How much salt do you get in your diet?

I'd just like to see if people on this forum on average have high or low salt diets in relation to their sugar/carb intake. Thanks!

Salt lowers blood sugar?

I heard that in hospitals, doctors will give patients with high blood glucose an IV of sodium chloride to help lower their blood glucose levels to normal. So I looked it up online, and there was a study done that found a correlation between sugar levels and salt levels. Basically when salt consumption increased, average blood glucose was lower and vice versa. This was first noticed by a doctor in 1938 who noticed this association in acne sufferers. Maybe this answers the question of why some people eat junk food all day long and have perfect skin? Maybe their choice of junk food is higher in the saltier variety and lower in the sweeter stuff?

I'm posting this because my diet has always been very low in salt. Not on purpose really, but I just don't tend to salt my food much, and I'm just used to eating that way. So lately, since I'm pregnant, this has actually become a problem because, as my doctor explained, pregnancy can cause low blood pressure on it's own due to expanding blood vessels, and so if you have low blood pressure to start with, the blood pressure levels can get very low. I've always had low blood pressure, and I've nearly passed out a couple of times at very inopportune moments the past couple months! My doctor told me increasing salt intake can help increase your blood pressure because it makes you hold onto more of the water you drink, and that increases blood volume. So I've been making an effort to eat a lot more salt, and my skin hasn't looked better! Because I'm pregnant I'm not on any other supplement regimens right now, just to be on the safe side. However, because I'm pregnant, and that obviously effects hormones, I can't say for sure if it's the higher salt intake, or the pregnancy itself that's keeping my skin clear. My last pregnancy did not give me clear skin except for the first couple months, and I'm way past that point now. But if I look back at other times when my skin cleared up without a good explanation, I realize they were times when I was eating a lot of salty food. For example, I went on an all Mexican diet once just because I craved it so much, I thought what the hell. My skin cleared up. It was in retrospect very salty food. Second example was during Thanksgiving. I was eating turkey and gravy practically at every meal. At the time I thought it was because it was a higher protein diet that my skin cleared. But when I switched off the turkey and gravy and went to meat loaf, my acne came back. The gravy was very salty, and I was eating it at every meal! Third example was when we were moving from Oregon to California, we basically ate fast food for a week straight, and my skin cleared up. Fast food is notorious for being high in salt, and we were usually eating at Taco Bell which I think is particularly salty in my opinion. Salt is also an important part of the immune system, since your body uses the chloride in it for immune functions. Could low salt = lower immunity = increased infections?

So I need to ask a favor. Can anyone else try increasing their salt intake and see if it helps them? By this I mean basically making every meal a salty one. I'm going to start a poll to see if the people on this forum tend to have high salt or low salt diets generally. Thanks!

Glucomannan

**Edit: Update of the main points made in this thread so far **

This is working really well for me, and a few other people have posted about a similar product called PGX that's working well for them. Glucomanan is the key ingredient in PGX, and it's cheaper to buy it pure.


Here are some points on why I think it works, and some studies that have been done on it:

- Glucomannan reduces cholesterol levels by preventing the re-absorption of cholesterol from the gut. Cholesterol is what the body uses to produce hormones like androgens.

- Glucomannan prevents insulin spikes and improves insulin sensitivity. Insulin spikes cause increased IGF-1, Growth Hormone, and Androgens.

- Glucomannan thickens the lining of the intestines, reducing food sensitivities and inflammation. This is also an important part of healing leaky gut syndrome.

- Glucomannan fiber has been shown to heal eczema in rats when it was added to their diet.

- Soluble fiber like Glucomannan increases the acidity in the intestines due to the fermentation process, which inhibits conditions like candida and dysbiosis, and improves nutrient absorption.


Right now I get Glucomannan at http://konjacfoods.com in bulk since it's cheapest that way. At that site it's about $20 for a 500gram bag of glucomannan powder, plus $5 shipping.

My dosing generally follows this guide, taken with food:

Snack - 1/4tsp (1.25 grams)
Regular Meal - 1/2 tsp (2.5 grams)
Sugar/refined carb-heavy meal - 1 tsp (5 grams)

For every 1/4 tsp of glucomannan, I mix it with 1/4 cup (2 oz) of water and drink it down fast before it gels, right before my meal or as soon after it as possible. For instance 1 tsp would be mixed with 1 cup (8 oz) of water.

On this schedule, one bag lasts about 2 months.



**Original Post**

Glucomannan is a type of fiber, it's also used in asian cooking I think as a gelling agent. I was thinking of buying some capsules, and taking a capsule at the beginning of each meal. Glucomannan is the active ingredient in that PGX fiber a couple people on here are raving about, but you can buy it pure (2000mg/capsule vs 50mg in PGX) and I think it's actually cheaper that way. I found some by Natures Way 100 capsules for $13.

Does anyone know anything about glucomannan that I should know?

Androgens and Histamine

http://joe.endocrinology-journals.org/cgi/...nt/167/1/71.pdf

Histamine production was dramatically reduced when male rats were castrated. Histamine levels returned to normal when the castrated mice were given supplemented androgens. Acne, as we know, involves excess androgens, or excess sensitivity to androgens. Perhaps allergens don't cause acne, maybe androgens make us prone to allergies and acne?

I mention this because of the trend I've noticed in myself and others on this board who notice that common food allergens seems to make their acne worse, such as wheat, dairy, nuts, etc. And there does seem to be a link between histamine and androgens.

What do you think?

Study: Lycopene inhibits IGF-1 and androgens

http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/news/n...ugh-research-on

This study is primarily focused on the role of lycopene in prostate cancer, but I can see how it's directly applicable to acne because:

"Lycopene interfered with local androgen activation by down-regulating 5-alpha-reductase, the key enzyme for the transformation of testosterone to its most active form dehydrotestosterone (DHT). As a consequence, the expression of androgen-regulated target genes were also reduced. In addition, lycopene decreased the expression of two prostatic cytokines, IGF-I and IL-6, both regarded as risk factors for prostate cancer."

It interferes with both androgens and IGF-1, two key factors in acne. I wonder if lycopene would have an effect on male pattern baldness given its interference with the production of DHT.

Anyone have any lycopene supplements around they want to try taking and see if it helps?