Can I add salt to my food if I exercise regularly?
“I sweat a lot while exercising so it should be alright for me to add salt to my food. Right?”
Wrong!
The good news? There are other ways to season your food.
In ‘Sodium Could Be Silently Wrecking Your Health’, author Vicki Hackman, writing for Endurance News by Hammer Nutrition, cautions readers to reconsider sodium intake through their use of table salt (also known as sodium chloride) even if their blood pressure is under control.
The insidious effects of excess dietary sodium on the body’s internal organs have been revealed in the recent paper “Dietary Sodium and Health: more than just blood pressure,” published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Authored by faculty members of the University of Delaware College of Health Sciences and physicians at Christiana Care Health Systems, the article points to evidence of adverse effects on multiple organs, including the blood vessels, heart, kidneys, and brain – even when blood pressure remains normal. The researchers cite more than 100 studies to support their conclusions”.
These effects are relevant to the general population. However, aging increases the effects of a high-salt diet.
A study by researchers from Georgetown University, St. Louis University, and Nova Southeastern University showed that age reduces our body’s ability to flush excess sodium through urination.
What do we do with this information?
- Limit daily intake of sodium to a maximum of 2,300 mg. If this sounds like a lot, just take a look at labels of packaged foods for the hidden sources and you will probably be surprised how easy it is to exceed this amount.
- Consider alternatives to ordinary table salt for seasoning your food. Dr. Weil offers suggestions in his post titled “5 Ways to Minimize Your Sodium Intake – Yet Still Enjoy Your Food!’. You can read the post by clicking here.
Find ways other than using the salt shaker to add seasoning to foods