Join newsletter
Get this book FREE
|
Sodium is crucial for normal growth, sodium enables your muscles and nerves to function properly and helps move nutrients into cells. Like potassium, it is essential for maintaining your body's water balance.
Deficiency is unlikely because sodium (as salt) is present in a wide range of foods.
How It Works
To function properly, your body needs to have the right balance of potassium and sodium; most of the potassium is in the cells
and most of the sodium is in the fluid that bathes them.
Between them, they control water balance, make sure body fluids are neither too alkaline nor too acidic, and prevent dehydration.
Like potassium, sodium helps muscles and nerves to function properly.
Deficiency
Symptoms
-
Low blood
-
Muscle cramps
-
Dizziness
-
Loss of appetite
-
Headache
Benefits of sodium
supplement
Rehydration
Isotonic drinks contain balanced amounts of potassium, sodium, glucose and water. They should be used to replace fluids and return the concentration of salts and glucose in the blood to normal as quickly as possible following prolonged bouts of sickness or diarrhoea.
Babies and young children are particularly vulnerable to dehydration because any water lost accounts for a higher
proportion of the total water content in their bodies, and dehydration can occur very quickly. Athletes also use fluid replacement drinks during and after exercise.
Muscle Cramps
Small
increases of sodium may help to alleviate night-time muscle cramps.
Eye Health
Eye drops
contain sodium
to make them as similar as possible to human tears.
Sodium is crucial for maintaining your body's water
balance and enabling nerves and muscles to function, sodium can also cause serious health problems if taken in excess.
Supplements
The
RDA for sodium is 1600mg daily, but average intake is at least twice this amount. Supplements used in cases of heat exhaustion, cramp or following vomiting and/or diarrhoea should only be taken under medical supervision.
Precautions
Too much salt in the diet is linked to high blood pressure and also causes the loss of potassium, which leads to fluid retention.
If you have raised blood pressure you should try to decrease the amount of salt in your diet; this can be achieved easily by not adding it during cooking or at the table. Read the labels of processed foods to see how much salt they contain.
Sodium Vital Facts
Recommended daily allowance for adults:
1600mg
Main functions:
Food Sources:
Sodium, or salt, is present in most foods. A rasher of bacon should provide sufficient sodium for your daily needs.
table salt
bacon
olives
prawns
celery
cottage cheese
watercress
cornflakes
wholemeal bread
|
Where to get best sodium
Supplement?
Sodium may not be available in normal supplements like
multivitamin. A daily dose of excellent quality of multivitamin
will bring balance to the excessive sodium intake from your diet.
here we recommend Total Balance from Xtend-Life for quality and
well-balance multi-vitamins and multi-minerals supplement.
Read our Xtend-Life
review.
Shop at Xtend_Life
online store.
Return to Vitamins A-Z page for more vitamin information.
Return to sodium supplement page..
|