Sodium

[rash797]

Hi all,

Any thoughts on how much sodium is needed in the diet and healthy ways to get some?

What would be the max recommended?

Cheers

[NU_nutrition_TS]

Google 'RDA for sodium' and you should get plenty of hits that will tell you how much sodium you should get per day. Go to nutritiondata.com and use their nutrient search tool to get a list of foods naturally rich in sodium.

I would imagine sodium is pretty ubiquitous in the food supply so almost any half-way decent diet will supply plenty. The biggest worry, amongst mainstream nutritionists, dieticians and healthcare providers, is that people get too much sodium in their diet (especially from added salt in processed/packaged foods) and that this contributes to hypertension (high blood pressure). However, the 'science' showing this link is pretty shaky to say the least!

Like most important elements in human physiological health, levels of sodium are tightly controlled in a properly functioning body - we conserve sodium when it is lacking and excrete it when it is in excess. It is only when the body's homoeostatic mechanisms are not functioning correctly that we may fall prey to excessive sodium. Some later research shows that when insulin levels are high, sodium excretion can be reduced - so it is possible that sodium levels may rise above normal. There have also been links hypothesised with fructose and sodium levels in human studies (though not in rats - which is why not all rat studies can be applied to humans!).

So blood pressure may not be directly caused by how much salt or dietary sodium we ingest but by a failure of our ability to excrete excesses and this may be influenced by other things in our diet besides sodium.

[rash797]

Thanks for the reply Nu.