Scared of Sodium? Read this.

Currently, the recommended daily value of sodium is less than 2,300 mg per day. But honestly, I’m not sure how anyone’s expected to make that par.

Think about this: If we ate 2,000 calories of just pure celery and nothing else (because they also recommend eating only 2,000 calories), we’d be consuming over 11,300 mg of sodium. That’s almost five times the amount of sodium’s RDV. (Granted, that would be 31 pounds of celery, and who in their right mind would want to do that?) But it’s not just celery - we’d go over target with other plain whole foods, too: eating only lettuce or broccoli has the same effect. So what gives?

Nothing exists in a vacuum, and what I find more pertinent than our sodium intake is salt’s relationship to other minerals in your body. For example, potassium is a big reason why I stand firmly against harrying ourselves over meeting sodium guidelines. Hanging out in the membrane of our cells is something called the sodium-potassium pump. These handy little pumps are actually enzymes that serve multiple functions. As its name implies, one of those functions is shuttling sodium and potassium in and out of our cells. This is important because, aside from maintaining proper sodium and potassium concentrations, it also enables our cells to import nutrients, like the glucose we use for energy. But more to my point is that these two minerals interact in another more pertinent way: by regulating blood pressure. As it goes, hypertension is more accurately caused by having too little potassium in comparison to salt. Even the American Heart Association agrees. And as if in complete juxtaposition to sodium, the US Dietary Guidelines named potassium a ‘nutrient of public health concern,’ since none of us are getting enough of it (probably because we’re all too busy avoiding carbs, too).

The bottom line? Our problem isn’t a salt problem, it’s a food-avoidance problem.

Here’s the thing: in our bodies, salt is needed to bring nutrients into our cells, and to remove any waste. Without it, many of the chemical reactions needed for energy creation and enzyme or hormone production just can’t happen. Salt is essential for retaining magnesium and regulating blood sugar. It’s also needed to support proper digestion. We use the chloride from salt to create hydrochloric acid (stomach acid), which is how we get nutrition from what we eat. Aside from improper nutrient absorption, low stomach acid can cause heartburn, reflux, gas, and bloating.

Despite its poor rapport, salt is essential for maintaining blood volume, especially for those who’ve restricted food. Because our kidneys need enough food every day to effectively expel the water we drink, undernourishment causes serum sodium levels (the ratio between your blood’s salt and water content) to be low. When you’re undernourished, you can overwhelm your kidneys with just two liters of water. That’s because while your water level rises, your sodium remains the same, causing hyponatremia.

The fix? Eat all the foods.

In short: salt isn’t exactly the poison it’s made out to be, and it’s certainly not healthy to waste your mental energy trying to avoid it.

Like always, the answer is:

Eat the food.

XO,

Maria