Pickles are basically cucumbers that took a long, salty bath. And salt, my friend, is sodium's favorite disguise. Sodium loves to hold onto water in your body like a kid clings to a favorite toy.
Think of it this way: your body is a sponge. When you eat something super salty, that sponge holds onto extra water to balance things out. That's bloat in its simplest form—temporary water weight.
But here's the cool part: it's not just the salt. The fermentation or brining process creates other characters in this story. We're talking about a whole little ecosystem in that jar.
