Salt

SheilaMc1958
SheilaMc1958 Posts: 9
in Food and Nutrition
I've been tracking food for a week now and I've noticed that my salt intake is very low compared to the daily allowance. Does anyone know what affect not using your allowance has on general health and energy?

Replies

  • _SABOTEUR_
    _SABOTEUR_ Posts: 6,833 Member
    How low? 500mg is the absolute minimum you should have in your diet.

    http://www.saltinstitute.org/Issues-in-focus/Food-salt-health

    Are you sure all the foods you are recording have the correct sodium/salt content? Many of the database products have this info left out.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    I've been tracking food for a week now and I've noticed that my salt intake is very low compared to the daily allowance. Does anyone know what affect not using your allowance has on general health and energy?

    You need some salt to keep your electrolytes balanced. But too much salt will also throw your electrolytes off balance. I tracked salt for about a month and found that I usually had one or two super high salty days, then pretty low on other days, so when I researched it, I found that on average I normally eat a good amount, so I quit tracking it.
  • monty619
    monty619 Posts: 1,308 Member
    do u not season your food?
  • SheilaMc1958
    SheilaMc1958 Posts: 9
    Thank you for your responses. My range this week has gone from 380 to 1400 which is well below the 2500 daily allowance shown. I don't eat a lot of processed food and normally don't add salt to anything after cooking. I plan to add salt as seasoning and will check out the website provided. I was wondering if the low salt intake could account for leg and feet cramps that I experience occasionally.
  • _SABOTEUR_
    _SABOTEUR_ Posts: 6,833 Member
    Thank you for your responses. My range this week has gone from 380 to 1400 which is well below the 2500 daily allowance shown. I don't eat a lot of processed food and normally don't add salt to anything after cooking. I plan to add salt as seasoning and will check out the website provided. I was wondering if the low salt intake could account for leg and feet cramps that I experience occasionally.

    http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/legcrampsunknowncause/Pages/Causes.aspx

    It's possible, but the low sodium level is actually to do with hydration, so try and drink more water and see if that helps.

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