Salt, Blood Pressure and Your Energy
I love when my own health journey leads to me learning something that also helps me better help my patients. Here's one accidental discovery that has made a big difference in my energy and quality of life, and that I now also often consider for patients.
With each of my 4 pregnancies, I experienced swelling in my legs that got worse each time. I remember being in Germany in June 2017 when I was 6 months pregnant with our 4th in a heat wave and crying because my legs felt like tree trunks and I was so uncomfortable. Thankfully we were staying in a town where compression socks are made (how crazy is that?!), and a family member who is a doctor arranged for me to be fitted with thigh high ones (not the sexy kind, but I didn't care!). They definitely helped (I wish someone had suggested these before my 4th pregnancy!) and my legs improved after I delivered him, but I still continued to often experience swelling in my ankles by the end of the day.
June 2017 (6 months pregnant) - If only I had known this then… but I believe we learn what we are meant to learn when the timing is right.
In the summer of 2022, I saw a vascular surgeon to see if anything could be done to stop the swelling and/or get rid of the bruised look of my left leg from the deep varicose veins. Surgery was not recommended, but he did suggest 2 things:
Wearing prescription compression socks whenever I had to sit or stand for a long time.
Taking a supplement that's an extract taken from an orange peel that helps to strengthen the walls of the blood vessels. Funny enough, it was something I had suggested to patients with varicose veins, but for some reason, I had never thought of it for myself (that's why doctors shouldn't treat themselves!).
Doing those two things helped to minimize the swelling. It would still happen if the weather was really hot though, or if I was sitting more than usual. There are several contributing factors to why I had this issue: genetics and carrying 4 babies are 2 big ones. Despite those still being true for me, I am happy to say this is rarely an issue for me anymore, and the thing that made a difference happened accidentally.
When I was at a conference in February 2023, I got some samples for flavoured electrolytes to put in my water. It had 1000mg of sodium (that's a lot more than what you usually see!), 200 mg of potassium, and 60mg of magnesium. I really liked the taste of them AND I noticed that my legs weren't swollen by the end of the day spent sitting listening to lectures. I ordered more when I got home and noticed that the swelling continued to be better. I also noticed that my energy was better throughout the day!
I started doing some research and it made perfect sense to me why this worked! We are told that sodium is bad for our blood pressure and cardiovascular health. It's true that the salt (and sugar!) from processed foods aren't good for us, but the salt itself isn't the problem. Restricting overall salt intake has not reduced the incidence of heart disease in our society. A 2011 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that the lowest risk for heart disease occurred in people consuming between 4-6 grams of sodium per day (right now the Heart Association suggests consuming less than 2.3g - the equivalent of about 1 tsp of table salt). When you don't consume enough sodium, then your body actually retains more water, which raises blood pressure… or in my case causes swelling in my ankles. One of the things I tried to help the swelling was drinking more water, but it only made it worse because it further diluted the electrolyte balance.
Getting enough salt, along with potassium and magnesium, can also help with bone density, energy, headaches, muscle cramping and sleep quality.
I'm not saying that electrolytes are the answer for all health problems, but I have seen repeatedly with patients how optimizing the levels can make a big difference for them. Ideally you want to eat a macro and micronutrient balanced diet so that you get as much nutrition from your food as possible, but taking supplements in the correct balance and dose can really help to make up the difference where needed.
If you'd like to look closer at what your body might be out of balance in, let's talk! I still have some openings for virtual consults this summer on Wednesday and Friday afternoons.
You can schedule a call here.