How important is sodium?

i dont think the sodium is important unless you go over.....i try not to hit the 2500

Salt is essential and 500mg's could be considered low for much of the worlds population. Sodium, chloride and potassium are all important nutrients........potassium is probably one of the most neglected minerals for general health and to reduce hypertension, which is generally blamed on salt.

Sodium is essential to the body. The RDA recommendation is not to exceed 2300 mg a day, but doesn't have a minimal limit. Something I need to check out.

For the record, I don't believe sodium in excess matters much unless on is suffering from high blood pressure or hypertension.

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Sodium is important. It's one of the many electrolytes that keeps the water in your body balanced. However, sodium is the easiest electrolyte to obtain from food as it is in everything. I can't imagine how you are only getting 500mg a day unless you are only eating raw vegetables all day long. If your sodium actually was too low, however, you would be experiencing side effects from it. The odds are pretty good that the entries you are using from the database do not include sodium, which isn't unheard of. Without looking at your diary, there isn't anyway to know for sure.

But the important thing is to ensure that your potassium and sodium are at an appropriate ratio. If the ratio is too imbalanced, you will swell and could develop edema. That goes either way too much sodium - too little potassium OR too much potassium - too little sodium.

Pretty sure there's no danger of me going over 2500mg haha. I'm not sure why my intake is so low. It's not like I'm lacking in other areas. I guess I make almost everything from scratch and don't add salt. Avoid cheese and don't eat meat.

Salt is essential and 500mg's could be considered low for much of the worlds population. Sodium, chloride and potassium are all important nutrients........potassium is probably one of the most neglected minerals for general health and to reduce hypertension, which is generally blamed on salt.

can you recommend any healthy foods that I can eat to boost my sodium intake? I googled and it's basically just saying how unhealthy sodium is.

What does your diet look like now? What do you mean by "healthy"? This descriptor is too generic to make specific recommendations.

500 mg minimum daily was the amount I could find after extensive research earlier.
Most people will get that without trying.

I recently asked my nutritionist what was the lowest amount of daily sodium to eat. She said that as far as she knows there was not a low level set. I eat lots of veggies like celery, carrots and such that are high in sodium so never have a problem with low but seldom go under 1000.

How much sodium a body needs varies greatly from individual to individual. I would suggest asking your general physican if your intake is a problem. If you are getting yearly blood tests and you have not been told you have low sodium, then you are likely fine.

ETA: Here is a good article on sodium and the controversy surrounding intake levels

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/salt-and-sodium/

I'd be interested to see the studies that confirm this.

Given that the majority of US adults are at risk of developing health problems related to salt consumption

I'm in the same boat. My parents are salt-phobic and never add it to anything, and neither do I. I just never think of it. I also don't eat a lot of meat, unless I'm at a restaurant. I never realized how low my sodium was until I got on MFP!!! I was barely getting 500 mg, which is the minimum.

It's actually more dangerous to get NOT ENOUGH salt than too much, unless you have high blood pressure and know salt triggers high pressure for you.

Most people get enough salt because there is so much in processed foods, meat, etc. But if you cook everything from scratch, mostly eat veggies, you have to add salt. I forget ll the time....

I try to eat pickles and salty chips as snacks to get more salt. But probably the easiest way would just be to try to remember to add it to veggies, grains, etc. Or add sauces higher in sodium.

ETA: FETA CHEESE! I started putting feta on salad or spaghetti squash for more protein/sodium. How could I forget feta?

I'm in the same boat. My parents are salt-phobic and never add it to anything, and neither do I. I just never think of it. I also don't eat a lot of meat, unless I'm at a restaurant. I never realized how low my sodium was until I got on MFP!!! I was barely getting 500 mg, which is the minimum.

It's actually more dangerous to get NOT ENOUGH salt than too much, unless you have high blood pressure and know salt triggers high pressure for you.

Most people get enough salt because there is so much in processed foods, meat, etc. But if you cook everything from scratch, mostly eat veggies, you have to add salt. I forget ll the time....

I try to eat pickles and salty chips as snacks to get more salt. But probably the easiest way would just be to try to remember to add it to veggies, grains, etc. Or add sauces higher in sodium.

ETA: FETA CHEESE! I started putting feta on salad or spaghetti squash for more protein/sodium. How could I forget feta?

No. Vegetables naturally have sodium. Most whole foods do. If you are healthy and not taking any medications (some meds mess with sodium levels), you shouldn't need to add sodium to natural foods. Mother Nature provides all the sodium we need. If not, the human race would have diet out a long time ago.

It's easy enough to tell if you deficient though. It's just a simple blood test and one that you likely already get routinely if you have regular health check-ups.

I'm in the same boat. My parents are salt-phobic and never add it to anything, and neither do I. I just never think of it. I also don't eat a lot of meat, unless I'm at a restaurant. I never realized how low my sodium was until I got on MFP!!! I was barely getting 500 mg, which is the minimum.

It's actually more dangerous to get NOT ENOUGH salt than too much, unless you have high blood pressure and know salt triggers high pressure for you.

Most people get enough salt because there is so much in processed foods, meat, etc. But if you cook everything from scratch, mostly eat veggies, you have to add salt. I forget ll the time....

I try to eat pickles and salty chips as snacks to get more salt. But probably the easiest way would just be to try to remember to add it to veggies, grains, etc. Or add sauces higher in sodium.

ETA: FETA CHEESE! I started putting feta on salad or spaghetti squash for more protein/sodium. How could I forget feta?

No. Vegetables naturally have sodium. Most whole foods do. If you are healthy and not taking any medications (some meds mess with sodium levels), you shouldn't need to add sodium to natural foods. Mother Nature provides all the sodium we need. If not, the human race would have diet out a long time ago.

It's easy enough to tell if you deficient though. It's just a simple blood test and one that you likely already get routinely if you have regular health check-ups.

I didn't say vegetables had NO sodium. But they are very low in sodium compare to meat.

"Mother nature provides all the sodium we need".... yes, including salt. You're not making any sense.

Humans need a certain amount of sodium to survive. They need to get it somewhere in their diet. Usually from meat or other sources of food high in sodium.

I never said you said vegetables had no salt. But, can you site any reputible source to back up the quote below?

"Most people get enough salt because there is so much in processed foods, meat, etc. But if you cook everything from scratch, mostly eat veggies, you have to add salt."