Too much sodium very harmful....

Tuesday, 9-2-2014

If you get enough potassium and occasionally exercise enough to sweat you may be OK getting up to 3,000 mg a day of sodium.

And, people do better if they get some chlorides from other sources if they cut salt.  In fact, I saw an article saying low chlorides are less good for health than moderately high levels.

But clearly getting over 3,000 mg a day of sodium is harmful and getting in the 1500 to 1999 range is important for many people.  

Using ANY MSG or other sodium based ingredients in addition to enough salt is harmful.   (MSG is harmful on its own for at least 3 reasons; and ingesting it boosts sodium with no boost in chlorides.)

It does look like the lower you are in the 2999 to 1500 range you are for daily sodium intake the better off you are for good health if you aren't sweating heavily.

[Recently I got a blood test which had wonderfully good news on my heart risks; and unexpectedly good news on my PSA test. 

Since to help keep my blood pressure down and avoid these harms from too much sodium, I’ve been pleased to have my sodium read low and my potassium read high.  That’s particularly the case since in addition to not using salt directly and eating a lot of high potassium foods, I DO eat Parmesan cheese, cheddar cheese from grass fed cows; and some canned lentils, canned salmon, and bottled pasta sauce with no sugar but some salt.  So my intake is in the 1500 to 1999 range at least rather than less than 1500.

However, due to this being the hot time of year and a muggy summer where I live, I’ve sweat a lot particularly when I exercise each day.  And, I drink enough tea and green tea it may have had a diuretic effect.

So, my sodium wasn’t just low normal, it was close to being medically dangerously low this time!

You can get dizzy spells and fainting and passing out from low sodium just a click lower than the test results I got.

So the doctor said to add a bit more salt and retest to be sure I didn’t stay that way.  In addition, my chlorides were low!  I know that’s not good either.

So, I’m taking my own advice.  And now, each evening, I’m adding some salt to my dinner but:

I use sea salt where there are other chlorides besides sodium chloride and Hain iodized sea salt – about a pinch each --

And I use two pinches of No Salt potassium chloride.  

That way I’ll get just a bit more sodium chloride and a good bit more chlorides too.

That should solve the problems for both too little sodium and chlorides that are too low.

We’ll see at the retest in 3 weeks if it did.

But even with the salt I already eat in the salty foods I eat and that addition, I’ll still likely be below the 3,000 mg a day of sodium where it begins to cause the most harm.]

Daily sodium intakes above 3,000 mg a day have been found to cause damage to the insides of the blood vessels which results in high uric acid and gout and heart disease and high blood pressure!

Currently this article has the average US sodium intake at 3600 mg a day.  So half the people are now getting over 3600 mg a day and it's damaging their health; and perhaps another 25% or more are also who have other issues that combine badly with salt in the 2,000 to 3,000 range or the 3,000 to 3600 range.

[I added the bolding in this Medical News Today quote.]

“1 in 10 global cardiovascular deaths due to high sodium intake  

Thursday 14 August 2014 

The World Health Organization recommend that adults should consume less than 2 g of sodium per day. But a new study finds that sodium intake above this recommendation accounts for almost 1 in 10 cardiovascular deaths globally each year.

The research team, led by Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University in Medford, MA, recently published their findings in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Sodium is an element that occurs naturally in most foods, such as table salt, milk, beets and celery. It is also added in high amounts to processed foods, including bread and processed meats.

Too much dietary sodium can increase blood pressure, and high blood pressure is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, such as heart disease and stroke.

"However," says Dr. Mozaffarian, "the effects of excess sodium intake on cardiovascular diseases globally by age, sex, and nation had not been well established."

Excess sodium intake attributable to 1.65 million cardiovascular deaths worldwide

To gain a better insight into how excess dietary sodium influences cardiovascular health on a global scale, the research team analyzed data from 205 surveys of sodium intake representing approximately 75% of the world's adult population.

They also assessed global nutrition data in order to see how sodium intake varies by sex, age and country. Furthermore, they conducted pooled meta-analyses to measure the effects of sodium on blood pressure, and separately, the effects of blood pressure on cardiovascular diseases.

The team's findings were applied to current global rates of cardiovascular diseases, and they used this information to estimate how many deaths are caused by sodium intake above 2 g per day.

Results of the study revealed that the average worldwide sodium intake in 2010 was 3.95 g per day - almost double the daily recommendation set by the World Health Organization (WHO).

All worldwide regions had sodium intakes above the WHO recommendation. These ranged from 2.18 g per day in sub-Saharan Africa to 5.51 g per day in Central Asia.

This excess sodium intake was attributable to 1.65 million cardiovascular-related deaths worldwide - the equivalent to 1 in 10 deaths from cardiovascular causes.

The researchers found that 4 out of 5 global deaths attributable to excess sodium intake occurred in low- and middle-income countries.

How is the US affected by sodium intake?

The average daily sodium intake in the US was almost 80% higher than the WHO recommendation, at 3.6 g, and significantly higher than the 2.3 g per day intake recommended by the federal government's Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

In addition, the researchers found that daily sodium intake above 2 g accounts for around 58,000 cardiovascular-related deaths in the US each year.

Commenting on the results, study author John Powles, of the department of public health and primary care at the University of Cambridge in the UK, says:

"These new findings inform the need for strong policies to reduce dietary sodium in the United States and across the world."

From their meta-analyses, the researchers found that reducing sodium intake lowered blood pressure in all adults, particularly among blacks, older adults and those who already had high blood pressure.

"Programs to reduce sodium intake could provide a practical and cost-effective means for reducing premature deaths in adults around the world," adds Powles.

The team notes that their study is subject to some limitations. For example, estimates of sodium intake were based on urine samples, which could have underestimated actual sodium consumption.”

“Earlier this year, Medical News Today reported on a study published in the American Journal of Hypertension, which claimed that the US recommendation of a sodium intake of less than 2.3 g a day is "excessively and unrealistically low."

(See my personal experience and solutions above for how to avoid the problems this found without harming yourself by getting too much sodium with its proven problems.)

Also for those who are now taking in way too much salt and sodium, adding spices and herbs to food reduce salt intake DOES work:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/274154.php?nx

This shows how to use spices other than salt to flavor foods and having people try them and take home how to get and use the ones they liked, DID help people use less salt.

And, here’s the link to the article on way too much salt so many people get now:

1 in 10 global cardiovascular deaths due to high sodium intake

http://mnt.to/l/4pZz

Researchers from Tufts University find that 1.65 million global cardiovascular 

deaths each year are caused by sodium intake higher than WHO recommendations of 

2 g per day.