Sodium is a nutrient that the body needs for many vital processes. It plays an important part in muscle and nerve function, as well as in water balance. The kidneys determine how much sodium to excrete to prevent sodium imbalance. Too little...
One teaspoon of salt contains 2,335 mg of sodium, a content larger than the upper recommendations from the Institute of Medicine. Your body needs sodium to function. It keeps fluids and other electrolytes balanced in your body and is essential for...
Sodium plays a critical role in some of the human body's most important functions. This element helps maintain normal blood pressure and blood volume, assists in the transport and absorption of nutrients and maintains electrical activity in the...
Your body relies on sodium to generate electrical reactions that can help your nerves communicate and muscles move. Your kidneys filter sodium in your body, helping to release excess sodium via your urine or retaining sodium if you do not have...
While excess sodium in your diet can lead to harmful effects, too little sodium can be dangerous as well. This is because your body uses sodium to perform a variety of functions, ranging from maintaining your fluid levels to keeping your heart...
Sodium is an essential electrolyte for the body. The mineral helps regulate your blood pressure and fluid levels in the body. Muscles and nerves also need sodium to function properly. Medical conditions such as diarrhea, burns, cirrhosis of the...
The human body has several intricate processes that maintain normal potassium and calcium levels in the blood. When organ damage, acute illness or chronic illness interrupts these processes, potassium and calcium levels may increase. Doctors refer...
The human body requires sodium and potassium to maintain normal functions. Potassium controls muscle contractions and nerve impulse transmission, while sodium controls the amount of water in the body and generates electrical impulses that control...
Sodium is a mineral present in the body that has benefits, including maintaining the proper fluid balance in the body and the acid-base level in the body, regulating blood pressure and assisting in nerve conduction. While sodium is an important...
Sodium ions play a critical role in the human body. They are involved in fluid balance, nerve functioning, heart activity and other metabolic activities. Generally, doctors will order serum sodium as part of a routine laboratory work-up, to...
High sodium in the blood is known as hypernatremia. Sodium is important for many functions in the body. It helps regulate electrical currents in all cells in the body, and is especially important for nerve and muscle currents. Sodium also...
Sodium is an electrolyte nutrient that carries an electric charge throughout your body. Sodium is an essential nutrient that helps control the absorption of other nutrients, manages your blood volume and blood pressure. Sodium levels in babies can...
Sodium and chloride are essential minerals known as electrolytes because they conduct electricity. Both minerals play an important role in your health as the primary electrolytes in your extracellular fluid, which is the fluid outside of your...
The Merck Manual characterizes a high sodium level, or hypernatremia, as too much sodium in the body in relation to the amount of water. Sodium is found in the blood and the fluid around the cells and is regulated by the kidneys. Sodium may...
Sodium is a chemical element essential for human life. Sodium is found in many different kinds of food, including common salt. You need sodium to help maintain fluid balance within your body, for proper function of nerves and muscle and to...
A high sodium condition in the body is a condition called hypernatremia. The condition most commonly develops in the elderly, but babies and young children may also develop the condition in certain circumstances. Your baby needs sodium to maintain...
Sodium is an essential nutrient you need in order to survive. The average person consumes much more sodium than needed, and this often leads to heart failure, liver disease and kidney disorders, MayoClinic.com warns. Knowing the recommended levels...
Sodium, potassium and calcium are three of the most essential nutrients to your body. But when any one of them is out of balance -- or all three at the same time -- it can cause serious effects to your body and the way it operates. Understanding...
Most of the sodium that you consume comes from salt that is added to foods, with three-quarters of all U.S. salt consumption coming from commercially processed foods, according to the Harvard School of Public Health. The average sodium levels in...
The body needs sodium to help muscles and nerve cells work properly and to regulate blood pressure as well as fluid balance. Conditions such as congestive heart failure, vomiting, diarrhea, kidney disease, excessive sweating, burns and cirrhosis...
The body needs some sodium to remain healthy. Sodium must be present for the heart, nerves and muscles to function properly. It plays a role in digestion and helps the body retain adequate levels of water. However, if the level of sodium gets too...
Sodium is one of the electrolytes found in the body. Electrolytes have an electrical charge and are essential to maintaining metabolism and the activity of cells. Sodium maintains water balance in your body; that is, it aids in preventing fluid...
Potassium and sodium are both essential elements to your body's health. According to the Mayo Clinic, potassium helps maintain the normal functioning of your nerves and muscles, including your heart. Although potassium levels naturally fluctuate,...
Sodium is a metallic mineral that is essential for all animal life. Due to its chemical properties, sodium is instrumental in establishing electrical charges across your cells' membranes, and it plays a major role in controlling the movement of...
Sodium and potassium are electrolytes, or electrically charged minerals, found in blood, according to LabTestsOnline.org. Electrolytes can change when the level of water in the body changes. Sodium and potassium levels may be tested individually...
Sodium is a mineral that plays an important role in keeping the pressure inside and outside your cells balanced. A sodium serum test measures the amount of sodium in your blood. The normal blood sodium range is 135 to 145 mEq/L. A low level of...
Sodium is obtained through diet and is also referred to as salt. It is also an electrolyte found in the blood. Low sodium levels, or hyponatremia, can be caused by a number of different ailments, including kidney, heart or liver problems. Consult...
The essential electrolyte sodium plays a key role in many of your body's functions. A balance between sodium intake and losses maintains normal sodium levels in the blood within a tight range. Several conditions and diseases can disrupt this...
Because the body has a system of checks and balances, an overage of any substance indicates the depletion in another substance that normally controls it. Potassium, a fellow electrolyte, can influence the permeability of cell membranes that allow...
