Does sodium even sway?

[FitBlonde]

I had low sodium when I conceived my son and almost everyone I know that has girls has a high salt intake (along with a girly diet). I am hitting around 1500mg per day. How important is low sodium intake? Does it even sway?

How much sodium are we meant to be eating? Less than 1000mg?

[LilithWiser1979]

I'm sure atomic herself will reply, but I asked a similar question and she said she herself doesn't believe it sways much, if at all. I'm not watching sodium because I get light-headed and am prone to fainting when I reduce it from my RIDICULOUSLY high intake. I think I have absorption issues though, because my blood was tested when I was pg with DS2 and eating more salt than I ever had in my life, and my levels came back low.

I will say adding in sodium makes LE MUCH easier to adhere to :)

[marriedmomof2]

I have not started the LE diet yet, but I am basically coming up with a menu I can pick from. Keeping it low sodium is the most difficult part to me..... So I'm really hoping that it doesn't sway...

[aidansmum]

I did not low my sodium and am expecting a girl. I tried but I just can't. My intake is also pretty high!

[atomic sagebrush]

Yep. I don't think it sways at all and may even sway pink in high doses (now no one go out and eat tons of sodium to sway, please). There is a biological/historical reason for why sodium simply can't be swayign blue, which if you're interested let me know.

I only keep it in the mix because it is possible to do and not harmful, which is my litmus test when it comes to the old-school sway tactics. If they are possible to do and don't hurt anyone or their sway, and don't lower odds of conception, I figure eh why not.

I do agree totally that I found it way way way easier to stick to diet without the sodium restriction. I got my 4th son limiting sodium and then my DD with both my husband and I eating tons of it.

[atomic sagebrush]

just to elaborate on what Lilith is saying - some people do get light headed on LE to begin with and if eating sodium can keep that from happening then that is great! WE can't have people fainting, you can hit your head and get badly hurt.

[onebigwish]

Yep. I don't think it sways at all and may even sway pink in high doses (now no one go out and eat tons of sodium to sway, please). There is a biological/historical reason for why sodium simply can't be swayign blue, which if you're interested let me know.

I only keep it in the mix because it is possible to do and not harmful, which is my litmus test when it comes to the old-school sway tactics. If they are possible to do and don't hurt anyone or their sway, and don't lower odds of conception, I figure eh why not.

I do agree totally that I found it way way way easier to stick to diet without the sodium restriction. I got my 4th son limiting sodium and then my DD with both my husband and I eating tons of it.


Hi atomic, i'm intrested in why sodium simply can't be swaying blue?

[marriedmomof2]

I would love to know the reason why sodium simply can't sway blue... What if we take blood pressure medicine? I guess I can wait until I buy my plan but in order to get a refill I would have to go to the doctor. I use them as a preventative for my migraines, but they lower my bp and that makes me very tired. I was a little worried about low sodium and my bp on a regular diet while taking bp pills being 90/50 typically.
Yep. I don't think it sways at all and may even sway pink in high doses (now no one go out and eat tons of sodium to sway, please). There is a biological/historical reason for why sodium simply can't be swayign blue, which if you're interested let me know.

I only keep it in the mix because it is possible to do and not harmful, which is my litmus test when it comes to the old-school sway tactics. If they are possible to do and don't hurt anyone or their sway, and don't lower odds of conception, I figure eh why not.

I do agree totally that I found it way way way easier to stick to diet without the sodium restriction. I got my 4th son limiting sodium and then my DD with both my husband and I eating tons of it.

[carmella_marie]

I'm wondering if sodium can't sway because historically we haven't always had access to it. I've heard it was so precious in ancient times it was used as currency?

[atomic sagebrush]

I would love to know the reason why sodium simply can't sway blue... What if we take blood pressure medicine? I guess I can wait until I buy my plan but in order to get a refill I would have to go to the doctor. I use them as a preventative for my migraines, but they lower my bp and that makes me very tired. I was a little worried about low sodium and my bp on a regular diet while taking bp pills being 90/50 typically.

If you are on medication then it is IMPERATIVE that you do not mess around trying to change your sodium intake and be super careful to get adequate potassium as well.

[atomic sagebrush]

Hi atomic, i'm intrested in why sodium simply can't be swaying blue?

Biologically:

The body keeps the levels of sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium in pretty tight regulation. It doesn't "like" or "want" to have lower than normal levels and it takes steps to keep that level very regular, either by excreting and/or storing the excess (yes, your body is able to store sodium for future use, just as it can store calcium and magnesium as well) or if you aren't getting enough, it relelases its stores and becomes more efficient at extracting sodium from the foods that you eat and the water you drink. So even though you may eat less sodium, your body simply takes steps to counteract that.

Low sodium levels are unusual and/or temporary (such as severe dehydration) and it's only in people who have serious health issues or are on medication that it is even POSSIBLE. Sodium - blood: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003481.htm) Back in the early days of the site, we had a few people (including a medical doctor) try to follow the FGD and had their blood levels of sodium, cal, mag, and potassium tested before and after doing a strict FGD for 6 weeks and their levels were virtually identical, all within normal range, before and after doing the FGD for 6 weeks, and the doctor's sodium level actually went UP because her body just got better at extracting sodium from food and water. (BTW she gave up FGD based on that info and did indeed get a girl on LE Diet).

Additionally, low sodium diet cannot be swaying because people of sub-Saharan African descent all carry a gene that causes them to have higher levels of sodium in their blood****** than people of other ethnic heritages (possibly as a defense against dehydration, malaria, or both) and yet they have the highest % of girls conceived of any ethnic group (102 boys for every 100 girls versus 105/106 for every 100 girls for other ethnicities) and this has stayed consistent even as they have moved out of Africa and into other parts of the globe.

Historically, humans and in fact ALL mammals have an insatiable palate for salt. Whenever they find salt, they eat it in huge quantities and virtually all cultures across the globe use tons of the stuff in food preservation and condiments and this has been true for at least dating back thousands of years, yet the gender ratio stays at about 50-50 regardless. Archaologists recently uncovered a salt mine in China dating back to 6000 BC (that's 8000 years ago). There was NEVER a time where humans were having disproportionate numbers of male and female offpring over the long term - not when we were cavemen eating not as much sodium, not in ancient China, and not today. It is VERY likely that the altered gender ratio in China that the FGD book used as "proof" that sodium sways blue, was NOT due to sodium whatsoever but was the result of female infanticide because we now know for a fact that is occuring there today.

Humans are eating more salt than ever before and yet the gender ratio is actually FALLING with more girls conceived than they were even 50 years ago.

[atomic sagebrush]

I'm wondering if sodium can't sway because historically we haven't always had access to it. I've heard it was so precious in ancient times it was used as currency?

It's not that it was that rare, it's just that everyone needed it to live and so they used it as pay for their workers, hence the word "salary". Sal = salt

[atomic sagebrush]

Bump! this is a pretty good old thread!

[Ttcblue15]

Bump! this is a pretty good old thread!

Atomic,

Does that mean there is really NOT a lot of emphasis on sodium intake for a boy sway?

[ABC.2606]

I'm glad to read this as I have not been limiting my salt intake on LE!!! I decided early on not to worry about it b/c I would be fully miserable on the diet if I couldn't eat salty foods!

[atomic sagebrush]

Atomic,

Does that mean there is really NOT a lot of emphasis on sodium intake for a boy sway?

Yes and if anything I feel extremely nervous about the people who are hitting it hard on the sodium. Especially my swayers of African descent. Not only does it probably not sway blue, it very likely may even sway pink, and for those who can't excrete it so easily, it may cause much harm. There was at least one person on Ingender (they love salt for boys) who ended up in the hospital with high blood pressure due to the sodium.

[atomic sagebrush]

I'm glad to read this as I have not been limiting my salt intake on LE!!! I decided early on not to worry about it b/c I would be fully miserable on the diet if I couldn't eat salty foods!

:agree: and most of us have done the same, ABC. I limited sodium and got my 4th boy, ate tons of it and got my girl! Our results for pink have only gone up since I deemphasized the sodium idea.