Salt, does a body good or does it?

MODERATION!!! You have heard me use it a lot; it is my favorite word when it comes to anything exercise and nutrition. We live in a world where there is no happy medium it is either you are all in or all out. However, this is not always a good idea for our bodies. I have seen people take exercise to an extreme level where it damages their bodies permanently and then you see others that won’t even try. Same with nutrition, some eat junk and don’t care and others won’t even allow themselves a drop of sugar or fat. This last week my husband and I discussed this phenomena and how it has tabooed some important things. I want to talk to you about sodium or salt. All you hear is about how salt is sooo bad for you and you need to not salt your food and you should always check to see the sodium in foods. While this is all true you need to do it in moderation. Our bodies need salt, bottom line, but I know at times I have been so overly worried about salt that I have almost eliminated it from my diet. According to the American Heart Association, “The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend less than 2,300 milligrams a day.” This is very debatable and also depends on the amount of exercise you are doing in a day. But the point I am wanting to make is completely eliminating something from your diet is no good, be sure to use it in moderation.

The reason I am preaching to you about the importance of sodium in your diet is because my daughter was diagnosed with P.O.T.S. (Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome) last week. Basically when my daughter goes from lying down to standing up her heart rate increases by over 30 beats a minute and her blood pressure falls. She had been not feeling well for months but she is 8 and we kept dismissing it on other things. Well come to find out she had mono and probably had had it for months. This in turn brought on P.O.T.S. We are regulating it without meds through her diet. Because of her low blood pressure we need to increase her salt intake, can you believe it, actually adding salt to your diet. This is what prompted my husbands and my discussion about how we sometimes eliminate important things our bodies need. Just something to ponder . . . .