saltless sweat

[Greensteak]

Hi,

I'm sure everyone at one time or another has noticed that
sweat has a salty taste. Yesterday, while 30 minutes into a
weight training session, I had a big drop of sweat on my bicep
about to fall off, and without thinking I just quickly licked
it off because my left hand contained a weight. To my suprise,
it had no taste. Completely tasteless, just like plain water.

I don't eat a lot of salt. Very little processed foods, and
virtually no added salt to my diet from the shaker. I've had
the same salt container for years, only using it in recipes
now and then.

I'm wondering if after a few minutes, I just have no salt left
to sweat, or if this may signal some other condition, such as
low electrolytes. I sweat profusely for about an hour each day
between alternating sessions of running and weights. For fluid
replacement, I drink only water. Could this be creating a
problem combined with my low salt intake?

One more question, does profuse sweating allow one to exceed
the rda for salt?

Thanks,

Steak

[Mooshie Pe]

On 27 Aug 2003 04:47:10 -0700, greensteak@aol.com
(greensteak) posted:

>Hi,
>
>I'm sure everyone at one time or another has noticed that
>sweat has a salty taste. Yesterday, while 30 minutes into a
>weight training session, I had a big drop of sweat on my
>bicep about to fall off, and without thinking I just quickly
>licked it off because my left hand contained a weight. To my
>suprise, it had no taste. Completely tasteless, just like
>plain water.
>
>I don't eat a lot of salt. Very little processed foods, and
>virtually no added salt to my diet from the shaker. I've had
>the same salt container for years, only using it in recipes
>now and then.
>
>I'm wondering if after a few minutes, I just have no salt
>left to sweat, or if this may signal some other condition,
>such as low electrolytes. I sweat profusely for about an hour
>each day between alternating sessions of running and weights.
>For fluid replacement, I drink only water. Could this be
>creating a problem combined with my low salt intake?
>
>One more question, does profuse sweating allow one to exceed
>the rda for salt?
>
>
>Thanks,
>
>Steak

You don't really need much salt. Your sweat was low in salt,
cos your body is conserving its salt reserves.

It's actually what your body has aclimated to.