Hazards of High-Sodium Diet

The average person consumes dangerously large quantities of sodium chloride, the common table salt, and medical experts warn that as many as 20 out of 100 of us eventually will develop potentially fatal high blood pressure as a result.

Sodium is the culprit, and the amounts we consume come not only from the 15 pounds of table salt the average person eats in the course of the year, but from the sodium-laden processed foods that have become such a large part of our diet.

One of the reasons people are afflicted with hypertension is that most of them don’t know how little sodium they need or how dangerous too much of it can be. 

Studies have shown that throughout most of human history, people survived quite well on what would today be considered a low-sodium or even sodium-free diet.

Sodium and potassium are essential for the regulation of the body’s internal water supply, and after millions of years of a high-potassium (from fruits and vegetable), low-sodium diet, the body has developed a system for conserving sodium and getting rid of excess potassium.

Today’s high-salt diet throws this system out of control, causing a build-up of fluid in the tissues which often results in hypertension that can lead to kidney damage, stroke and heart disease.

Another hazard of the high-salt diet is extreme pre-menstrual moodiness and physical discomfort for some women.  Symptoms include bloating, headaches, spontaneous weeping and uncontrollable anger.

Following a low-salt regimen for 10 days before the onset of menstruation has been shown to lessen the severity of these symptoms or even eliminate them, according to studies made by the U.S. Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs.  The committee further recommended that Americans cut their average salt intake from about 18 grams a day to 5 grams at maximum.  The body requires only 220 milligrams of sodium daily, and the 2,000 milligrams supplied by 5 grams of salt is more than sufficient without being dangerous for most people.

Tidbits.  Result of studies by Dr. W. Donner Denckla at Harvard University indicates that the human pituitary gland secretes a “death hormone” which interferes with the body’s ability to utilize thyroxin, a hormone produced by the thyroid which controls the rate of cellular metabolism (Metabolism is the body’s chemical transformation of food into energy).

The second discovery involves the reproduction of human cells.  At one time it was believed that human cells could divide indefinitely.  Now it is known that adult cells divide only about 50 times and then mysteriously die.