What kind of bouillon do you all use? The ones I've checked at the supermarket all contain sugar, cornstarch, corn syrup solids (?!) and/or MSG and whole lot more icky substances. Any recommendations? TIA!

Like you, I couldn't find any at my grocery stores that didn't have those (or other) unacceptable ingredients.

So I just make my own stocks--chx, beef

I boil them down a LOT to reduce the to about 1-1.5 cups of thick stuff

Then take a T or so in boiling water, add salt (and usually some butter) and enjoy

Really good thread, lots of useful info here. I'm still reading as its long.

Thanks, that's a great tip!

Can you get the Knorr Stock Pots over the pond?

They have very little added "stuff" in them

The Knorr website is a bit reticent on info apart from telling you what they don't contain but this Ocado website lists their ingredients and nutrition numbers if you follow the links on each variety's pages.
http://www.ocado.com/webshop/getSea...norr+stock+pots

I've never seen these, but will keep an eye out.
Thanks!

I know it's sometimes quite processed, but lunchmeat is my go-to breakfast not only because it is easy, but because its a big salt load in the morning. I drink water and void urine 2-4times per night. As soon as I get a salt load at breakfast I feel great. Better than caffeine! It's essential for brain function/alertness. Thanks for the excellent thread!

Use salt to get rid of red wine carpet stain...works like a charm, leave it on till all is absorbed after you pat it dry, before applying salt.

Well, that's good to know!

Hi, I could do with some advice.
I'm not managing to take the recommended level of salt each day yet. When I do have salt water drinks I'm finding that I get short of breath with laboured breathing, and my heart is pounding. And I'm bloated, when everything is right I am not bloated.

I'm taking about 1/4-1/3 tsp salt in 500ml water and then I'll just top up the glass with water and keep drinking. I'm not having any success in feeling better and I suspect it is to do with either the wrong concentration of salt water or not enough water or .....what? I'm probably managing to take ~1 tsp a day at the moment in/with food and water.

I'm tired since I started upping my salt but it's different to the dehydration fatigue, I've also noticed that I am urinating more appropriately, ie I'm not urinating every last drop that I've drunk which is good. I feel instinctively that I need more salt but how shall I take it so that it's not having a bad effect on me? If I am having 1.5 tsp salt per day in water how much water do I need?

If anyone can point me in the right direction I'd be very grateful.

Many thanks

On further reading...an isotonic solution is about 0.9% salt, or 9g per litre. That's 1 tsp in 1 litre of water. I've also read that you should take 1/4 or half that.
Should we be drinking isotonic solutions? And if so shouldn't we always drink isotonic solutions rather than plain water throughout the day?

I'd say if you're getting short of breath and your heart is pounding this might not be something you should do, or else you're doing it too much. In general, this should be making you feel better, not worse. It's possible you just don't need it.

Check your blood pressure, maybe it is going too high. Some people are sensitive to salt.

I think this thread that encourages eating enough salt is one of the most important on these forums. However, I was just reviewing The Art and Science of Low Carb Performance today on the subject of salt and noticed something that does not quite accord with the recommendations on page 1 of this thread.

In the chapter on fluid management (beginning page 79) Phinney and Volek recommend that everyone eating low carb should eat on the order of 5 grams of salt per day. They suggest that most of us get about 3 grams of salt per day from our food and that we should probably supplement with 1-2 grams of salt per day. Knowing that 1 tsp of salt had to be more than 1 gram (I weigh EVERYTHING), I discovered that my tsp of salt weighed between 7 and 8 grams (the scale would not settle). Based on this measurement, I concluded we should be supplementing with roughly 1/8 - 1/4 tsp of salt per day, rather than 1-2 tsps.

Perhaps I'm missing something - can you verify your sources, Nancy? Thanks.

Page 79 (bullet 3):


"Salt" is made of sodium and chloride (NaCl). So when you weigh out the 1/4 tsp, a bunch of that is chloride, which is heavier per atom than sodium.

What you need to do is look at the nutrition label info. Look at how much sodium is in a serving, and use that to calculate.

For example, in my sea salt, 1/4 tsp provides around 538 mg sodium, which is just over half a gram. So to get my 2 grams of sodium, I would need to take 4 quarter-tsps, which is a full tsp.

Good point on the salt vs sodium (duh). I'm glad I asked. My Trader Joe's sea salt shows 440 mg per 1/4 tsp, so if I supplement with 4.5 1/4 tsp servings I'm good to go.