Can you counter a high sodium diet/meal with distilled water?

[preslove]

Continuing the "anything can kill you in high enough doses" theme from the caffeine OD story:***


I was thinking the other day about distilled water & the fact that drinking it is unhealthy because it leaches electrolytes out of your system. Considering that electrolytes are salts, and too much sodium in your body is unhealthy, couldn't you pair nice salty asian stir fry (Jesus, fish sauce + vinegar + soy sauce = tons of sodium) with some amount of distilled water to cut edge off all that salt?


Before anyone yells about this to me, I'm going to bring it up with a doctor at my next (soonish) checkup. Unless, of course, I'm missing something so obvious about electrolytes & salts that you guys will ridicule me for being ignorant of it.


***http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2116344

 

[zerocool84]

If one meal messes you up enough to worry, then you must be a very unhealthy person.

 

[preslove]

If one meal messes you up enough to worry, then you must be a very unhealthy person.

Stir fry + steak & fries + chick fil-a as my dinners over the course of three nights adds up to a decent amount of sodium. Sue me, I like to stir up veggies and meat in tasty azn inspired, salty as fuck sauces.

 

[Eli]

Sure. I don't think there is actually any evidence that salt is bad for a healthy person, is there? I don't think distilled water would be necessary, just water in general should suffice. Unless your local water has a lot of dissolved sodium in it or something I guess.

Our tap water only has 120PPM of dissolved solids in it. Hardly significant. For comparison, the bottled water we drink contains 80PPM.

 

[Meghan54]

OK, the obvious. Sodium is not the only electrolyte that will be washed out. Potassium, equally important to the proper electrical functioning of the body, will also wash out....and a high sodium meal isn't going to include an equal amount of potassium to be "washed" out by the large consumption of distilled water.

Why not either consume less salt at the meal or just let the body do what it does naturally, get rid of the excess sodium through its kidney function?

 

[SP33Demon]

Stir fry + steak & fries + chick fil-a as my dinners over the course of three nights adds up to a decent amount of sodium. Sue me, I like to stir up veggies and meat in tasty azn inspired, salty as fuck sauces.

Call me a fool but I'd think exercise would combat the effects of high sodium (i.e. high blood pressure) better than your plan.

 

[ElFenix]

i have no idea what i'm talking about, but i'm going with sweating the salt out being good for you

 

[preslove]

OK, the obvious. Sodium is not the only electrolyte that will be washed out. Potassium, equally important to the proper electrical functioning of the body, will also wash out....and a high sodium meal isn't going to include an equal amount of potassium to be "washed" out by the large consumption of distilled water.

Good to know.

Call me a fool but I'd think exercise would combat the effects of high sodium (i.e. high blood pressure) better than your plan.

+

i have no idea what i'm talking about, but i'm going with sweating the salt out being good for you

Touche. But, but... buying distilled water is easier than going to the gym!

Yeah, I guess exercise is the more logical behavior.

 

[zerocool84]

Good to know.



+



Touche. But, but... buying distilled water is easier than going to the gym!

Yeah, I guess exercise is the more logical behavior.

Run around the block, buy a treadmill, there's more options than going to the gym.

 

[IronWing]

I knew a guy who did this. He drank only distilled water and then used as much salt as he wanted on his food. Didn't kill him in the time I knew him (his age ~45 at the time).

 

[Mo0o]

High sodium diet is bad for you because it leads to fluid retention within the intravascular space. If you eat salty foods then drink a lot of water, your body will still retain the same amount of water to balance the salt load but more will come from the consumed water and less from your kidneys. It's more or less the same in the end because you're still giving yourself the same salt load.

 

[Powermoloch]

High sodium diet is bad for you because it leads to fluid retention within the intravascular space. If you eat salty foods then drink a lot of water, your body will still retain the same amount of water to balance the salt load but more will come from the consumed water and less from your kidneys. It's more or less the same in the end because you're still giving yourself the same salt load.

in layman's terms...your excessive atrial stretch of your atrium detects High blood pressure, suppresses the releases of renin and produces a diuretic hormone to piss out the excessive salt and water.

:thumbsup:

 

[Mo0o]

in layman's terms...your excessive atrial stretch of your atrium detects High blood pressure, suppresses the releases of renin and produces a diuretic hormone to piss out the excessive salt and water.

:thumbsup:

Yeah although that kinds of what happens after. First you absorb the excess electrolytes, your kidneys see this, increases secretion of ANTIdiuretic hormone to reabsorb more free water and increases electrolyte output until you reach osmolite balance with subsequent diuresis to get rid of the excess fluid load.

People with essential hypertension have excess retention of fluid volume in their intravascular space (due to something that's still not completely understood but have a lot to do with physical conditioning). This is why people with hypertension are advised to exercise but also eat less salty foods. If this doesnt work, they can also be put on diuretics (water pills) to try to get rid of the excess fluid.