Sunday, April 19, 2009

Cellulite and Salt Intake

By El Bilson

Many of us resort to dieting as a way to improve our skin, including the appearance of cellulite. However many diet foods are heavy in sodium. This can have an impact on the appearance of your skin. By reducing fat and salt in your diet you may find a way to reduce cellulite.

When the connective tissue beneath the skin starts to lose its elasticity, cellulite can start to appear. As the skin's elasticity declines, the bumps from cellulite can start to show. For permanent reduction of cellulite symptoms, there needs to be a lifestyle change. While the causes of cellulite are affected by a genetic predisposition, they can also be affected a great deal by lifestyle. Thats where changes in dietary habits come in to play.

Most people know that salt causes fluid retention. However you may not have realized that fluid retention can increase the appearance of cellulite. When your salt intake is high, the areas of cellulite will swell and be more noticeable because of the retention of fluid. Some foods that have high sodium/salt content are easy to identify. These include processed and packaged foods such as potato chips, pickles, soy sauce, and processed meats such as cold cuts.

It's usually a good idea to check the Nutritional Information box on any food product you buy. This way you can check the amount of sodium in the food you are eating. Salt will be listed as sodium and will be measured by portion size. By becoming more aware of the salt contained in the foods you eat, you can reduce your salt intake on a daily basis.

A reduction of cellulite in the body can be obtained over time with a low sodium, low fat diet, exercise and a healthy lifestyle. So make sure you are not adding additional salt to the foods you consume. When cooking, reduce the amount of salt that a recipe calls for. If the recipe calls for a teaspoon of salt, reduce that to one half teaspoon. Most of the time you won't notice the difference!

Invest in a book that lists the sodium count of most common foods. You will eventually get used to food being less salty. Most foods in nature are low in sodium to begin with. Fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables have very little sodium. But those two slices of sausage pizza you had at lunch used up about 88% of your recommended daily allowance of salt.

The recommended daily allowance for sodium is around 2,400 milligrams. While this sounds like a lot, it can be easy to exceed this limit within one meal. If you are serious about reducing the appearance of cellulite on your skin, then a change in diet can be a great start. There is no need to starve yourself. Just make a few adjustments to your diet. Lower salt intake and increase consumption of water. Dont forget to reduce fat intake as well.

Beautiful skin starts on the inside. And the changes you make will not only reduce the help get rid of cellulite, but will improve your overall health in many ways! - 14130

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