Changing Bad Habits

"It's a Lifestyle, not a diet."

Sodium. How much is too much?

2 September 2009 3,277 views 2 Comments

: Sea Salt does not contain Iodine. Table salt or “Iodized” Salt does.

Sodium (salt) is the primary electrolyte in charge of regulating the extracellular fluid levels in the body.

: Marais Salant is a natural salt pan in the bay of the Atlantic Ocean

Sodium is essential to achieve and maintain proper hydration. This mineral pumps water into our cells causing potassium to pump the by-products (waste) of the cellular processes out of cells, eventually eliminating toxins from the body.

It is suggested we only need to consume between 500mg and 750 mg of Sodium per day. However, if you are an extreme athlete your daily sodium intake may increase to 2000 mg per day to insure proper hydration.

Always be sure to read the labels of what you eat and drink to see how much Sodium you are really consuming in a day. You may be shocked! Remember to look at the serving size of the item you are about to consume, often times packages contain more that one serving so the nutritional facts or Sodium, in this case, may need to be doubled or tripled.

It is equally important to be aware of the sodium content of restaurant meals, especially fast food. One Bacon Egg and Cheese Biscuit from McDonald’s contains 1270 mg of sodium, one hash brown contains 290 mg and if you enjoy catchup with that hash brown you can add another 100 mg of sodium per packet used. As you can see, ONE average fast food breakfast is well over the recommended DAILY amount of Sodium. Consistently consuming a high Sodium diet will cause the body to inefficiently metabolize which creates excess water in the blood stream; this causes the heart to work harder potentiality causing high blood pressure or even worse, heart disease.

Sodium Equivalents

1/4 teaspoon salt = 600 mg sodium

1/2 teaspoon salt = 1200 mg sodium

3/4 teaspoon salt = 1800 mg sodium

1 teaspoon salt = 2300 mg sodium

1 teaspoon baking soda = 1000 mg sodium

2 Comments »

Carmelita W. said:

This makes me think of the person that went into the diner and asked what the special was and was told that it was boiled tongue and cabbage. He exclaimed, ” I could not eat something that came out of a cows mouth, I’ll have some eggs,easy over.”

# 26 August 2010 at 7:01 am

Elanor Rackliffe said:

Hi there, I found your blog via Google while searching for first aid for a heart attack and your post
looks very interesting for me.

# 29 December 2010 at 12:59 pm