MAIN Health Vitamins & Minerals Sodium Chloride

Sodium Choloride Fast Facts

Foods: buillion cubes, green olives, sausage, hot dogs, cold cuts, corned beef, salted potato chips & pretzels, pickles, ketchup, mustard

Nutritional & health benefits: an essential nutrient for maintaining body fluid balance & to generate electrical impulses in nerves & muscles

Salt. It's the mineral essential to all life. But research suggests that the amount of sodium chloride in prepared foods may be way too much of a good thing.

Sodium chloride, more commonly known as common table salt, is a mineral essential for human health and plays several important roles in the body. However, studies report that the average American, in fact, gets far too much salt, about double the recommended daily intake of 2400 mg.

There is some limited evidence that shows that too much salt can increase the rate at which many minerals such as calcium are excreted from the body. This is harmful because many of these minerals are essential for maintaining healthy bones, and it has been suggested that for this reason, too much salt may contribute to bone related illnesses such as osteoporosis.

For this same reason, overuse of salt in the diet is also thought to contribute to kidney stone development when excess calcium builds up in the kidneys.

Although there have only been a few studies done on the subject, it is believed that there is a relationship between too much salt and cardiovascular disease. Along those same lines, there is a great deal of evidence showing a link between high salt intake and high blood pressure.

Of particular interest are the geographical studies that demonstrate that populations around the world which consume less salt have lower blood pressure than those populations that consume excess salt.

Readily available salt substitutes, as well as more frequently available low -salt varieties of chips and other snack foods can help reduce daily intake and help avoid salt's adverse health effects, say medical experts.

More health information about salt around the Web:

Read more about the most commonly found nutrient along with its history, uses, production, and the various ways to stay salt healthy....

Salt FAQ - 'What you always wanted to know about salt,' says it with a mountain of information on sources, history, production, uses, studies on dietary sodium and health, and lots more.

Sodium Chloride, Linus Pauling Institute's Micronutrient Information Center - Expert overview of sodium chloride's functions in the body, symptoms and causes of deficiency, conditions brought about by high intake, recommendations for adequate intake by age level, drug interactions and related references.

Salt - More of everything you need to know including myths, history, production and uses, salt chemistry, trivia, plus an editorial promoting increased dietary salt consumption courtesy of - you guessed it - the Salt Manufacturers Association.

Sodium content of common foods - An extensive list of everyday foods with corresponding salt content in milligrams.