It's 2:00 in the afternoon and those potato chips are really looking good. When you get home at night to cook dinner, the family complains that you've put too much salt in the food. Then, when you wake in the morning, something salty would be nice. Mmmm...bacon. So what gives?
While you're busy craving salt, you're probably under a lot of stress and feeling pretty fatigued, too. This could all be signs of adrenal dysfunction.
When you're really stressed your body pumps out cortisol, among other chemicals, to keep you in survival mode. When this happens, the body will steal nutrients from other pathways to basically keep you alive. This can be a reason why people suffer from low Testosterone (women have this too), low DHEA, but also, low Aldosterone. For the discussion of salt, you must understand the function of Aldosterone. Basically, it's a hormone involved with blood pressure regulation by controlling how much sodium and potassium is in the body. When Aldosterone is low, you can have frequent urination which causes you to be really thirsty but you're also peeing out salt! Hence the salt craving.
By the way, your body doesn't know the difference between your endless to do list and a bear so it will react the same way biochemically. If you are under a lot of stress and having a ton of salt cravings, my best advice would be to consider your adrenal glands. In the meantime, try a few of these helpful tips:
1. Instead of reaching for potato chips or other processes foods, instead take 1/8th a tsp of Sea Salt late morning and early afternoon. Some may need the salt throughout the day but only at 1/8th tsp servings. You can either lick it from your hand, or you can put it into warm water (less than 4 oz).
2. Keep your blood sugar stable with healthy protein snacks but add that pinch of sea salt.
3. Where is your stress coming from and how can you work to balance your life out better or change your response to stress.
Finally, and as always, there can be other causes to why your body isn't holding onto salt but definitely consider stress as a contributing factor.
If you would like to set up an appointment with Dr. Lexi or schedule a free discovery session to discuss your concerns, please call our office at 704-765-0887 or leave us a message on the Contact page of our website.