The title of this post may cause bewilderment in some. Sodium. Bad for you? Really? Others may be less surprised. To cut to the chase, there is a window of sodium intake that humans shall fall in between. Most of us blow through the upper limit of this range. Particularly in diets practiced by those in industrialized nations, where food is part necessity, part luxury.
My own experience starts in the following manner. I was born, raised, and currently reside in a part of the world where the well water available is laden with manganese, iron, and calcium. These minerals can and will clog a home’s water pipes over time. Not to mention stain your clothing and dishes when washed. Water that contains all these minerals in solution is known as hard water. To eliminate these problems, the hard water needs to be processed into soft water.
To change hard water into soft water, a home is equipped a contraption called a water softener. Without getting into too much of the details, the minerals that make the water hard are replaced with sodium via a process called ion exchange. Sodium will not stick to the pipes of your home. It will not stain your clothes or dishes when you wash them. It will make your soaps and detergents work better. It will not produce a nasty scale and buildup around your faucets keeping them cleaner for longer.
All good right...?
One problem exists here though... Sodium is hygroscopic. What that means is sodium will attract water to it. In wintery parts of the world, municipalities will treat snow plowed roads with salt to prevent ice from forming on them. High end steak houses will dry age meats in rooms filled with blocks of salt. Or, completely smother raw meats with table salt. They will be left alone for months. During this time the majority of the remaining moisture will go from the cuts of meat, to the salt itself. Because of this, these untouched cuts of meat will shrink in size significantly. Dry aging is said to enhance the flavor due to the very low water content in the tissue.
In the human body, sodium is essential to many different processes and function needed for survival. Once consumed, it will find its way everywhere. Thus, high sodium intake will create more water retention in your body.
One time I became sick and tired of how much salt I was using to season my food. So I intentionally used 50% or less during one 'meal prep' session. After consuming this now low sodium food I cooked, the next morning I looked much more svelte in the mirror. Baffled and concerned, I weighed myself to find that I had lost 5 lbs overnight. Eating the same food, I lost an additional 2 lbs by the next day. So a total of 7 lbs in two days. No other change to how much I ate or energy expenditures. No medications, diuretics, supplements. Nothing. It was all because I felt my food was way too salty. All lost via water weight.
In the past, I've stayed for a week or two on a visit to homes with softened water where I didn't drink it, just bathed in it. Only to return to my then apartment with city water, sans sodium, and lost 3 lbs in 24 to 48 hours. All due to lost water retention.
Bones carry very little water. Teeth carries ~10%. Bones carry ~20%. Soft tissue carries a lot more. Like greater than 70%. So, yes, water it’s important to make sure your body has enough of it to function. But your blood, which nominally is 50% water, will carry this sodium laden water as well. So in reality, your blood will be more voluminous with excess levels of sodium. Combine this with veins and arteries that are more or less the same size... Shoot. Let’s just say it's been proven that high sodium levels in one’s body is linked to high blood pressure.
Additionally, fat cells have blood supplies to them, therefore your body fat will automatically be heavier and more pronounced. In fact, high levels of sodium intake are linked to higher levels of body fat for various reasons.
If you have lived the majority of your life in homes and buildings with inefficient water softeners like I have, then the water will have more sodium than is entirely necessary. You consume it via the water from the tap, and via absorption when you bathe. When I get blood work done, my sodium levels are always right below or above the upper limit. All this leaves little room for error when eating out, or seasoning my food. So I have to be on my tippy toes when I consume an extra salty meal. On the surface, it shows on my body in the mirror. But, I especially have to be mindful of this fact for my cardiovascular health.
Not everyone has this issue however. The majority of people that are consuming way too much sodium are doing so via processed foods they are consuming out at restaurants or via processed foods purchased from your grocery store. The US Institute of Medicine has indicated that the upper limit of sodium for the human body is 2300 mg per day. The American Heart Association is a bit more aggressive recommending an upper limit of 1500 mg per day. However, it is thought that most humans in America consume about 3200 mg per day.
Sodium intake levels became apparent to me in my late twenties in graduate school. I went to grab lunch one day at the main campus cafeteria. They had a soup there which I was uninterested in. But, prominently displayed was its nutritional information. So I read it. One serving had about 1500 mg of sodium. Next to this was an asterisk. Upon following said asterisk is when I learned that the daily recommending intake was 2300 mg. I was like, 'Hold on...?!'
So it's not just bad university cafeteria food, or fast-food joints that are guilty of sodium abuse. Fancy chefs that open restaurants and charge $40+ for a simple plate of FOOD like to use lots of salt, and other stuff, to give their food lots of flavor and a unique taste bud experience. I once watched a video of a popular chef whom said he had the DEFINITIVE way to cook pasta because he traveled to Italy a few times. He put on a normal sized pot of water, grabs a fist full of coarse salt, and dumps it in 'cause he swore he saw someone do that in Italy once. And I mean, it was A LOT of salt. Not exactly how I would cook pasta. And, being a picky eater, I can tell you that when I cook, it ALL tastes good. My friends and family can attest to this as well. All while using modest levels of table salt mind you.
Not only that, I've spent time in Europe. Have eaten at a bunch of restaurants and had many many home cooked meals on that continent. Let me tell you, I'll take a small, random, family-owned informal restaurant over paying $150 a plate in big shot chefs swanky Manhattan restaurant anytime. Something I also have experience with. That food is pretentious in my opinion. By comparison, travelling abroad and eating food, especially in the non-tourist spots, seems to be prepared with more love than sea salt. All those millionaire chefs should be ashamed of themselves. Charging for one plate of food what my grocery bill looks like over a two-week span... While not nourishing me anymore and not tasting any better. Shake my head.
Anyway, that's enough of that.
High sodium intake is linked to large amounts of body fat, particularly around the middle, simply because of the serving size at these fast-food restaurants, and addictive nature to the processed foods at grocery stores, crammed with sodium. However, I find, while even watching what I eat, high sodium intake does tend to make my body fat more pronounced while carrying more water weight. Which is not the best for me over time. Not only does it elevate the risk factors of certain physiological ailments, but, my joints are forced to deal with all that excess water that is doing nothing but weighing me down. Causing unnecessary wear and tear on my joints...over time.
In conclusion, keep an eye on how much sodium you're consuming. If you live in an area with hard water, and your source of water is softened, make sure that machine is kept in well working order. Consider upgrading it with a high efficiency unit. Those are said to use up to 75% less salt. And, consider using Potassium Chloride for your water softener. Potassium is not hygroscopic. If you don't have this issue, no worries. But, you still need to be mindful of how much salt you're using while cooking, or how much of it you're getting while eating out. When you cook, try to use less and less table salt for seasoning. You'd be surprised at how quickly your taste buds adapt. Try to limit eating out to once a week or so. Especially fast-food joints and diners. Those are the worst culprits. If you want to learn more about what high sodium levels can negatively do for you, including using msg (monosodium glutamate), check out the following post I wrote called Eating Out vs Cooking Yourself. When you’re grocery shopping, pay attention to the nutrition labels. Try to go for the lowest sodium options that you can. Plus, watch out for cured deli meats. They are cured with sodium...!
I'll leave you with potential health concerns with high sodium levels found in your body. Cheers...
→ Hypertension (High Blood pressure)
→ Cardiovascular Disease
→ Stroke
→ Edema (Fluid Retention)
→ Kidney Disease (remember, kidneys filter your blood...!)
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