Sodium Functions

Sodium is a major mineral our bodies depend on to function optimally. It works with two other minerals – potassium and chloride – to maintain water balance and regulate blood pressure. Sodium also helps maintain acid/base balance, carry carbon dioxide, transmit nerve impulses, and contact muscles.

About 75 percent of ht sodium we consume each day comes from packaged, processed foods and beverages and restaurant foods (including fast food). Only about 25 percent comes from table salt (sodium chloride) that’s added while preparing, cooking, or eating food and from sodium found naturally in foods and beverages such as eggs, fish and shellfish, meats, poultry, milk and milk products, and softened water. One teaspoon of table salt contains 2,325 mg of sodium, more than the 2,300 mg upper limit (UL), the tolerable upper intake level per day set by the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Sciences.

Salt is made of sodium and chloride. Because 40% of salt is sodium, you can figure out how much salt a product contains by multiplying the milligrams of sodium listed on the Nutrition Facts Panel by 2.5. For example, if a can of soup contains 500 milligrams of sodium, 500 multiplied by 2.5 equals 1,250 milligrams of salt.

Consuming less than 500 milligrams o sodium each day can cause headache, nausea, dizziness, fatigue, muscle cramps, and fainting.

Consuming too much sodium can contribute to the development of a number of health problems, including hypertension (high blood pressure), in those who are salt-sensitive. High blood pressure raises your risk of heart disease, stroke, heart failure, and kidney disease. Experts believe that about half of those with hypertension and about one in four who have so-called normal blood pressure can be salt-sensitive. Salt sensitivity also increases conditions such as left ventricular hypertrophy in which the heart’s main pumping chamber is enlarged and does not function properly. It also raises the risk of kidney problems. Researchers believe that the following people are more likely to be salt-sensitive than their counterparts:

• People with hypertension, diabetes, or kidney disease
• People who have a family member with hypertension
• Middle-aged and older adults
• African Americans

Genetic factors can also play a role in how salt intake affects blood pressure. Unfortunately, there are currently no tests you can take to determine if you’re salt sensitive.

A high sodium intake can also have other harmful effects. If you consume too much sodium and at the same time don’t get enough dietary calcium, the excess sodium can promote calcium loss from bones, resulting in bone fractures and osteoporosis.

Too much sodium without enough water can also promote dehydration, which is a concern for athletes in particular. Although the kidney of healthy people can usually excrete excessive sodium from the body, those with impaired kidney function who overconsume sodium might not be able to and instead, can store excess sodium. That can lead to edema, or selling in the face, legs, and feet.

Hypertension (high blood pressure) is persistently elevated blood pressure greater than 14/90 mmHg (millimeters of mercury).