Excess Sodium in the Diet

Although sodium is often associated with negative health effects, it is important to note that sodium actually plays vital roles in your health. Sodium helps to maintain the fluid balance in your body, allows proper transmission of nerve impulses and plays a large role in muscle contraction and relaxation. Sodium only causes health problems if you consume too much of it. Keeping your dietary intake within recommended ranges can help to ensure that sodium is able to perform its functions without setting you up for diseases.

Implications of Too Much Sodium

When you eat excess amounts of sodium, your body tries to compensate by retaining excess amounts of water. This occurs in an effort to keep the concentration of sodium in your body normal. The retention of water causes an increase in the volume of your blood. When your blood volume is increased, your heart has to work harder to move the blood through your blood vessels. The increased volume also makes it more difficult for blood to flow. This leads to high blood pressure. Over time, high blood pressure can lead to coronary heart disease, heart failure, kidney failure and stroke.

Daily Recommendations

In order to prevent your blood volume from increasing and thus avoid high blood pressure, the Food and Nutrition Board provides daily recommendations for sodium intake. Healthy adults should consume no more than 2,300 mg of sodium per day. If you have existing heart disease or already have high blood pressure, your sodium intake should not exceed 1,500 mg daily.

Food Sources

A large amount of the sodium in your diet comes from processed and prepackaged foods. Manufacturers add excess amounts of sodium to these foods in order to preserve them and enhance the flavor. In order to lower your sodium intake, you should avoid processed foods as much as possible. By preparing your own food, you can control the amount of sodium that goes into the food.

That being said, many people use salt during cooking and add salt to foods before they eat them. Although it may not seem like a lot, adding salt to every meal can add up quickly. If you use salt substitutes and fresh herbs while cooking, you can significantly lower your sodium intake.

Some foods are naturally high in sodium. These foods include milk, meat, shellfish and celery. Avoiding these foods can help you reduce your overall sodium intake, as well.

Considerations

MayoClinic.com notes that some people are more sensitive to the effects of sodium than others. If you are sensitive to sodium, your body retains sodium more easily. Some medical conditions, such as heart failure, chronic kidney disease and cirrhosis can make you more sensitive to the effects of sodium.