# How to flush excess salt from my body?-MAYBE TMI **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 7, 2002, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-flush-excess-salt-from-my-body-maybe-tmi/122711 "2002-08-07T01:29:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-flush-excess-salt-from-my-body-maybe-tmi/122711/1 "2002-08-07T01:29:35Z")
Okay, lately I’ve been eating a lot of salty foods, and I’m currently nearing that time of the month. Meaning, I’m retaining a lot of fluids. Unlike some people, I don’t bloat and get a thicker waistline-instead, this all goes into my head-especially my ears. I have a terrible amount of fluid in my ears, which makes me dizzy and headachy. Now, yesterday, my dad brought home Chinese takeout (YUM!) and now my head is swimming. Is there any quick method of getting the excess salt out of my system? Like drinking a lot of water or something? My head is killing me! ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-flush-excess-salt-from-my-body-maybe-tmi/122711/2 "2002-08-07T01:37:10Z")
“Water pills,” a.k.a. diuretics, are available over the counter at the pharmacy. Coffee is also a diuretic. I can’t think of the other foods that are; a nutrition website would tell you. ---
**Author:** ![liirogue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dbc845/32.png) [@liirogue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liirogue)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-flush-excess-salt-from-my-body-maybe-tmi/122711/3 "2002-08-07T01:38:03Z")
I have heard that if you drink a lot of water, it will flush the salt out… FYI, I’ve also heard about some diet where you drink a gallon of water a day to lose weight… ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-flush-excess-salt-from-my-body-maybe-tmi/122711/4 "2002-08-07T02:01:59Z")
Sweat and urine are the only ways the body excretes salt. For either method you need a good supply of water, so I’d say water should help. (Not sports drinks, obviously!) But ultimately, reducing salt intake is more effective than trying to get your body to get rid of salt - or so everyone tells me. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-flush-excess-salt-from-my-body-maybe-tmi/122711/5 "2002-08-07T03:19:29Z")
Yes, increasing your water intake will help flush excess salt out–but be careful, Guin. You can overdo it and flush too much sodium (and potassium) out, which means, worst-case scenario, that you go into cardiac arrest or something. Your body _needs_ a certain amount of sodium (and potassium) to function normally. [http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Living/reuters20020702\_533.html](http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Living/reuters20020702_533.html) If you want more info, it’s on Google under “water intoxication”. I think there was a thread here in GQ talking about it lately, too. I wouldn’t blame either the Chinese food or the salty snacks for _all_ your PMS bloating. PMS is what it is. You have my sympathy. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![tcburnett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@tcburnett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tcburnett)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-flush-excess-salt-from-my-body-maybe-tmi/122711/6 "2002-08-07T06:06:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \* > **but be careful, Guin. You can overdo it and flush too much sodium (and potassium) out, which means, worst-case scenario, that you go into cardiac arrest or something.** I recall drinking a gallon of water an hour if I could get it in Viet-Nam and we never had a low-sodium casualty. Of course, we took salt tablets because we understood that we would die if we didn’t. From my reading of the ABC news report it seems clear that none of these recruits were taking salt tablets. I have serious doubts that an average person in a non-stress situation could drink enough water fast enough to die from it. I drink a LOT of water. In fact, water is the ONLY thing I drink, and I feel ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-flush-excess-salt-from-my-body-maybe-tmi/122711/7 "2002-08-07T06:56:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tcburnett \* > \*\* > I have serious doubts that an average person in a non-stress situation could drink enough water fast enough to die from it. \*\* In the functional condition called polydipsia, people do drink enough water to throw off their electrolytes. Whether they’re “average” is debatable. Some are demented, or schizophrenic. Others have eating disorders or are using a too-much-of-a-good-thing diet strategy. For others, etiology is unknown. [http://diabetesinsipidus.maxinter.net/polydips.htm](http://diabetesinsipidus.maxinter.net/polydips.htm) [http://www.biopsychology.uni-essen.de/Scz-IONS-99.htm](http://www.biopsychology.uni-essen.de/Scz-IONS-99.htm) ---
**Author:** ![tcburnett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@tcburnett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tcburnett)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-flush-excess-salt-from-my-body-maybe-tmi/122711/8 "2002-08-07T07:33:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shoshana \* > \*\* > > In the functional condition called polydipsia, people do drink enough water to throw off their electrolytes. Whether they’re “average” is debatable. Some are demented, or schizophrenic. Others have eating disorders or are using a too-much-of-a-good-thing diet strategy. For others, etiology is unknown. > > [http://diabetesinsipidus.maxinter.net/polydips.htm](http://diabetesinsipidus.maxinter.net/polydips.htm) > [http://www.biopsychology.uni-essen.de/Scz-IONS-99.htm](http://www.biopsychology.uni-essen.de/Scz-IONS-99.htm) \*\* I am sorry if my statement was not clear to you. I meant to say an average person in a non-stress situation. If polydipsia was the normal human condition, it would not be named polydipsia. It would be called ‘average’. Do you want to debate whether people with diagnosed abnormalities, diseases, afflictions dementia or schizophrenia are ‘average’? Honestly toots, you are never getting on a plane in MY airport. ---
**Author:** ![Spit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@Spit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spit)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-flush-excess-salt-from-my-body-maybe-tmi/122711/9 "2002-08-07T11:17:28Z")
Quite a few ecstasy related deaths are from over-hydration IRRC. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-flush-excess-salt-from-my-body-maybe-tmi/122711/10 "2002-08-07T13:22:39Z")
Take a hot shower, have a caffeinated beverage and drink some water. There’s your answer. ---
**Author:** ![breaknrun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbce88/32.png) [@breaknrun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/breaknrun)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-flush-excess-salt-from-my-body-maybe-tmi/122711/11 "2002-08-07T15:55:04Z")
In addition to caffeine, vitamin C also acts as a natural diuretic. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-flush-excess-salt-from-my-body-maybe-tmi/122711/12 "2002-08-07T16:34:26Z")
Asparagus, too. (multi vitamins sort of do it too) ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-flush-excess-salt-from-my-body-maybe-tmi/122711/13 "2002-08-07T16:37:31Z")
carrots, cucumbers, beans, garlic ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-flush-excess-salt-from-my-body-maybe-tmi/122711/14 "2002-08-07T16:50:46Z")
Tell your adrenal gland to cut down on [mineralocorticoid](http://arbl.cvmbs.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/endocrine/adrenal/mineralo.html) production. ---
**Author:** ![Pete\_The\_Sequel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@Pete\_The\_Sequel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pete_The_Sequel)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-flush-excess-salt-from-my-body-maybe-tmi/122711/15 "2002-08-07T17:58:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jcmckaig \* > \*\*Quite a few ecstasy related deaths are from over-hydration IRRC. \*\* Actually, that’s more due to the manner in which MDMA disrupts the body’s normal water elimination process - not from people drinking too much water. The over-hydration deaths aren’t nearly as common as the ones from people being sold other, more dangerous drugs, under the guise of them being MDMA. -Pete ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-flush-excess-salt-from-my-body-maybe-tmi/122711/16 "2002-08-07T20:14:22Z")
Thanks. FWIW, I just wanted to know if I could get rid of the fluid concentrating in my head. My ears are full of fluid, and my head is killing me. I also tend to crave salty foods at that time of the month. Even though they make it worse. The last time this happened, I just ate very little salty stuff for a few days. _sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-flush-excess-salt-from-my-body-maybe-tmi/122711/17 "2002-08-08T04:02:40Z")
Well, what about just taking an OTC decongestant, see if it helps? Like Sudafed? Or maybe some antihistamines, which also tend to dry you out?