Sodium, Your Abused Friend!

Avoiding excessive salt intake is one of the doctor's suggestions for patients with high blood pressure. In essence, sodium, one of the constituents in table salt, is indicated because an excess of sodium in an individual might result in high blood pressure or hypertension. The issue is whether sodium is indeed solely present in table salt. According to research, processed foods—even though they don't taste salty instead of home-cooked table salt consumption are the main cause of an increase in sodium intake. It is hoped that the information in this article will help readers make informed food decisions that will not result in a diet that contains more sodium than is necessary. 

Sodium is a nutrient that is fundamentally necessary for a number of bodily processes. However, consuming too much sodium may have an unintended consequence. Because of this, sodium consumption is frequently restricted, especially in those who have hypertension. However, excessive salt consumption in daily diet has also been connected by specialists to a number of other chronic conditions in addition to hypertension in people.

Excess sodium has been linked to heart and blood vessel disease, but it is also linked to obesity, Meniere's disease, worsening kidney disease, causing asthma attacks, osteoporosis, the development of kidney stones, and many other diseases, according to Strand et al in their scientific article published in 2010.

The maximum amount of sodium that the body can tolerate in a healthy state is 2300 mg per day, which can be instantly achieved by consuming up to 1 teaspoon of table salt per day, as this amounts to 6 grams of table salt, which already contains 2300 mg of sodium. The daily sodium requirement for healthy people is only about 1500 mg. Therefore, ingesting no more than 2/3 teaspoon of table salt each day will actually allow one to meet the requirement of 1500. Nevertheless, since we often eat more than this amount each day, the issue of too much sodium poses a severe risk to our health.

In addition, processed or artificial meals frequently have significant quantities of sodium per serving, according to study on food. Examples of food items with their salt content per 100 grams are shown in the following table. It is clear that eating multiple portions of artificial food items per day or mixing various unnatural food ingredients will raise our chance of consuming too much sodium.

 

Table 1. Amount of sodium in several food ingredients per 100 grams 

Bahan/Jenis Makanan	Natrium (mg)
Popcorn	300
Slice bread	530
Sauce	600
Butter	780
Fried Chicken	800
Hamburger	800
Fried Potato	900
Meat Soup	1060
Sosis	1100
Corned Beef	1750
Salted Egg	2200
Salty Soy Sauce	4000
Salted Fish	6000

Natural foods actually have a lot less sodium per 100 grams of food than processed and packaged foods. And it appears that this was specifically intended by our Creator, as natural food really includes rather substantial levels of potassium while containing very little sodium. According to research, populations that consume significantly more potassium than sodium have relatively low rates of hypertension. According to nutritional adequacy statistics from 2013, Indonesians need 4700 mg of potassium and 1500 mg of sodium each day, respectively. The natural ability of human bodies to expel large amounts of potassium through the kidneys while retaining sodium has been discovered by a number of physiologists. This is consistent with the type of natural diet that is high in potassium and low in salt. As a result, sodium levels in the body rise substantially, and disorders linked to too much salt in the body start to appear. This natural ability is incompatible with the current diet, which is high in sodium and low in potassium. The comparison of salt and potassium content in natural and processed food items is shown in the following table.

 

Table 2. Comparison of the amount of sodium and potassium in natural and processed food ingredients per 100 grams.

Kategori	Bahan/jenis makanan	Natrium (mg)	Kalium (mg)
Alamiah	Apple	87	450
Alamiah	dates	10	680
Alamiah	Pear	6	533
Alamiah	Raisins	11	728
Alamiah	Almond	1	728
Alamiah	Cashew Nut	12	660
Alamiah	peanuts	18	705
Alamiah	Banana	1	403
Alamiah	Cassava	29	558
Olahan	Fried Chicken	508	247
Olahan	Donuts	204	64
Olahan	Cake	93	38
Olahan	Cracker/biscuits	35	4
Olahan	Tart, rendah lemak	71	19
Olahan	Chocolate Bread	579	126
Olahan	Strawberry Bread	518	96
Olahan	CheeseBread	610	112
Olahan	Slice Bread	609	113

Our Creator created natural foods with sodium levels that "will meet needs without causing excess." In addition, the Creator's design to include more potassium in natural foods appears to be a preventative measure against the development of disorders like hypertension. In contrast, processed food has a higher salt level than potassium. It turns out that eating more naturally sourced foods can lower salt intake while increasing potassium, which is anticipated to lower the risk of chronic diseases brought on by too much sodium in the body. Hello and good health!

 

Please feel free to speak with our clinical nutrition specialist at Hermina Galaxy Hospital regarding the wellbeing of Hermina Friends. By following our @rsuherminagalaxy profiles on Instagram and TikTok, you can learn more about health information provided by Hermina Galaxy Hospital. It is simpler to schedule doctor's appointments using the Halo Hermina app or by calling our contact center at 1500488.