Welcome back to the blog! Since my last post was about potassium, I thought it would be fitting to spend this blog post discussing its partner, sodium.

If you’re confused about whether or not you should worry about sodium, then you’re not the only one. There is a lot of buzz out there about cutting sodium from your diet. During my potassium post, I discussed the sodium-potassium pump, so if sodium is a necessary nutrient, why are we being told to cut back? I’m going to do my best to clear the air on the sodium conundrum.

What does sodium do?

I already discussed the sodium-potassium pump in my last blog post, so I won’t rehash the whole thing here, but as a review, our cells create the electricity needed to send signals throughout the body by moving sodium into, and potassium out of, the cell membrane. Therefore, without sodium, your body is unable to do anything.

That’s not the only function that sodium has in the body, however. In fact, sodium is a pretty important mineral. Aside from being needed to create electric signals, sodium is also responsible for keeping blood volume regulated in the body. This is why sodium and blood pressure are also linked. When sodium levels are low in the bloodstream, the kidneys start retaining rather than filtering out sodium. Water likes to be where sodium is, so then less fluid gets filtered out of the bloodstream by the kidneys as well. When blood volume is high, more sodium, and thus more fluid, gets filtered out of the bloodstream.

If you’ve ever wondered why you can’t drink ocean water if you’re stranded at sea, let me tell you why. The amount of sodium found in sea water is higher than the amount of sodium that the kidneys usually filter out, which leads to high levels of sodium in your bloodstream. As a result, your kidneys produce large amounts of urine to rid the body of the salt and you end up further dehydrating. So no matter how tempting, if you’re ever stranded at sea, don’t drink the water.

Does sodium affect your blood pressure?

So then, this begs the question of whether high sodium intake causes high blood pressure. I would like to say that the answer to that question is a simple yes or no, but as with most things in life, the answer is not black and white.

Some people, because of their genetics, are more sensitive to the effects of high or low sodium. If you have a condition called POTS, for example, then your body tends to need a lot more sodium than the average person in order to keep you from feeling faint. The average recommendation for sodium is about 2300mg per day, and a person with POTS may need between 3000-10,000mg/day.

For other people, eating too much sodium leads to fluid retention and increased blood pressure. However, only about 50% of the population has a blood pressure that responds to sodium intake. The rest of the population can limit their sodium and have no affect to their blood pressure at all, and unfortunately it’s only via trial and error that we discover who is who.

So, if you’re wondering whether you need to limit sodium, the first step is to ask your doctor. If you are in good health, with a good blood pressure, then you’re not likely to need to worry too much about your sodium intake, but if you have other health conditions, then limiting or increasing sodium may be good for you.

How much sodium do you need?

Unlike with other nutrients that I’ve discussed so far, sodium recommendations don’t vary much by age and gender. The US recommendation is for anyone 14 and older to limit sodium intake to 2300mg/day. The World Health Organization recommends no more than 2000mg/day.

This brings up the question of where exactly you find sodium. Believe it or not, sodium isn’t found in high quantities in most foods. Seafood tends to have a higher amount than other foods, but aren’t often extremely high. Most of the sodium we consume comes from overly processed foods. Sodium is a good preservative so it’s often found in those processed foods. The less processed the food, the less salt there tends to be.

Salt is of course not inherently bad, but if you’re getting too much of it, you may be increasing your risk of some diseases such as hypertension (high blood pressure) or kidney disease, so it’s always good to avoid high sodium intake. The other problem with the sodium found in processed foods is that it’s often not adding anything to the flavor. When you’re salting your own food, you’re using sodium chloride, which enhances flavors in foods. The salt used in preserving food however is not often sodium chloride, so it adds a lot of sodium without adding flavor.

Speaking of adding flavor, this is usually where I provide a recipe, so you must be wondering what on earth I’m going to be providing since most people are trying to cut back on their sodium intake. Well, on this blog, we don’t like to categorizing anything as a “bad food.” Just because you need to cut back doesn’t mean you can’t eat it ever, and if you’re preparing a lot of food yourself from fresh ingredients, then you can easily control the amount of salt you add to enhance the flavor.

Also, believe it or not, there’s a lot you can do with salt to really kick up your food a notch. So here are not one, but 3 recipes for finishing salts. These are great to add onto foods at the end of cooking to add in a punch of additional flavor.

Thank you so much for reading. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments and don’t forget to hit that subscribe button. Until next time!

Recipes Found on mommypotamus.com

Chili Lime Salt

This blend of red pepper flakes and lime is amazing on fajitas, tacos, french fries, and many more delicious foods.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unrefined salt (coarse or fine)
• 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime zest

Directions

1. Using a microplane zester or cheese grater, remove the outer zest from the lime. Make sure not to peel off the bitter white pith, just the outside will do. 
2. Lay zest on a towel and allow to air dry for a few hours, then combine with salt and crushed red pepper flakes. 
3. Optional Step: If the consistency is more coarse than you’d like, you can pop 2-3 tablespoons at a time in a clean coffee grinder and pulse until your desired texture is reached. Continue the process until all the salt has been ground. 
4. Pour your finished salt into a pretty jar. It’s now ready for use!

Vanilla Salt

Served with strawberries or sprinkled over chocolate, this salt adds a surprising pop of flavor to sweets.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup salt (coarse or fine)
• 2-4 vanilla beans

Directions

1. Using a sharp knife, cut a slit down the entire length of the vanilla bean.
2. With the tip of your knife, scrape out the seeds in the center, which should have a paste-like consistency.
3. Place a small amount of salt in the coffee grinder with the vanilla beans and pulse until completely combined.
4. Add the vanilla/salt mixture to the rest of the salt and thoroughly mix with a spoon.
5. Optional Step: If the consistency is more coarse than you’d like, you can pop 2-3 tablespoons at a time in a clean coffee grinder and pulse until your desired texture is reached. Continue the process until all the salt has been ground.
6. Pour your finished vanilla salt into a pretty jar. It’s now ready for use!

Rosemary & Lemon Salt

This finishing salt goes well sprinkled over grilled veggies, pasta, soups, and salads.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup salt (coarse or fine)
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon dried rosemary

Directions

1. Using the microplane zester or cheese grater, remove the outer zest from the lemon. Make sure not to peel off the bitter white pith, just the outside will do.
2. Lay zest on a towel and allow to air dry for a few hours, then combine it with the salt and rosemary.
3. Optional Step: If the consistency of the salt is more coarse than you’d like, you can pop 2-3 tablespoons at a time in a clean coffee grinder and pulse until your desired texture is reached. Continue the process until all the salt has been ground.
4. Pour your finished salt into a pretty jar. It’s now ready for use!