Beth_M

Okay.. the potassium thing.

Restaurant meals tend to be high in sodium. A lot of the gain (at least for me) after eating out I feel is from salt. Potassium taken in about the same level as sodium should keep some of the water retention at bay.

"kidneys respond to excess sodium by flushing it out in the urine. Unfortunately, this also removes potassium. If potassium levels are low, the body tries to hoard it, which also means hanging onto sodium. Water follows sodium, leading to an increase in the amount of water in the body and the volume of blood in circulation. Blood pressure climbs, and the heart must work harder. Excess sodium blunts the ability of blood vessels to relax and contract with ease, and may also overstimulate the growth of heart tissue. All of these responses are made worse by low potassium intake."

Hence the reason I blow up after high sodium meals and it takes days to come back down.

So.. the plan.. make the rest of the day a potassium filled day and perhaps the next one also. You want foods that are high in potassium but low in sodium.

Bananas, avocado, spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers, salmon, black bean, oranges, potato.. There's a list that goes on and on at http://nutritiondata.self.com/foods-...3000000-w.html and you can narrow it by category.

For me.. Sunday will be a banana in the morning. A salad at lunch loaded with spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers and avocado. I'll also have a potato at dinner that night at the restaurant and tell me no salt on the skin (if they do that).
We shall see.