what's the truth about sodium

I have been on a mission to reduce my BF to a point where I can see a full six pack. I am really close but not there yet. My biggest challenge in my diet is staying away from sodium. I know that it is impossible and unhealthy to cut out sodium completely but I reallly don't know what is exceptable or excessive. I mean do I reallly have to give up all my seasonings ect. Can someone please let me know what is a suitable sodium intake per day knowing what my goals are. In addition, anyone who can throw in some ways to lower your sodium intake would be greatly appreciated. Its very difficult for me to be 100% on my dieting game all the time but im starting to think that I need to be if I am going to achieve my goal.  Thanks in advance.

I know I still need to reduce my body fat. Right now im at 11% roughly (according to my measurements) Sodium is responsible for bloating.....correct? I guess this is where im going. Do I need to lower my sodium to get the desired results or just lower my body fat to around 7-8%

The RDA for sodium is 1500mg I believe. I personally don't worry a whole lot about sodium because a) your body will flush out what it does not need and 2) I eat mostly healthy foods that are fairly low in sodium.

Sodium is absolutely essential for proper bodily function so don't go too nuts trying to avoid it.

I would work on reducing your BF more and stay away from foods that are high in sodium. You will probably need to loose more bf to see your abs because unless you tend to hold a lot of water weight the problem in not all about water retention.

The sodium will temporarily make you bloat, but doesnt really affect body composition.  Bloating up will not cause you to gain fat, nor will losing that water cause you to lose fat.

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thanks guys, I thought that I might be getting to worked up over sodium. Just seems like lots of things are stacked with sodium. I'll just continue doing what im doing and reduce the BF lower to achieve my desired results.

RedJeep is right, "Sodium is absolutely essential". It is added sodium that causes problems, bloating and it can aggravate certain medical conditions, such as high blood pressure.  You can generally get enough sodium in you food to maintain proper health without adding more. Just use some common sense and don't go crazy with the salt. Due to medical reasons I was forced to make a huge reduction in my sodium and very quickly got use to it. I still add sodium for some foods, but very little and don't miss it. There are many other seasonings out there that are great and sodium free.

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