If you examine the Food and Drug Administration's nutrition facts labels on many foods, you will more than likely find that the food contains at least some sodium. Sodium isn't just table salt -- it comes in many forms, and it is indeed essential to the human diet, helping your body perform many vital functions. However, you must monitor your dietary intake of sodium to avoid key health problems related to excessive amounts of sodium in your diet.
Sodium and the Human Diet
As an electrolyte, or chemical that conducts electricity, sodium has many responsibilities to keep your body working properly. Dietary sodium works in the body to help such essential functions as transmitting nerve impulses, helping to transport and absorb other nutrients, regulating muscle contractions and maintaining your body's balance of water and acid-base ratio.
Types of Dietary Sodium
Dietary sodium comes in many forms. For instance, table salt is sodium chloride, a chemical compound that contains about 40 percent sodium, while the remaining 60 percent is the element chloride. Baking soda is another form, which is called sodium bicarbonate. According to MedlinePlus, processed foods and condiments often contain sodium additives such as monosodium glutamate, sodium nitrite, sodium saccharin, and sodium benzoate -- often in copious amounts.
Dietary Sodium Intake
Most Americans consume far too much sodium in their daily diets -- up to 4700 mg on average for men and 3100 mg for women, according to the Colorado State University Extension. However, the USDA-recommended maximum is set at no more than 2300 mg daily, and the ideal minimum daily intake amount of dietary sodium for optimal health is a mere 1500 mg -- equivalent to less than just 1 tsp. of table salt.
Excessive Sodium and Health Concerns
Although sodium is certainly needed in the human diet, too much sodium can be hazardous to your health. A diet that contains an overabundance of sodium can lead to long-term health risks such as high blood pressure, stroke, congestive heart failure and kidney damage. By monitoring your daily sodium intake using the nutrition facts labels on the foods you eat, you can see where you stand in terms of these serious health considerations, and -- if necessary -- reduce the amount you eat.
Ways to Reduce Excess Dietary Sodium
One way to reduce the amount of sodium in your diet is to avoid the salt shaker when you can. Adding table salt to healthy meals can quickly turn them into unhealthy sources of excessive sodium. Also, since fast food and processed foods, such as canned meals and frozen dinner entrees, tend to contain excessive amounts of sodium in many forms, limit the amount of these in your day-to-day diet. Getting plenty of potassium is also key in keeping sodium working properly for good health; you can do this by eating plenty of leafy green vegetables, citrus fruits and root vegetables such as carrots and potatoes.
References
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Sodium and Potassium
- Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension; Dietary Salt and Sodium; Janice R. Hermann
- Colorado State University Extension; Sodium in the Diet; J. Anderson, et al.; May 12, 2010
- MedlinePlus; Sodium in Diet; David Zieve; May 2010
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