A typical adult living in the Unites States consumes more than 3.4 g of sodium per day---approximately 25 percent more than the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend, according to the Mayo Clinic. Although your body requires a certain level of sodium for optimal health, excess sodium may be dangerous at certain levels, as it can increase the risk of certain chronic diseases.
Background
Sodium, the primary component of table salt, plays a number of key roles in your body. Your body needs sodium for adequate muscle function and temperature regulation and to help balance electrolytes, or charged ions, inside your body's trillions of cells. Excess sodium intake is a serious public health issue, however, according to the American Heart Association.
Hypertension
According to the American Heart Association, if everyone in the United States consumed the recommended 1500 mg of daily sodium, rates of hypertension would drop by approximately 25 percent. Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is a key risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Excess sodium increases the workload on your circulatory system to transport blood throughout your body, increasing blood pressure. Not all experts agree that sodium negatively impacts blood pressure, however. A review paper published in the August 2011 "American Journal of Hypertension" concluded that overwhelming evidence implicating sodium in hypertension is lacking.
Bone Health
Osteoporosis is a common bone disease affecting older men and women. A review paper published in the June 2006 "Journal of the American College of Nutrition" notes that several studies have linked excess salt intake to low bone mass. Sodium increases levels of parathyroid hormone in your blood. High levels of this hormone promote the breakdown of bone mass. Sodium may also promote the excretion of calcium in the urine, the review adds, which may reduce the amount available to your body to build bone.
Reducing Intake
As with any dietary changes, you should check with your doctor before cutting back on or adding sodium to your diet. If your doctor does recommend lowering your sodium intake, you should look beyond salt that you add to food during cooking or at the table. Although many people target their salt shakers when reducing salt intake, upward of two-thirds of dietary sodium comes in the form of processed foods such as frozen dinners and canned soup, warns the American Heart Association. You can reduce your sodium intake by consuming unprocessed foods and choosing low-sodium products. Also try seasoning foods with spices instead of using salt.
References
- Mayo Clinic: Sodium: How to Tame Your Salt Habit Now
- American Heart Association: Sodium (Salt or Sodium Chloride)
- "American Journal of Hypertension": The Cochrane Review of Sodium and Health; M. Alderman; August 2011
- "Journal of the American College of Nutrition": Role of Dietary Sodium in Osteoporosis; R. Heaney; June 2006
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