Salt is sometimes referred to as the "silent killer," but this negative connotation undermines the importance of sodium in your diet. Sodium is integral to normal functioning throughout the body, particularly in the nerve synapses and your muscles. You need to consistently bring in sodium through your diet to keep your body healthy and functioning properly. Failure to do so can lead to serious health complications.
Sodium Function
Sodium regulates blood pressure throughout your body. It also serves the muscles as an electrolyte, a mineral that controls contractions in the muscles. Without electrolytes, the muscles and nerves are unable to function. These electrolytes are particularly important to athletes, whose performances rely on muscle contractions and muscle strength.
Low Sodium Causes
Low sodium in the body can result from many factors or a combination of several different factors, which can include diarrhea, medications, excessive sweating, topical burns, liver cirrhosis, kidney diseases, vomiting and congestive heart failure, according to Medline Plus. Athletes sometimes experience low sodium as the body's demands and sodium lost through sweat decrease the available sodium in the muscles.
Complications
Often low sodium levels in the muscles and elsewhere in the body cause a confused mental state. Other complicating symptoms can include hallucinations, convulsions, irritability, headaches, muscle cramps and muscle weakness, fatigue, convulsions, nausea and vomiting. In extreme cases, or if the low sodium is not treated, brain herniation, coma and even death are possible, according to Medline Plus.
Treatment and Prevention
Consuming sodium through your diet is a useful treatment and the best way to prevent future occurrences of low sodium. Serious cases of low sodium may require treatment with an intravenous saline solution. If you exercise for long periods of time, you should consume sodium and other electrolytes during your workout to prevent sodium depletion.
Member Comments