Ship water sodium

This Sunday, for the first time, I'm going to try to get on board with a case of Florida drinking water. Why? Last cruise I felt like maybe I was retaining water, something I've never felt before. It was as if my legs felt fat and heavy. My theory is that the desalination plants on board don't take out ALL of the salt from the water. I've heard from others that this is the cause so I don't think I'm alone with this.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sodium/NU00284

"If your kidneys can't eliminate enough sodium, the sodium starts to accumulate in your blood. Because sodium attracts and holds water, your blood volume increases."

I guess I'm about to find out if staying healthy while on board is permitted by bringing my own water, or will I be forced to buy their water to stay healthy. As you can guess, I'm not at all happy with their published ban on soft drinks. As I got off the last cruise I saw cases of water along with the baggage for the pax that were leaving, so I think they'll let mine on. I'm thinking it's one of the many cards they can play, but don't.

Has anyone had the ship water tested? I'm not at all in any way suggesting the ship water is unsafe. Just high is sodium. High enough to cause an affect after a few days. I would be interested to hear if it makes a difference to switch to bottled water. And yes, I know that all of the beverages served on board are mostly ship's water. That includes coffee, tea, lemonade, OJ, soda, basically anything that doesn't come on board in a bottle. I drink mostly water.

Are there any tricks, or OTC drugs that help when you're retaining water? I'm male so kinda I'm new to this area :D

Thanks

instead of bringing on alll that water, you might want to try just bringing a brita pitcher... and keeping it in your fridge in your room...my suggestion would NOT be to take OTC water pills.. my Dr prescribed them too me and while i didnt retain any water anymore, they actually left my throat sooo beyond dry i felt like i was sick and getting a cold...

I think a lot of people blame the water, but I think the bigger culprit is that the food on cruise ships is likely much higher in sodium than people's regular diets and people tend to eat larger quantities than when not cruising.

Other factors such as heat and humidity, being more sedentary than usual, and/or consuming more alcohol than usual can all contribute as well.

I have to say....that was very interesting. It is nice to actually learn something about the ships so...thanks!:)

It is the food. There is a lot of sodium added to food for flavor,in particular sauces and cooked veggies. Those that think drinking bottled water is taking care of the problem are right, but not for the right reasons. My personal opinion is when you bring on water, you are drinking more than you would otherwise and that flushes the sodium out and keeps you from swelling as much. I ate a little differently this last cruise and had no swelling at all. Seawater that is evaporated into drinking water has less sodium than tap water. Desalinated water has no minerals to speak of. Has anyone noticed how much "flatter" their hair is on the cruise? It's not the sea air, it's the extremely soft water with no minerals to coat the hair shaft.

BTW, my DH is a US Navy Captain and this is what the navy does too, although they are more limited as to how much they get each day for personal use because they need the water for other more important ship functions.

I was glad to read that linked thread as I have argued this with several people on this board. They refuse to believe even when I told them the Navy does it this way too.

it's the food -- we use very little salt at home -- cruise food is loaded with it -- it tastes good!

The drinking water is mostly made on board - it is essentially distilled water. Minerals are added to it for the health of the crew. They drink it for long periods. - This was told to us by a chief engineer - it was interesting to us that they added minerals to it.

We live in Southern CA and our tap water tastes terrible. We have a reverse osmosis system at home for drinking water. We can't tell the difference between that and what is served on the ship.

When we make a point of drinking a lot of water on board - we have little if any swelling - it really gets DW

Just an FYI - water flushes water. If you're retaining water, the best thing to do is drink more water. I learned that from my ob/gyn when I was pregnant. :)

Although the food may not taste salty, its definitely well-seasoned. If the extra sodium is really a problem, I would arrange for salt-free meals, at least at dinner. Also, there are certain foods that work as a diruretic - asparagus is the number one. Stick to lots of fresh fruit and vegetables and stay away from most processed foods, salad dressings, soups, and believe it or not, some breakfast cereals have a huge amount of sodium.

I agree - it's more the food than the water. Especially seafood, which I love! I rarely salt any food I eat in restaurants (probably because it's already oversalted). I like unsalted peanuts and potato chips...just don't care for salt directly on the tongue. However, I LOVE my V-8, but rarely drink it in the summer, to avoid the heat/salt effect. My favorite beverage is tap water on ice.

I agree - it's more the food than the water. Especially seafood, which I love! I rarely salt any food I eat in restaurants (probably because it's already oversalted). I like unsalted peanuts and potato chips...just don't care for salt directly on the tongue. However, I LOVE my V-8, but rarely drink it in the summer, to avoid the heat/salt effect. My favorite beverage is tap water on ice.

Ive had the same problem...swelling. I know its the only time I suffer from swelling, so this time Im going to make sure I drink ALOT to flush out the salt....I still want tasty food, something that all ships have...salt on the food. Im not a big drinker so that wont be an issue

I always have swollen feet when we cruise.

This time I asked for low sodium diet, we'll see if that helps. I drink tons of water and still retain water, so I also will take water pills.

***

My suggestion - avoid the buffet. A lot of cruise lines put MSG in the food to make it 'hold' better.

I have high blood pressure and am on a sodium reduced diet - I don't have a problem when cruising because we tend to not eat at the buffet. Fresh is always better!

It is the food, my hands swell and ring get tight. We never salt our food at home and after eating on a ship, I feel like I gained 10 lbs the first day. We try very hard to limit soda's and don't eat alot of seafood and fried food.

My boss (male) once took Midol, he wanted to lose weight! NUTS! not my boss anymore.

I still think it's the water. How does heat and humidity explain why I swelled up and got puffy on two Alaska cruises. I discovered that if I quit drinking the tea and water poured in the dining room, and stick to bottled water-the problem is eliminated.

The water does NOT have "salt" or sodium in it....it's totally distilled and purified....

I've never swollen on a cruise...I have gotten "puffy" on a flight.....

It's not the water.

I still think it's the water. How does heat and humidity explain why I swelled up and got puffy on two Alaska cruises. I discovered that if I quit drinking the tea and water poured in the dining room, and stick to bottled water-the problem is eliminated.

Maybe because you did a lot of walking in the port-intensive Alaskan cruises. Also, you probably ate over-salted ship food. The problem was eliminated because you drank a lot of water - bottled or not. I still say it's not the water. It's the food. Salt is a preservative.

My favorite beverage comes out of a tap but it isn't put on ice. :)

Ha Ha!! Now, I like my ROOT beer on tap - a float with ice cream. Oh, wait. No ice cream near your tap! Guess it's off-the-rocks for you! With no ROOT. Now - about those chilled glasses.........

I ahve been on a few cruises .. i am a retired army medic.. I retain water like crazy and drink 2 litres of it a day. My doctor suggested bringing bottled water on board a few cruises ago and she gave me diuretic too. I still swelled up.. So this cruise I took the bottled water and I ordered my salt not to be cooked with salt of any kind. I did not swell at all I actually only gained 1/2 lb in 8 days and ate desert everynight...So my suggestion is do whatever will make you the most comfortable... the crew could not guarantee us that there was no salt left in the water on the ship so we went on the side of caution and brought our own.. I'm happy.. my BP is happy and my waist line in still the same as it was before we went away a month ago.. Do what makes you happiest..

By going to SETSAIL's link #3 and reading the first two posts you will get a better understanding. The second post under the link comes from Wraithe who is a retired Navy Chief. The way the ship get their fresh water and the lack of minerals in the drinking water is why I don't bring or request distilled water for my CPAP. In fact, with the moist sea air I usually don't even use the resevoir and never have problems like dry throat or mineral build up in the resevoir.

I still think it's the water. How does heat and humidity explain why I swelled up and got puffy on two Alaska cruises. I discovered that if I quit drinking the tea and water poured in the dining room, and stick to bottled water-the problem is eliminated.

The mind is a powerful thing. Trust me it is not the water.:cool:

jc

This Sunday, for the first time, I'm going to try to get on board with a case of Florida drinking water. Why? Last cruise I felt like maybe I was retaining water, something I've never felt before. It was as if my legs felt fat and heavy. My theory is that the desalination plants on board don't take out ALL of the salt from the water. I've heard from others that this is the cause so I don't think I'm alone with this.

 

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sodium/NU00284

 

"If your kidneys can't eliminate enough sodium, the sodium starts to accumulate in your blood. Because sodium attracts and holds water, your blood volume increases."

 

I guess I'm about to find out if staying healthy while on board is permitted by bringing my own water, or will I be forced to buy their water to stay healthy. As you can guess, I'm not at all happy with their published ban on soft drinks. As I got off the last cruise I saw cases of water along with the baggage for the pax that were leaving, so I think they'll let mine on. I'm thinking it's one of the many cards they can play, but don't.

 

Has anyone had the ship water tested? I'm not at all in any way suggesting the ship water is unsafe. Just high is sodium. High enough to cause an affect after a few days. I would be interested to hear if it makes a difference to switch to bottled water. And yes, I know that all of the beverages served on board are mostly ship's water. That includes coffee, tea, lemonade, OJ, soda, basically anything that doesn't come on board in a bottle. I drink mostly water.

 

Are there any tricks, or OTC drugs that help when you're retaining water? I'm male so kinda I'm new to this area :D

 

Thanks

Well everyone who says that the salt is in the food and not in the water are correct. I actually tested the water on the Mariner of the Seas. Guess what??? There is no salt in the water at all. I did that because on every cruise my mom has the problem of retaining water in her legs. Like most people I thought it had to do with the water. I was wrong. It's all the food. Now I am trying to convince her to order salt free meals at dinner. Her compliant is that you need to tell them the night before and she says "how do I know what I feel like eating the night before"? Please wish me luck!!!

Every cruise ends with my blood pressure elevated . My doctor says it's the food . We don't add any salt at home cooking and I know the pros use tons of it . I thought maybe they weren' t getting all the salt out of the desalienated seawater but the consensus seems to be that they do . So it's the food . Wonder what will happen if I ask for low sodium food ?

Might taste awful ?

The other thing is , we drink tons of water at home but not enough on the cruise . Have to break down and pay them the $3 a day for bottled water .

Every cruise ends with my blood pressure elevated . My doctor says it's the food . We don't add any salt at home cooking and I know the pros use tons of it . I thought maybe they weren' t getting all the salt out of the desalienated seawater but the consensus seems to be that they do . So it's the food . Wonder what will happen if I ask for low sodium food ?

Might taste awful ?

 

The other thing is , we drink tons of water at home but not enough on the cruise . Have to break down and pay them the $3 a day for bottled water .

You just said that there is no salt in the ship's water. Then why will you be buying bottled water ?:confused: