Please explain the issue of sodium...

Options
skeene07
skeene07 Posts: 57 Member
in Food and Nutrition
why is it so important to eat lower sodium? Especially if you have no issues with blood pressure and such.

I know u retain some fluids after a day of higher sodium but doesn't it easily balance out? And I always heard to just increase fluid intake if you eat more sodium?

It just seems like an unnecessary issue to worry about?

Thanks

Replies

  • lt_mrcook
    lt_mrcook Posts: 389 Member
    Options
    Sodium-Potassium pump...fluids moving into and out of your cells...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Na+/K+-ATPase...hugely important on the cellular level for energy transport
  • kimwig
    kimwig Posts: 164
    Options
    why is it so important to eat lower sodium? Especially if you have no issues with blood pressure and such.

    I know u retain some fluids after a day of higher sodium but doesn't it easily balance out? And I always heard to just increase fluid intake if you eat more sodium?

    It just seems like an unnecessary issue to worry about?

    Thanks
    Just because you do not have a problem now it does not mean that high sodium intake will not impact you later. It can be one of those issues that creeps up on you and does give you blood pressure issues. Same with reducing cholesterol in diet
  • TrainingWithTonya
    TrainingWithTonya Posts: 1,741 Member
    Options
    Great article, but very technical. Let me see if I can break it down to layman's terms.

    Sodium helps regulate a lot of cellular functions, including water retention as you already know. As my Cardiopulmonary Physiology professor put it, where sodium goes, water follows. So, if you have too much sodium and can't use it in the cells the body tries to get it out of the organs by putting it in the blood and the water that follows increases blood volume which can increase blood pressure or flushing it from the body through the kidneys which can cause damage to the renal system and cause high blood pressure. Renal function is a main contributor to high blood pressure. That being said, adding sodium to your diet can be a good thing if you are prone to low blood pressure that causes fainting, because it will elevate the blood pressure back up to a normal, safe range.

    But since you aren't having blood pressure issues, that isn't a concern for you. The things you need to think about with sodium are how it functions in the cells, like the article above. The problem with a high sodium content is that it is generally from a diet that is low in potassium. This happens because high sodium foods are more processed and your best sources of potassium are fruits and veggies and not processed foods. If the sodium and potassium in the muscle cells get out of balance, then you can get muscle cramps or spasms. Add to the lack of potassium intake the added water in the cells that comes with sodium and you have more of a risk of being out of balance. While a muscle cramp or spasm isn't a big deal once in a while, it can be a major deal if it happens in heart muscle. Even without blood pressure issues from sodium intake, being out of balance at the cellular level can effect the electrical conduction system of the heart which is what keeps it beating and the atria and ventricles contracting in the proper sequence to supply blood to the body. So, you can get irregular heart beats, beats where just a portion of the heart contracts, skipped beats, etc. that lead to the need for a pacemaker to maintain a safe heart rhythm.

Categories