical health, and performance, particularly concerning salt intake.
Understand your blood pressure as it is a crucial measurement that significantly impacts your immediate and long-term health, guiding decisions on exercise, salt intake, and lifestyle.
Determine your optimal salt intake by considering your fluid intake, specific diet, caffeine consumption and its diuretic effects, and your overall balance of electrolytes including sodium, potassium, and magnesium.
Make consistent hydration a priority, as salt and water intake are intimately related and crucial for maintaining proper bodily functions.
Avoid very high salt intake, particularly exceeding 6-7 grams of sodium per day, as health risks like cardiovascular events and stroke increase substantially at these levels.
If you have high blood pressure or are pre-hypertensive, exercise extreme caution with anything that could further increase your blood pressure, always consulting your doctor for health adjustments.
Strive to limit your ingestion of processed foods, as reducing them is generally beneficial for overall health and helps avoid hidden sugars and excessive salt.
When exploring adjustments to your sodium intake for health or performance, do so within a diet of unprocessed foods to accurately gauge your body’s true salt appetite and needs.
When salt levels are low and you crave salt, follow that craving by choosing healthy, non-processed salty foods or beverages, as it indicates a homeostatic need.
For most individuals, a moderate increase in salt intake is not detrimental, provided sufficient water is consumed, as the body will excrete excess sodium.
Calculate your fluid intake during activity using the Galpin equation: body weight in pounds divided by 30 equals ounces of fluid every 15 minutes, aiming for these averages to prevent under-hydration.
Ingest sufficient amounts of salt and fluid when exercising intensely or in very hot or cold, dry environments to counteract fluid and electrolyte loss and maintain performance.
If experiencing anxiety or stress, consider a slight increase in sodium intake, preferably through sea salt in water or salting unprocessed foods, as this can stabilize blood pressure and enhance resilience to challenges.
For most individuals without specific health issues, consider a daily salt intake of 8-12 grams (3.2-4.8 grams of sodium, or 1.5-2 teaspoons), which some research suggests may be optimal, but consult your physician.
Increasing salt intake within a diet of relatively unprocessed foods can significantly reduce sugar cravings due to the interaction of neural pathways for salty and sweet tastes.
If following a low-carbohydrate diet, ensure you increase your intake of sodium and potassium, as these diets lead to greater water and electrolyte excretion.
When on a low-carbohydrate diet, consider taking 99 milligram potassium tablets with each meal to replenish potassium lost from increased water excretion.
During fasted periods, particularly when consuming caffeine, ensure you replenish lost salt by using an electrolyte drink or adding sea salt to water, as caffeine acts as a diuretic.
For every ounce of caffeinated coffee or tea consumed, drink 1.5 times that amount in water, potentially with a tiny pinch of sodium, to counteract caffeine’s diuretic effects.
If exercising fasted and after consuming caffeine, ensure you replenish fluids and electrolytes, including sodium, before, during, and after your workout to prevent dehydration and maintain performance.
Recognize that food and drink cravings stem from both conscious taste perception and subconscious biochemical and neural events in the gut, influencing what you seek even without conscious awareness.
Investigate how artificial sweeteners are registered at the gut level and how this impacts brain function, as the gut can distinguish between caloric and non-caloric sweet substances subconsciously.
Engage in yoga nidra or non-sleep deep rest (NSDR), a practice of lying still with an active mind, to significantly restore cognitive and physical energy, even in brief 10-minute sessions.
Consider taking magnesium threonate 30 to 60 minutes before bedtime to promote the transition into and depth of sleep, and potentially support cognitive function and longevity.
Consider magnesium bisglycinate as an alternative to threonate for promoting the transition into and depth of sleep, as it appears to be on par in these aspects.
Magnesium citrate can be used as a fairly effective laxative, though it is not known to promote sleep or similar effects.
Supplement with Vitamin D3, as many are deficient even with sun exposure, for essential brain and body health, and K2 for its role in cardiovascular function and calcium regulation.
Consider taking Athletic Greens once or twice daily to cover basic nutritional needs, address potential deficiencies, and support microbiome health with its included probiotics.
Consider using Element electrolyte drink to ensure adequate intake of critical electrolytes like salt, magnesium, and potassium, which are vital for neuronal and other biological functions, and it contains no sugar.