Salt is important to
good nutritional status. Too little can cause disturbances in tissue-water and
acid-base balance, which is important to good nutrition.
A sodium deficiency is a health condition where a body fails to receive an adequate supply of sodium. Sodium deficiency can become extremely prevalent in excessive temperatures, which cause the body to perspire heavily and patterns of dehydration will set in. Sodium deficiency can lead to shock if the blood pressure is decreased too severely.
Check out why:
Sodium is a mineral that your body must have in order to
function properly. The primary source of dietary sodium is sodium chloride, or
salt, more than three-quarters of which comes from processed foods. Although
sodium is vital to a number of routine body functions, too much can have
adverse effects, particularly for people who are sensitive to sodium. Excessive
sodium can cause hypertension, which in turn can lead to other health problems.
Sodium is a mineral that carries an electrical charge, known
as an electrolyte. Electrolytes facilitate muscle contraction and nerve cell
transmission. Ions of sodium, potassium and chloride trigger muscle
contractions and nerve impulses when they shift places across cell membranes. A
nerve cell at rest has positively charged potassium ions inside the cell and is
surrounded outside the cell by positively charged sodium ions and negatively
charged chloride ions. When stimulated, potassium ions rush out of the cell as
sodium ions rush in, creating an electrical signal or nerve impulse. A similar
scenario occurs during the contraction of muscles.
Sodium also works in concert with potassium to maintain
normal water balance in the body. Each of the minerals chemically attracts
water to itself, thus assuring that optimal levels of hydration are maintained
both inside human cells and outside the cells, in the extracellular spaces that
surround them. In healthy people the body has a built-in
mechanism to guard against the effects of occasional excess levels of sodium,
but continued intake of high amounts of sodium can eventually override this
safety valve and lead to hypertension.
Remember, diets too high in sodium can lead to high water
retention and hypertension. Overall, salt is generally nontoxic to adults,
provided it is excreted properly. The maximum amount of sodium that should be
incorporated into a healthy diet should range from 2,400-3,000 mg/day.
WARNING: CHECK YOUR
BLOOD PRESSURE REGULARLY!!
Source: www.healthyeating.com
