How Much Sodium Is Too Much For Htn?

Sodium is essential for human health. Your cells are bathed in a sodium-rich broth that facilitates the movement of water and nutrients, maintains a critical acid-base balance within your tissues and provides the means for generating electrical impulses that allow your nerves and muscles to function. Fortunately, almost all of your food contains some sodium, so you don’t have to seek out sources of this vital nutrient. In fact, most Americans get too much sodium because it is added to their diet in the form of sodium chloride, or “table salt.” If you have high blood pressure, excess dietary sodium can aggravate your condition.

Sodium and Blood Pressure

One of sodium’s principal roles in your body is to maintain your blood volume. Water tends to follow sodium through your tissues, so higher tissue concentrations of sodium prompt an increase in tissue fluid. Your kidneys help your body retain water by hanging onto sodium, a mechanism that offers obvious advantages for creatures living on dry land. However, your circulatory system is essentially a closed system of tubes, so adding sodium and fluid simply boosts the internal pressure of the system and increases the likelihood that your blood pressure will climb too high.

Salt Sensitivity

Not everyone exhibits the same blood pressure response to similar levels of sodium intake. A study published in the May 2011 issue of “PLoS One” confirmed what many investigators have assumed for years: Your blood pressure response to a given amount of sodium is largely determined by your genetic makeup. This study’s authors identified three specific genes that regulate your blood pressure response to different “sodium loads,” and they further defined whether your diastolic or systolic blood pressure would rise, based upon your genetic profile. While such information is useful to scientists, the lay public only needs to know that at least 50 percent of individuals with hypertension are salt-sensitive.

Current Consumption

According to Dr. Elson Haas, author of “Staying Healthy with Nutrition – The Complete Guide to Diet and Nutritional Medicine,” the average American consumes 3 to 6 grams of sodium daily – that’s 7.5 to 15 grams of table salt – which is derived from both food sources and from added salt. Some people consume a remarkable 15 grams of sodium, which is equivalent to about 6 teaspoons of table salt, every day. These levels of consumption are clearly too high for most people and undoubtedly contribute to the rising incidence of hypertension in the United States.

Recommendation

The American Heart Association recommends that all Americans consume less than 1,500 mg of sodium, or 3.75 mg of salt, each day. This upper limit is sufficient to protect most salt-sensitive people from developing hypertension, and it helps to lower the blood pressure of people who are already hypertensive. Your doctor may recommend even less sodium, depending on how your blood pressure responds to treatment. Your total sodium intake includes that found in foods and from salt added during processing and cooking, so learn to read labels and don’t add salt to your food.