What is the appropriate amount of sodium intake per day? My blood pressure is a little high and everyone tells me sodium is a big reason why. I am also starting to eat healthier overall, but that whole sodium thing has been bothering me.

Hi Becky,

This may help:

http://www.kidney.org/general/atoz/content/sodium.html

There is another side to the sodium issue. While it is generally agreed that Americans get too much sodium, it is relatively clear that it isn't a significant concern for many. (Of course, it is sometimes hard to know if you're one of those many beforehand...)

Hi Brian,

Yes, there is a balance to everything, ...and you have to find out what your balance is. The average person's diet is way too high in sodium. Then again, the body needs sodium for proper function and the average person can get all the sodium they need from the foods they eat without the need for table salt.

My diet was low in fat, low in sodium, and low in sugar. Moderate in toning and cardio workout. I already had some muscle so it didn't take me long to ramp up my metabolism to shed the weight. Now I'm trying to build more muscle for added protection for my back and neck.

Anyway, I've since added back a touch more salt and fat (good fats) back to my diet for my workout menu.


Jeb

Becky,

My father has high blood pressure and I am on the high side of normal. I LOVE salt. I put huge amounts of salt on everything...I suck peanut shells to get the salt out of them! If they made salt licks for humans, I would have one! Get the picture?

That said, I was pretty worried about that combination, so I spoke with a lot of different doctors and nurses and surfed websites. Here's what I learned:

If you have high blood pressure already (you do), then you MIGHT be part of a small group of people who are sensitive to salt. For that small group, eating too much salt can increase their blood pressure.

If you do not have high blood pressure, you will not develop it just from eating salt.

That said, there are tons of other reasons not to od on sodium. I'm just in denial. My friend, Ange has a kidney problem and is on an extremely low sodium diet. I have been told (in the SBD Forum) that eating a lot of salt retains the water that fills up the (hopefully now empty) fat cells. I'm sure there are other reasons. But the only way to know if you are salt sensitive is to talk with your doctor. If they do not believe you are, you can eat salt...in moderation like everything else.

Me? I've cut my peanut-shell sucking down to every other day.