Sodium – Good for your health or not?
Sodium, especially when taken in the form of salt, has had some bad press in recent years, mainly because we often eat too much and this can lead to problems such as high blood pressure. However too little sodium can be dangerous as well and can cause low blood pressure. Vigorous exercise or illnesses that result in sweating can deplete the body of this essential mineral. Sodium also helps to transmit nerve impulses and promotes good muscle function.
Sodium, Potassium and a healthy body
Sodium and potassium work closely together maintaining the correct water levels in the cells and controlling the intake and output of nutrients and waste matter. If we consume too much sodium then this balance is disturbed and can lead to an increase in blood pressure.
How does too much sodium cause high blood pressure?
Your kidneys regulate the amount of sodium in your body and when levels are high they excrete the excess in urine. If your kidneys are unable to get rid of all the sodium it starts to build up in the blood stream. Because sodium attracts and holds water when there is more sodium in the body your blood volume increases. This makes your heart work harder to move the blood through your blood vessels causing pressure on the arteries.
How much sodium?
Infants
0-6 months – 0.12 g
7-12 months – 0.37 g
Children
1-3 years – 1 g
4-8 years – 1.2 g
Males
9-50 years – 1.5 g
51-70 years – 1.3 g
70+ years – 1.2 g
Females
9-50 years – 1.5 g
51-70 years – 1.3 g
70+ years – 1.2 g
Salt is not sodium, but it does have a lot of sodium in it, e.g. table salt is made up of 40% sodium and 60% chloride. Most people should limit their intake of sodium to 1.5 grams per day. Those with high blood pressure should limit it to less than 1.5 grams. Our sodium intake rises to unhealthy levels when we add salt to our food and eat processed foods that contain high levels of sodium (sometimes in the form of the flavour enhancer monosodium glutamate.)
Avoid adding salt
For a healthy diet you should avoid adding salt to vegetables and other foods, remember that often these foods, especially fresh vegetables already contain enough sodium. Gradually you will become used to having less salt and won’t miss the taste. Try to avoid foods that contain added salt such as sauces, soups, ready meals and some cereals. Check the packet first, but remember this…
Be careful, watch the weight
When you check for the amount of sodium in foods that you are buying remember that 10g of sodium is equivalent to approximately 25g of salt.
Which foods contain sodium
It’s not often that you will want to find the foods with the highest sodium content, unless of course you do have high blood pressure and you would like to know the foods you should be avoiding. We have a list of the top 100 foods that contain Sodium here.
What about iodine?
Many table salts contain added iodine which is the element that helps with the functioning of the thyroid gland, vital for the controlling of the body’s metabolism. If you are concerned that eliminating or cutting down on extra salt might mean you are not getting enough iodine, don’t worry, natural sources of iodine can be found in fish, including canned tuna and sardines, also shellfish, seaweed, kelp, garlic lima beans, squash, spinach and sesame seeds.
Check with your doctor
If you are unsure about how much salt you should have, especially if you suffer from high blood pressure or have other health problems, do check with your doctor. Also remember that a deficiency of sodium is rare – you are much more likely to suffer from having too much in your diet.
August 15th, 2009 at 12:43 am
Good info on sodium. I’ve recently been put on water pills to reduce high blood pressure. I had a hard time initially because most processed foods have so much sodium in it.
I’ve actually started eating more beef because it is less processed (compared to turkey burgers being injected with salt for flavor) and I cook a roast to slice for sandwich meat for lunches.
Thanks for pointing out the eating too little sodium has negative consequences too. I probably eat about a gram of sodium right now but I’ll verify with the doctor what a good level is. I may be overdoing it.
Good informative post!
August 18th, 2009 at 11:52 pm
Nice post Hugo. Good to see someone giving sodium a balanced write up instead of taking the more popular route and only focussing on the negatives.