Did you know it’s important to include sodium in your diet? Are you wondering how much of it you should consume? Read on and familiarize yourself with everything that you absolutely must know about dietary sodium.
All You Need To Know About Dietary Sodium
Role Of Sodium In The Body
Sodium is essential for your body but in small amounts. Wondering how it helps? The element balances fluid levels in your body and regulates the flow of substances in and out of your cells. Not just that, it also aids your body in the transmission of nerve impulses and helps with the contraction and relaxation of muscles.
Sources Of Dietary Sodium
A lot of the foods you eat contain sodium in varying amounts.
Salt and sodium are often used interchangeably when they aren’t really the same thing. Table salt is a combination of both sodium and chloride and is the most common form of sodium in food. It contains about 40% sodium and 60% chloride.
Natural sources like milk and vegetables such as beets and celery provide dietary sodium. Besides these, fresh meat, poultry, and seafood also contain the element in small amounts.
A majority of sodium in your diet often comes from processed and packaged foods. Bacon, sausages, and ham in the processed form; canned soups and vegetables; and fast foods also contain the element in large quantities. Bread and pizza, which are popular food choices, are also quite high in sodium.
The element is also present in a lot of food additives like monosodium glutamate (MSG), baking soda, sodium nitrite, and sodium benzoate. You might find the names of these compounds listed on products like soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and onion salt.
Recommended Sodium Intake
The American Heart Association recommends consuming no more than 2300 mg of sodium a day and an ideal limit of no more than 1500 mg per day for adults.1 Those with serious conditions like congestive heart failure, liver cirrhosis, and kidney disease may need lower amounts than this.
There’s a chance that your body could also be sensitive to sodium – you tend to retain more sodium in your body than necessary. This is not ideal as it might adversely affect your health. In such cases, you may require lower amounts of sodium than normally recommended; so, it’s a good idea to consult a dietitian and figure out how much sodium you need.
Recent Study Suggests 70% Of Recommended Sodium Intake Is From Processed Foods
A study was conducted recently on 450 Americans of all ages, races, and genders in three different regions of the U.S. to analyze the sources of dietary sodium. It suggested that the subjects consumed almost 3500 mg of sodium a day, which is a lot higher than the daily recommended intake of a maximum of 2300 mg. Dietary sodium was maximum from sources outside the home and was found to be as high as 71%. These sources mostly included processed and packaged foods and food served at restaurants. Table salt added to food at home and at the table was as low as 6% and 5%, respectively.
The results of the study were reason enough for people to be urged to reduce their consumption of restaurant or processed foods to reduce their overall intake of sodium. Not just that, restaurants and food manufacturers were also to be encouraged to reduce the amount of salt in the food they provide.2
Risks Of Too Much Sodium
Sodium has an affinity toward water. This gives it the tendency to draw water into the bloodstream, increasing the volume of blood. The more the blood, the higher the blood pressure. So, if you consume a lot of sodium, chances are your blood pressure will become quite high, resulting in possible damage to organs like the heart, kidneys, and brain.3 High blood pressure may also result in an increased risk of fluid build up in those with heart failure, liver cirrhosis, and kidney disease.4
It’s extremely important to have just the right amount of sodium in your body, so you don’t run the risk of developing these serious conditions.
How To Lower Your Sodium Intake
If you’ve been consuming way too much sodium, take these simple steps to lower your intake of the element.
- Eat fresh fruits and vegetables. These are naturally low in sodium and, hence, give you just the amount of sodium you need.
- Fresh meat should be the kind of meat you eat because it is not high in sodium like the processed kinds.
- Consume foods that have more potassium – green, leafy vegetables like spinach. Potassium lowers blood pressure so it can counter any adverse effects caused by consuming too much sodium. Ensure that you stick to the recommended level of 4700 mg of potassium per day.
- Avoid eating processed, packaged foods as much as possible. If you intend on buying them once in a while, check the label and ensure that they don’t contain high amounts of sodium.
- Add less salt while making food at home. If you’re looking to include flavor, add pepper or herbs instead.
So, avoid eating processed and packaged foods and excess salt. Limit your sodium intake to steer clear of serious medical conditions.
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