Sodium

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fedgar2
fedgar2 Posts: 2 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Why do I need so much daily sodium?

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  • NipdawgKY
    NipdawgKY Posts: 1 Member
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    The body only needs 500mg of sodium per day. If over age 50, like me, 1500mg per day is good. It is hard to eat food without lots of sodium.
  • Emmapatterson1729
    Emmapatterson1729 Posts: 1,296 Member
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    Sodium is individual dependant on different factors.

    Too much sodium for me I get edema. I had to customize goals to lower sodium.

    I know people on here who shoot for 5000 a day, because of the diet they're eating.

    At next health check up, could always ask your doctor where your sodium levels lie, and how much your consumption should be. I believe they check sodium levels in a general blood panel.
  • TheMrWobbly
    TheMrWobbly Posts: 2,523 Member
    edited August 2019
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    Firstly don't panic when tracking sodium. Your body is amazing and works hard to balance itself out. If you don't suffer from muscle cramps, blood pressure issues, dizziness or nausea then your body is probably in a reasonable position re sodium.

    Don't forget sodium is only 38.8% of salt so check your foods as many people put the 'salt' figure instead of sodium and often put grams not milligrams. Sodium is in other things such as MSG (around 12% sodium) which fast food place such as Chinese take-aways use.

    Sodium is an essential electrolyte in your body as it control the fluid balance by retaining water, which controls blood pressure, and generally helping muscles work properly. Too little over time and your kidney and liver struggle, a rapid reduction in sodium causes sickness and diarrhea. Too much sodium, through dehydration, is also bad and can lead to high blood pressure, nausea, etcetera as well.

    Drink too much water rapidly can have the effect of reducing sodium though it takes quite a lot of water. You have probably read some people died after drinking excess water when taking the ecstasy drug. Your kidneys can generally handle around 1 litre of water in an hour as a maximum. Depending on your weight 2-3 litres a day, the smaller you are the less you need.

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