Sodium

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Anna19911
Anna19911 Posts: 141
in Food and Nutrition
I know there’s a lot of posts about this but I'm just having a hard time understanding why it is important to keep your sodium intake low. I'm over in sodium everyday. There’s usually never a day that I’m not over. I know it causes water retention and that can make the scale go up but what’s so bad about it? Can it do something to hurt me in the long run? TIA.

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  • nikki91950
    nikki91950 Posts: 647
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    extremely high amounts of sodium over a long period of time can cause horrible problems with blood pressure. i'm normally over my sodium as well, but i don't worry about it too much because i drink a God awful amount of water every day, and i get in plenty of cardio exercises, which i'm hoping both counteract the higher amounts of sodium :)
  • nikki91950
    nikki91950 Posts: 647
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    oh, and to clarify- by extremely high, i mean anywhere over 4 or 5k mg per day, every day.
  • cmgriffis
    cmgriffis Posts: 13
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    To add;
    Too much sodium will make your potassium levels drop. Again, too much potassuim will make your sodium drop. They are on a constant leveling. But yes, too much sodium everyday can make your risk for highblood pressure and other problems associated with that higher.
  • Anna19911
    Anna19911 Posts: 141
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    Thanks for the info guys! I'll try harder not to consume too much because I'm not a big water drinker.
  • Valtishia
    Valtishia Posts: 811 Member
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    Sodium is in most foods, some higher, some lower. Sodium is meant to balance your bodily fluids to keep you hydrated but at the same time not retaining excessive amounts of fluid. Your organs all need a good balance of fluid in the body to work properly... which is why peoples bodies almost shut down from dehydration. Retaining too much fluid can also have its own complications.

    So.. unless you have a sodium sensitivity or some kind of edema that requires you to have really low amounts of sodium, you are okay to go over sometimes, but I would try to not do it daily. I sually try to stay under 1400 but oaccasionally I do go over. I find I am a little sensitive to sodium though.

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