Salt, Prednisone & Weight Gain:

[TOBEY32]

Someone mentioned in another similar Thread of mine that salt will contribute to weight gain. I know salt can do that normally, but is there something about Pred and salt that makes it worse?
Been watching salt all along because of my kidneys. Even though doc is slowly reducing my Pred, I literally have seen weight gain the last couple of weeks.
I try and not buy anything over 10% salt content, but thinking of going lower.

Anyone got the scoop on this?

David

[Debbie C]

hey David, I know thats weird about the salt thing..I think its because you retain more water.I don't put salt (except garlic salt ) on anything.And I'm reducing on my preds to and I am also gaining weight but I am constently drinking water. I freaked today when I got on the scale ( another great thing that happened to me !!! ) but I am going to blame it on the Chinese food I had last nite...who knows what u get there.

[pberggren1]

I don't think salt is the main culprit with weight gain with pred. We do need salt but I think the problem seems to lie with the large salt content in processed foods. And processed foods are not good at all. They are nutritionally deficeint. If I were to not ear processed foods and sugars and processed carbs when I first went on pred I am sure I would have not gained much weight at all. I may have lost the six pack though. Pred changes the muscle structure no matter what we do. But we can maintain some of it.

[Al]

hey David, I know thats weird about the salt thing..I think its because you retain more water.I don't put salt (except garlic salt ) on anything.And I'm reducing on my preds to and I am also gaining weight but I am constently drinking water. I freaked today when I got on the scale ( another great thing that happened to me !!! ) but I am going to blame it on the Chinese food I had last nite...who knows what u get there.Debra--Garlic salt is just salt with a little garlic in it! And Chinese Food usually has a lot of sodium, even if is sates that it contains no MSG.

However, since David is keeping his salt down, I would suspect the pred by itself.

Al

[Debbie C]

But Al if we are reducing the pred intake don't you think we should be losing weight instead of gaining it ?

[TOBEY32]

Not that I eat out a lot, but I too have wondered if this has contributed. Just gonna have to stop unless it's something like salad. Gonna have to stick with 10% (or less) salt content too, as I have sometimes cheated. 10% may still be rather high, I don't know. Just used it as a gauge...

[Sangye]

Salt does play a role in pred weight gain. One of the things I learned when I had to go back on high-dose pred in 2010 was that pred makes your taste buds respond differently to salty foods. I don't normally crave salty foods at all. But when I was on high dose pred if I took a bite of salty foods it was like my taste buds went wild. Then I couldn't stop. If I avoided salty foods it didn't happen. Same with fatty foods or sugar.

The salt itself doesn't make you gain weight, but the food ATTACHED to the salt will. Let's get real, it's not like you're dipping carrot sticks in salt, right? :wink1:

Also, the hypothesis that you would automatically lose weight as you lower pred isn't true. Maybe a bit, as you lose retained water. But pred has cost you muscle mass and without building that back up it's harder to burn calories. And as long as you're on pred (even a lower dose) your entire chemistry is still tipped in the direction of gaining or retaining weight, adding fat, and losing muscle. The degree to which this happens is highly individual. Some lucky folks do lose weight as they taper pred. If you're feeling well enough to increase your activity level as you taper then you might lose weight, too.

[Al]

But Al if we are reducing the pred intake don't you think we should be losing weight instead of gaining it ?Dunno, Debra. My experience is unusual, and surely not representative. I was 180 lb. going into the hospital. After two weeks of that nonsense, I was down to 165, and stayed between 160- and 165 until I got to below 30 mg of pred. Then I started putting some weight back on. Now (at 8 mg), I am at about 170. I think that, in my case, at least, pred is a metabolism modifier, though perhaps the modification is in an unusual direction.

Al

[Al]

Salt does play a role in pred weight gain. One of the things I learned when I had to go back on high-dose pred in 2010 was that pred makes your taste buds respond differently to salty foods. I don't normally crave salty foods at all. But when I was on high dose pred if I took a bite of salty foods it was like my taste buds went wild. Then I couldn't stop. If I avoided salty foods it didn't happen. Same with fatty foods or sugar.

The salt itself doesn't make you gain weight, but the food ATTACHED to the salt will. Let's get real, it's not like you're dipping carrot sticks in salt, right? :wink1:

Also, the hypothesis that you would automatically lose weight as you lower pred isn't true. Maybe a bit, as you lose retained water. But pred has cost you muscle mass and without building that back up it's harder to burn calories. And as long as you're on pred (even a lower dose) your entire chemistry is still tipped in the direction of gaining or retaining weight, adding fat, and losing muscle. The degree to which this happens is highly individual. Some lucky folks do lose weight as they taper pred. If you're feeling well enough to increase your activity level as you taper then you might lose weight, too.Again, I think my own experience is non-typical. My taste buds went south during treatment (probably the cytoxan was mostly to blame), that my appetite was enormous. Too much salt is forbidden to me, but I found other ways to make the food really tasty. And a further note: When I lost weight, it wasn't so much muscle mass or bone density (I have kept up pretty well with weight-bearing exercise, and my bone density is as good now as it was before treatment. But my metabolism has varied from its previous patterns.

Al

[Sangye]

Al, your case makes me wonder if those with serious kidney involvement don't gain as much weight because they have to limit their salt intake so much. I didn't have any restrictions and also wasn't informed about pred's effects on appetite, etc....

[pberggren1]

I wish I had known about pred's effects on appetite before I started it. I do think I could have made a difference in my 6 pack going to a gut over night. Though maybe becasue pred changes the muscle structure there it might not have been preventable.

[alexciasmom]

I don't think salt is the main culprit with weight gain with pred. We do need salt but I think the problem seems to lie with the large salt content in processed foods. And processed foods are not good at all. They are nutritionally deficeint. If I were to not ear processed foods and sugars and processed carbs when I first went on pred I am sure I would have not gained much weight at all. I may have lost the six pack though. Pred changes the muscle structure no matter what we do. But we can maintain some of it. this coming from the man who eats taco sales..:P

[pberggren1]

lol.....ur funny

[freakyschizogirl]

I don't normally crave salty foods at all. But when I was on high dose pred if I took a bite of salty foods it was like my taste buds went wild. Then I couldn't stop. If I avoided salty foods it didn't happen. Same with fatty foods or sugar.

The salt itself doesn't make you gain weight, but the food ATTACHED to the salt will. Let's get real, it's not like you're dipping carrot sticks in salt, right? :wink1:



Now there's an idea! :wink1:

I find salty foods appetising now, moreso then before pred. But also have more craving for sweet foods - yes i ate lots previous to diagnosis but my craving for them has certainly increased too.

I find foods higher in fat a real turn off these days - i think this is just down to me dieting. But whenever i have the option for chips or baked potato i take the potato.

I do get quite cross with food makers these days - they can choose what they put into our food but choose the lowest priced/ least healthy option. I watched a really good programme on corn syrup here in the UK last week and they went to the fizzy drink manufacturers and asked them why they didnt use something more healthy.
They basuically said that it was up to us whether we drank the fizzy with the corn syrup - even tho most people were not aware of its affects on their health. Shocking

[Sangye]

High fructose corn syrup is one of the worst foods out there. So damaging. It's also pretty hard to avoid unless you make everything from scratch.

One of the best things to limit to rare occasions is soda. The sugared ones have HFCS and the diet ones have deadly artificial sweeteners.

[freakyschizogirl]

High fructose corn syrup is one of the worst foods out there. So damaging. It's also pretty hard to avoid unless you make everything from scratch.

One of the best things to limit to rare occasions is soda. The sugared ones have HFCS and the diet ones have deadly artificial sweeteners.


I've cut back massively on sodas for about the last 6 months and i dont really miss them. I only tend to have them when i go out to restuarants or if there isnt any flavoured waters avaliable.

I cut out crisps (chips) for a year once too, not consciously but just didnt want them, wish i could go back to that!

[Sangye]

I love your new avatar, Sam! Adorable! :thumbsup:

[freakyschizogirl]

I love your new avatar, Sam! Adorable! :thumbsup:

Thank you - its flattering lighting! I went out this weekend for some birthday drinks and the photos were awful - i have put on so much weight :( well, not weight but bulk really. Or maybe everyone else is getting slimmer? Who knows!

[Sangye]

The whole stinkin' world is a lot slimmer than I remember it from 6 years ago.

[freakyschizogirl]

I hang out with the wrong people.

I remember a sarcastic poster i saw that said if ya wanna look slimmer be in a group of people who are fatter than you. Thats my problem all my friends are thin! And stu is so tall and lanky - i havent got a chance.

If i fail to lose weight he's gonna have to start gaining it!

[skipper]

It's a mystery. I have renal failure and keep my salt level low along with watching calories but still I am gaining an average of 5 lbs. a month. I haven't been exercising though and I sleep a lot so on balance I guess I am not burning much in the calorie area. Wish I knew what to do. I ask the doctor but he just says it's common with pred.