The American Medical Association believes that cutting sodium intake in half could save 150,000 lives in America annually, according to Medline Plus. Despite public health efforts, sodium use has not declined for the last 50 years. The average American eats more than 3,700 mg daily, 1,400 mg more than the recommended maximum of 2,300 mg. The excess sodium in your diet plays a role in the development of serious health conditions that you can easily avoid by decreasing your daily intake from all sources.
How Much Do You Need
Your body uses sodium to balance the fluids in your tissues and cells. It also needs sodium to manage your blood pressure, send signals to your nerves and regulate muscle contractions, including your heart, according to Clemson University. You cannot eliminate sodium from your diet, but your body only needs 250 to 500 mg daily. Since many foods naturally contain sodium, few Americans have sodium deficiencies.
Excess Sodium Health Effects
The Linus Pauling Institute notes that consuming more sodium than your body can dispose of efficiently, taxes your kidneys, leading to kidney diseases. Excess sodium also affects blood pressure. African-Americans have a genetic predisposition to salt sensitivity and aging increases salt sensitivity for everyone. Menopausal women need to be aware that excess sodium causes the body to excrete calcium and rob your bones of a vital nutrient. This contributes to or aggravates osteoporosis, or soft bones. Excess sodium has links to strokes and life-threatening cardiovascular diseases, including heart attacks.
Common Sources of Sodium
Table salt is sodium chloride. It is 40 percent sodium and 60 percent chloride. The total sodium in a tsp. of table salt is 2,300 mg, according to MedlinePlus. Clemson says that 77 percent of the salt that Americans consume comes from processed foods. Food manufacturers add generous amounts of sodium to cereal, baked goods, deli meats, canned food, snack foods, soups and even fresh poultry. The average amount of sodium that Americans consume from the shaker is only 11 percent.
Finding Dietary Sodium
Table salt is only one of the sources of sodium in your diet. Read food labels to find sodium in processed foods. Check the ingredients for salt's chemical symbol: NaCl and common names such as bicarbonate of soda: baking soda, baking powder, sodium nitrate, disodium phosphate, MSG and sodium alginate. Clemson notes that cured, pickled, smoked and corned food products also have a lot of sodium. Consume smaller amounts of foods that naturally contain large amounts of sodium. According to Washington University, excess sodium in the average kitchen lurks in salted butter, cheeses, cocoa powder, canned crabmeat, liver, mustard and wheat germ. Clemson University also recommends that you check for sodium in over-the-counter medications such as antacids, cold and headache medicines.
What is Low-Sodium?
Low-sodium foods contain 140 mg or less per standard serving. Low sodium products have no more than 35 mg per serving; no sodium products must contain 5 mg or less.
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