Your body needs sodium to function normally, but too much can be detrimental to your health. Over 90 percent of an average person’s sodium intake comes from salt in restaurant and processed foods, not from your salt shaker. So just cutting down on your salt consumption at home may not produce the sodium reduction you’re looking for. Talk to your health professional about how much sodium is right for you.
Sodium Facts
People in the U.S. get most of their sodium from table salt, r osodium chloride. The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends adults eat less than 2,300 mg of sodium per day, and 1 teaspoon of table salt contains about 2,400 mg of sodium. However, average sodium intake for Americans over 2 years old is over 3,400 mg per day.
High Blood Pressure
Too much sodium can lead to high blood pressure. If you ingest more sodium than your kidneys have the capacity to eliminate, sodium begins to accumulate in your blood. This causes your blood volume to increase because sodium retains water. As more blood moves through your body, your heart works harder to do its job and thus increases your blood pressure. Chronic high blood pressure can cause heart disease, stroke and kidney disease.
Heart Attacks and Strokes
There is a direct association between the amount of salt you eat and your risk for heart attacks and stroke, according to information from the Centers for Disease Control. Long-term studies show the more salt you eat the greater risk you have of developing heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular health conditions.
Addiction
You can develop an addiction to table salt, according to a scientific review from Erciyes University and reported in a 2006 issue of the journal “Medical Hypothesis.” To be addicted to a substance you must meet three of seven predetermined criteria. When it comes to salt, people have difficulty self-restricting intake, develop a tolerance to it, and people who give up salt experience withdrawal symptoms like nausea at meal times.
Death
Chronic and excessive use of sodium can cause fatal health conditions. Reducing the salt consumption in the U.S. by 25 percent would prevent thousands of premature deaths, according to information from the National Salt Reduction Initiative. Salt is the major contributing factor to our nation’s leading causes of preventable death, including high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke, which bear responsibility for more than 800,000 deaths and billions of dollars in health care expenses.
References
- EurekAlert!; Cities and States Propose Voluntary Framework For Cutting Salt In Packaged and Restaurant Foods; January 2010
- “Medical Hypothesis"; Salt Addiction: A Different Kind of Drug Addiction; Y. Tekol; 2006
- MayoClinic.com; Sodium: How To Tame Your Salt Habit Now; March 2011
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Living a Less Salty Life; 2009
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Sodium: The Facts
- NIH Medline Plus; Salt: Too Much of a Good Thing; 2010
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