Sodium is a mineral that your body needs every day in small amounts. Too much sodium in your diet can lead to high blood pressure. The function of your pacemaker is not directly affected by your sodium intake, but if you want to prevent further problems with your heart, you need to limit your sodium intake.
How Much Sodium Do You Need?
Each day, you need to consume the recommended dietary allowance, or RDA, of sodium. For adults this is currently 1.3 mg to 1.5 mg of sodium per day. The exact amount differs based on your age. According to the American Heart Association, the average American consumes more than 3,400 mg of sodium daily. A diet with this much sodium can lead to high blood pressure, heart attack or a stroke.
Sodium and Your Diet
To ensure that you are providing your body with the sodium that it needs without overdoing it, you need to understand some important facts about your diet. The first thing that you must understand is that sodium is naturally found in most foods. Therefore, when you add salt to your food, you are increasing the amount considerably. The American Heart Association recommends that you avoid prepared or packaged foods, because they tend to have added salt. If you do purchase these foods, read the nutrition label to determine how much sodium is present and aim to keep your intake below 1,500 mg per day. The best way to limit your intake is to prepare your own food, so that you can control the salt.
Table Salt
Table salt is one of the most common sources of sodium. PubMed Health states that table salt, which has sodium and chloride, is 40 percent sodium. It adds that one teaspoon of table salt contains 2,300 mg of sodium. Therefore, your first step toward reducing your sodium intake is to stop using table salt. An additional way to avoid using too much salt is to use pepper and other spices instead of adding salt to your food.
Considerations
Although limiting your sodium intake will not affect how your pacemaker functions, it is a healthy lifestyle choice that can decrease your risk of developing heart disease and other forms of chronic illness. If you have a pacemaker it is important that you follow the instructions of your cardiologist and that you take any medications you may be on as directed. If you have difficulty breathing, experience dizzy spells, have swelling in your legs, your pulse rate suddenly drops or if your heart rate increases above 120 beats per minute, call your doctor immediately.
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