[pct-l] Salt In Freeze Dried Food

[Brick Robbins]

Hyponatremia is as big an issue as dehydration in this sort of situation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyponatremia

Recently, more noob endurance athletes have been having more serious
medical problems with Hyponatremia




On Thu, Dec 24, 2009 at 10:34 AM, Steve McAllister
<brooklynkayak at gmail.com> wrote:
> My own experience:
> I was traveling with a group in which the leader kept stressing the
> need for sodium as it was in the high 90's, full sun exposure and near
> 100% humidity.
>
> Two people ended up going to the hospital from heat issues at the end
> of the day. They were both drinking Gatoraid and taking
> potasium/sodium capsules.
> I was on a low sodium diet and others didn't increase there salt
> intake and never had problems.
>
> I have always kept my sodium level low, even in hot desert conditions
> and have never had an issue, but I do drink more water than most
> people do. In fact I force it down when most people are sipping to
> conserve.
>
> I guess everyone is different?
>
> On Thu, Dec 24, 2009 at 12:46 PM, Mike Cunningham <hikermiker at yahoo.com> wrote:
>> Studies have been done on runners and acclimitization to heat.
>>  It has been found that after about 2 weeks of exercise in the heat the body loses less salt than it had previously.
>>
>> I have found from experience that my arms  are less salty once I am used to exercising in the heat.
>>
>> I seldom add salt to my food but I do use diluted Gatordade.
>>
>> hm
>> --- On Thu, 12/24/09, John Coyle <jcoyle at sanjuan.edu> wrote:
>>
>>
>> From: John Coyle <jcoyle at sanjuan.edu>
>> Subject: [pct-l] Salt In Freeze Dried Food
>> To: "'pct-l at backcountry.net'" <pct-l at backcountry.net>
>> Date: Thursday, December 24, 2009, 12:36 PM
>>
>>
>> Yesterday I commented that the sodium content in commercially available backpacking food seems high to me.  I have to watch my salt intake because I am prone to high blood pressure.  When I buy commercially available backpacking food, which isn't very often, I try to keep it below 500mg a serving. You will notice that most of the food at REI is higher than that.  Personally I have a Caldera Cone, a dehydrator, and make most of my own food using the freezer bag technique, so I can control the sodium that way.  As a side note, I dehydrated some ground turkey the other day and it ended up looking and feeling like gravel, but it plumped up real nice in my cozy.  Some folks suggest that high salt intake is necessary on the trail to replace salt lost through perspiration. It is true that clothing, hats especially, develop a salty appearance over time that might lead one to believe that a person has to replace salt in the diet.  I wonder though, is it
>>  really necessary to consume a l
>> ot of salt on the trail to maintain good health?   Is there any research on this subject, or any consensus of opinion?  I have heard competing theories.
>>
>> John Coyle
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>
>
>
> --
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> nothing like a campfire and a can of beans!
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>
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