Too little salt? Too much salt?

[beansprout]

Does anyone know the symptoms of too little sodium in the diet? Sometimes I feel dehydrated even after drinking water in reasonable amounts, and I wondered if it's because I don't add salt to food and on a "good" day don't eat processed food. All the books I've got just go on about the dangers of too much salt.

[Tigerlily]

A goiter?

[beansprout]

I think a goitre is caused by lack of iodine rather than lack of sodium. I'm not too sure what the sources of iodine are in a vegan diet, but I think sea salt is one.

[Pob]

Apparently:
Some of the SYMPTOMS of SODIUM DEFICIENCY are:

• Coma
• Confusion
• Seizure
• Appetite loss
• Vomiting
• Muscle weakness
• Swollen ankles/legs

I think you would have to try real hard to manage a deficiency, though, as it is in quite a few foods naturally. You only need 1/2 gram of salt per day.

[beansprout]

Thanks. I was thinking more of tired and thirsty - nothing so serious! Which foods have salt in naturally?

[Cherry]

Being thirsty is occasionally a symptom of diabetes (I believe too much sugar (or salt) makes you thirsty as the body tries to dilute it). Or maybe you're just not drinking enough

[Pob]

I thought tomatoes were - but having looked, I'm not sure, now.

[RedWellies]

I get cramp if I don't eat some salty things. I've been drinking more/feeling thirsty lately...I put it down to the change in weather, but who knows?

[beansprout]

Right. But I was thinking that if too much salt causes water retention then too little salt would mean that not enough water was retained - which might also make you thirsty. Trouble is I don't actually know what salt does.

[RedWellies]

look here...
http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/1997/797_salt.html

[beansprout]

Thanks RedWellies. That was interesting. Does the bit at the end about balancing salt and potassium mean that if you eat lots of potassium you need more salt? The plot thickens.

[Tigerlily]

Thanks. I was thinking more of tired and thirsty - nothing so serious! Which foods have salt in naturally?

I heard spinach was.

There's also sea vegetables which I heard were naturally salty.

[cvC]

Celery is named for its high salt content, but, if you're feeling dehydrated, then I would have thought the answer would be to drink more clean water, not have more salt. Roman soldiers were paid their "salaries" in salt and I also remember reading about how the rats multiplied more on a ship transprting salt as it made them more "salacious". I've also read that Ancient Egytian priests abstained from it and have found that I have better dreams when I do.

[herbwormwood]

Does anyone know the symptoms of too little sodium in the diet? Sometimes I feel dehydrated even after drinking water in reasonable amounts, and I wondered if it's because I don't add salt to food and on a "good" day don't eat processed food. All the books I've got just go on about the dangers of too much salt.

salt in the form of sodium chloride is added to most processed foods, tinned foods such as beans, tinned vegetables, soups, breakfast cereals, and bread as well so unless you exclude these from your diet on a regular basis I would have thought a sodium deficiency would be unlikely.
Do you have any other signs that you might tbe diabetic, I ask because this is one of the signs of diabetes. It can easily be detected, it may be worth looking into as it is better to know you have it than not.

[Glen]

Thanks for starting this topic; I've always wondered what we actually need salt for!

[aubergine]

I get headaches and salt cravings from time to time, as I've worked really hard to cut our processed foods.

If I get like that, then I find a bag of chips (fried in groundnut oil) with some salt & vinegar works a treat, although that's not necessarily advice.

[beansprout]

salt in the form of sodium chloride is added to most processed foods, tinned foods such as beans, tinned vegetables, soups, breakfast cereals, and bread as well so unless you exclude these from your diet on a regular basis I would have thought a sodium deficiency would be unlikely.
Do you have any other signs that you might tbe diabetic, I ask because this is one of the signs of diabetes. It can easily be detected, it may be worth looking into as it is better to know you have it than not.

I thought perhaps that salt was something you need every day, and some days I don't eat any of those things. (We make our own bread). I'm sure I'm not diabetic - I don't feel ill.

cvC, I drank 2 litres of water yesterday as well as other drinks. Normally if I'm dehydrated that solves it - yesterday it seemed to go straight through and left me thirsty. I was shopping and I suspect it's the air conditioning that does it.

spjessop, that sounds like a real treat!

[herbwormwood]

I thought perhaps that salt was something you need every day, and some days I don't eat any of those things. (We make our own bread). I'm sure I'm not diabetic - I don't feel ill.

You don't need to eat processed foods or bread to get salt (sodium) in your diet! It's in nearly everything!
Heres a website which tells you what foods contain it:
http://oto.wustl.edu/men/sodium.htm

And here are the symptoms of diabetes:
increased thirst
going to the loo all the time – especially at night
extreme tiredness
weight loss
genital itching or regular episodes of thrush
slow healing of wounds
blurred vision.

Do you have any more of these symptoms, even mildly?

[beansprout]

Thanks for your concern HWW but I have none of those symptoms. I had a look at the chart and I still reckon Thursday and Friday when I ate mainly vegetables and grains I really did eat very little sodium. I know it's unusual but I really think I need to add salt to my food from time to time.

[herbwormwood]

just thought of something else... do you drink mineral water? Some have quite high sodium contents and I have heard of people saying they feel more thirsty after drinking them?
Tomatoes are a good natural source of sodium so try including more tomatoes in your diet.

[Bluey]

I know someone who has a salt deficiency, she gets faint, has been told by doc to drink sports drinks. There is also the recent debate about western countries having iodine deficiencies. This can be fixed by buying iodized salt rather than regular table salt.

[Tigerlily]

All table salt in Canada is idodized by law. I didn't realise other countries didn't have that, so that's why I suggested a goiter in my first comment.

[herbwormwood]

Beanspout in in UK. Salt isn't iodised here. We are supposed to get our iodine from sea products.

[Tigerlily]

I didn't know that at the time of posting my goiter comment.

[Klutz]

If I haven't been getting enough sodium, I get severe dizzy spells when I stand up, especially from a lying down position. We are talking everything goes black (except sometimes a bit of bright flashing, swirling lights), the entire room starts rocking and spinning, and I have to reach out to grab something sturdy or I tip over. For a while, I was getting that EVERY time I got up from sitting or lying down, unless I did it REALLY slowly (and then only got a little dizzy). WEll, my dad was the same way and had actually even passed out from it in the past. One day, the doctor told him that his sodium levels were VERY low and were probably the cause of it. He called me and told me and I quit trying to eat foods low in sodium and started adding salt to just about everything.

Now, I get those dizzy attacks maybe a couple times a year, as opposed to many times a day.

Salt is my friend.

[herbwormwood]

It depends a lot on where you live.
If you live in a hot country you will need a lot more salt.

[Korn]

Scientists prove that salty diet costs lives
Long term effects of dietary sodium reduction on cardiovascular disease outcomes: observational follow-up of the trials of hypertension prevention

[Cherry]

I watched this TV programme a little while ago. Volunteers went on a raw food diet to simulate the more natural diet of our ancestors. It springs to mind because each person was given one olive (in brine) per day to get their daily salt requirement. Most of these people ate far too much salt in their usual diets, which contributed to their various health problems.

[coconut]

It's amazing how small the recommended daily intake is. I'm quite fond of salt and even though I don't eat processed food very much, I use a lot in my cooking and as a seasoning.

[Festered]

I crave salt all the time recently.To the point I add it to my soup even thoughI have used it inthe recipe, and to salted peanuts!
I don;t know why I crave it at all.I crave spiciness in food and am thinking maybe it's the harsh flavour I am craving. Has anybody experiences that?

[squigaletta]

you've probably just built up a tolerance to the taste of salt, try weaing yourself of it.

heres a list of naturally occuring salt (well sodium)
Fruits, fresh, in mg
Apples, 1 medium - 0
Apricots, 1 medium - negligible
Asian pear - 0
Avocados, 1/2 medium - 10
Bananas, 1 medium - 1
Blackberries - 0
Blueberries, 1/2 cup - 4
Canteloupe, 1/8 of melon - 5
Casaba melon, 1/10 of fruit - 20
Cherries, sweet - 0
Cherries, sour, 1 cup - 5
Crabapple - 1
Cranberries, 1 cup - 1
Figs, 1 medium - 1
Gooseberry - 1
Grapefruit - 9
Grapes, 1 cup - 2
Grape leaves raw, 1 cup - 1
Guavas, 1 medium - 2
Honeydew Melon, 1/2 medium - 7
Kiwi fruit, 1 - 3
Kumquats, 1 medium - 1
Lemons, 1 medium - 1
Limes, 1 medium - 1
Litchi, 1 fruit - 1
Mangos, 1 medium - 2
Nectarines - 0
Oranges - 0
Passion fruit, 1 fruit - 5
Papayas, 1 medium - 9
Peaches - 0
Pears - 0
Persimmons, 1 medium - 1
Pineapples, chopped, 1 cup - 2
Plaintain, 1 cup sliced - 6
Plums - 0
Pomegranates, 1 medium - 5
Quince, 1 medium - 4
Raspberries - 0
Rhubarb, 1 stalk - 2
Strawberries, 1/2 cup - 1
Tamarind, 1 fruit - 1
Tangerines, 1 medium - 1
Tomatoes - 4
Watermelon, cubed, 1 cup - 3

Vegetables, fresh (1/2 cup raw) in mg
Acorn squash - 2
Alfalfa sprouts - 1
Artichoke - 1 medium, steamed - 79
Asparagus - 1
Beans, green - 3
Beets - 49
Bell peppers - 2
Broccoli - 12
Brussels sprouts - 11
Butternut squash - 3
Cabbage - 14
Carrots - 20
Cauliflower - 8
Celeriac - 79
Celery - 54
Chilis - 5
Chives - 2
Corn - 12
Cucumbers - 1
Endive - 6
Eggplant - 2
Garlic, 1 clove - 1
Ginger - 6
Hubbard squash - 4
Leeks - 11
Lettuce - 2
Mushrooms - 1
Onions - 2
Parsley - 12
Parsnips - 7
Peas, edible-pod - 4
Peas, green - 3
Potatoes, medium, baked - 16
Pumpkins - 1
Radishes - 14
Rutabagas - 14
Shallots - 10
Spaghetti squash - 9
Spinach - 22
Squash, summer - 1
Squash, winter - 2
Sweet potatoes - 9
Tomatoes - 4
Turnips - 44
Water chestnuts - 8
Watercress - 7
Yams - 7
Zucchini - 1


not sure how right this is but taken from here http://www.alsosalt.com/socounfo.html