Several correct things have been said in this thread: we sweat salt, the western diet is high in salt, and short duration exercise generally does not need salt supplementation.


However, I went to Pubmed and read a few of Noakes' papers and none of them seem to recommend NOT taking in salt for hot and/or ultra distance races. In one paper, he suggests that the 5 hyponatremic athletes in his study at IMNZ were overhydrated. (Makes sense...it's probably very difficult to be hyponatremic and dehydrated). All of those athletes had also been drinking sports drinks in addition to water, so they were still taking in salt--just not enough compared to their fluid intake. There are 2 solutions to this problem: 1) drink less and 2) take in more salt. Option 1 may lead to dehydration if it's overdone. If option 2 is overdone, it won't have nearly the negative effect on performance and short term health than if too little salt is consumed. What's the better suggestion, then?

Take an athlete like me who can't seem to tolerate sports drinks during exercise, and where am I supposed to get that sodium, potassium, etc.? If I'm sweating, I'm losing fluids. Therefore, I need to replenish those fluids. During a race like IMTX, if I replenish solely with water and don't eat anything containing sodium, I will no doubt be hyponatremic by the end of the race.

EDIT: I forgot to mention, I always have pretty serious salt stains after training and events.

"The body regulates itself" is certainly true as a general rule. However, at some point at which it no longer has the resources to operate within normal bounds, "regulation" means shutting down processes and transferring resources to other areas in order to survive. I would think that would have a negative effect on triathlon performance...