Salt/Sodium: How Much Is Too Much (or Too Little)?
- Jack Reitnour
- May 22
- 5 min read
Summary
Salt can be good and bad for you but too far in either direction and we’re looking at some serious issues.
We need salt to stay hydrated and keep our systems functioning properly but too much salt can make it difficult for our kidneys to process which can lead to increased blood volume and strain the heart.
Too little salt can lead to dehydration which causes cells to swell with water and can impact brain function as a result.
Many restaurants overdo the salt and nearly all processed foods have high quantities of salt in their products. Serving sizes are also important to be aware of as some brands downplay how much the serving size should be versus how much consumers actually use when consuming their product.
The recommended daily value of sodium for adults is 2,300mg or less (ideally 1,500mg); most Americans consume closer to 3,000mg each day.
Everyone’s body has different needs, so it’s important to understand your salt intake to maintain a healthy, balanced life—especially since excess sodium is so common in the American diet (even more so when eating out).
What We Know
Salt is added into many meals, found in many packaged foods and often used in foods you’d think would have no sodium but they do to bring out the flavor of ingredients. It’s common everywhere but what really is sodium and how does our body process it?
Salt, also known as sodium chloride (NaCl), is comprised of 40% sodium and 60% chloride and you’ll see the two terms sodium and salt often used interchangeably. Sodium is critical for many body functions; everything from fluid balance, nutrient absorption, and general muscle function, it helps keep our bodies working properly. However, too much of anything is never good and overloading our bodies to a point where it can’t handle the excess sodium can lead to serious complications and even horrific outcomes.
So let’s talk about what too much or too little looks like.
Here are some key signs of TOO MUCH salt:
You feel bloated
You are puffy (face, hands or feet swell)
Quick weight gain
Abnormally high blood pressure
Here are some key signs of TOO LITTLE salt:
Dizziness
Fainting
Blurred Vision
Dehydration (you’d probably think the opposite but salt does help your body retain water)
To simplify the science, when you consume too much salt and your kidneys can’t eliminate it effectively, sodium builds up in your body. This causes your body to retain water to dilute the sodium, leading to an increased blood volume. Over time, this puts extra strain on your heart, blood vessels, and kidneys, making them work harder and potentially causing lasting damage. When your kidneys are responsible for filtering out toxins, they can only handle so much before losing efficiency so it is key to make sure you are keeping your intake in a healthy range.
If you have too little salt, it can lead to higher blood fat levels and increased cholesterol which can also negatively impact your heart health. When your blood sodium levels are too low, excess water moves into your cells, causing them to swell — which can be especially dangerous in the brain. As you can imagine, when the cells swell, there is less functionality (same as if you layered 5 winter coats on and tried to move around freely) and this can be dangerous throughout your body in different organs.
Why It’s Important
Too much salt can lead to high blood pressure, heart disease, and possibly stomach cancer in the long run but more studies are needed on that front to truly claim there is a link between the two.
Too little salt can lead to cell swelling, improper hydration and elevated blood fat levels. All of these can be just as dangerous as having too much salt so like many things in this world, everything in moderation is a sound rule to follow.
It’s good to find balance in your daily diet but it can be difficult with all the processed foods that surround us in grocery stores and how much salt is in each serving (not to mention how serving sizes are portrayed but that’s a topic for another time). Here are a few key categories to look for that are notorious for higher salt quantities:
Bread: sandwich bread, baguettes, crispbread
Processed meats: salami, bacon, pastrami, ham, sausages
Salty snacks: chips, french fries, crackers, salted nuts
Cheese products: brie, cheese in a can, string cheese, cheddar, mozzarella
Grain-based desserts: muffins, cakes, cookies
Soups: canned, frozen, powdered
As we covered earlier, you want to find the balance of having enough salt in your diet and not having too much so it’s VERY IMPORTANT to read the labels and see how much sodium is in a single serving and adjust your salt intake at home accordingly. The recommended daily value of sodium for adults is 2,300mg or less (ideally 1,500mg). Most Americans consume closer to 3,000mg each day which is well above the upper limit and double the ideal salt intake.
At the end of the day, everyone is unique and we should adjust our lifestyle not based on one article but based on all the information available and decide what each of us needs to live a healthy lifestyle. So just be aware of salt/sodium intake at home and try to limit eating out every meal of the day. There are many apps that are free and help you track your daily nutrition but they can be time-consuming to fill in so just start simple and open a notes tab on your phone, keep a little tally through the day to see what you average and from there decide if any changes are needed or not. It's important to be aware of how much you consume daily because it can compound over time so start simply and adjust from there.
Avoid or Accept?
It’s not a one size fits all on this one unfortunately. If you are leaning towards one side more than another, it’d be better to lean towards avoidance since you can always add salt to your dish but it's impossible to remove it once the meal is made. Taking it one step further, our society naturally has excess salt in our products and therefore a higher average salt intake for every American so cutting back would rarely lead to cutting out salt completely.
As mentioned earlier in this blog, salt is essential to our diets—but too much can be harmful. Finding the right balance begins with simply recognizing that balance is necessary. By reading this article, you’re already taking a step in the right direction. Being aware of the benefits and drawbacks of salt is the first priority, taking action to manage your personal salt intake levels is second and from there, a balanced lifestyle should follow!
-- Dried & True
Learn more from the articles we used to inform this blog:
Comentarios