Sodium Reabsorption And Diet

Sodium gets reabsorbed as sodium chloride, or common table salt. Sodium reabsorption illustrates the body's excellent ability to conserve nutrients. This ability probably evolved as a mechanism to conserve sodium and chloride. Salt was so scarce just 2,000 years ago that it was a medium of exchange. In the Roman Empire, soldiers were paid with a salt ration.

In our modern world, salt is no longer rare and our excess consumption of those two once-rare elements works against us. Only in the last 1,000 years has salt become cheap. In the evolutionary process, 100,000 years is a "blink of the eye", let alone 2,000. In short, humanity's the same, and our kidneys are the same as they were 10,000 years ago, but the availability of salt has changed.

Reabsorption of sodium as sodium chloride can work against s by precipitating diet-related high blood pressure. Most processed foods contain large quantities of salt, and people often liberally add salt to food. Sodium and chloride as they occur naturally in unprocessed foods are probably not a serious problem. Unprocessed foods contain sodium in a myriad of forms, including very small amounts of sodium chloride. For example, sodium is found as citrate in citrus fruits and glutamate in grains. As a result, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains contain naturally balanced forms of sodium and don't have an excess of either sodium or chloride. In fact, the amount of chloride naturally present in foods, along with the body's ability to reabsorb 99 percent of sodium, suggests that very little dietary sodium is required. Normal active adults get along well on only about 300 milligrams of sodium daily, and some experts claim even less is sufficient.

Processed foods contain salt either as a preservative or to increase taste intensity. Return to natural foods, fruits, grains, vegetables, meat, fish, poultry - anything that grows from the ground, on the ground, on trees, walks, swims, or flies. DO not prepare or eat anyhing with elaborate sauces or coating. Boil, broil, barbecue, bake, or poach without adding salt. It works! Unsalted food may seem bland at first, but in a short time you will start savoring flavors that you didn't know were present. A new world of taste will open up to you.