How To Protect Your Heart: The sodium-potassium ratio is more important than pure salt intake

The denigration of salt is similar to that of fats. Just as there are healthy fats that are available for optimum health, and unhealthy fats that lead to health problems, there are healthy and unhealthy types of salt. „The devil is in the detail “, as the saying goes.

The human body can not produce itself these elements, so they must be supplied in the form of food. Note is that not all salts are the same.

• Natural, unprocessed salt, like sea salt and Himalayan salt, containing about 84% sodium chloride. Almost 37% of them are pure Sodium. The remaining 16% are naturally occurring trace elements, including silicon, phosphorus and vanadium.

• Processed salt contains 97.5% sodium chloride. Just over 39% of these are Sodium. The remainder consists of man-made chemicals such as moisture absorbents and flow agents such as ferrocyanide and aluminosilicate.

Corresponding salt restriction.

In many highly industrialized countries salt has been vilified as the main cause of high blood pressure and heart disease.

According to research results, which were presented at last year’s meeting of the American Heart Association, the 2.3 million cardiac deaths are attributed to too much salt intake worldwide in 2010. It is important to know that most people from industrially developed countries take the majority of sodium from commercially available table salt and processed foods and not from natural unprocessed salt.

This is likely to have a significant impact on the health. After all, just like the case of dangerous trans fats in processed foods, so it turned out that these are responsible for adverse health effects and not the healthy, unsaturated fats. Current dietary guidelines recommend limiting salt intake to 1.5 to 2.4 grams of sodium per day.

For a frame of reference: One teaspoon of salt contains about 2.3 grams of sodium chloride.

It is estimated that we take about four grams of sodium per day, an amount that has been accepted by the very long that this damages the heart health. But recent research results suggest that too little salt in the diet can be just as dangerous as too much salt.

Too little salt also increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.

A four-year long-term observational study of more than 100,000 people in 17 countries, concluded that while higher sodium levels correlate with an increased risk of high blood pressure, potassium decreases the adverse effects. In this study it was found that more than six grams of sodium per day increase the risk of heart disease while a lower level, about three grams per day minimize the risk.

The relationship between sodium and your blood pressure is in a close relationship, too much sodium value is bad for your health, too low a sodium value can also have negative effects on your health.

You need salt, but make sure it is the right type.

The answer is clear: Avoid processed salt and use natural salt in moderation. I think it’s hard for a healthy person to overdo the salt intake, if the use of a natural salt is added, and thus you keep your sodium-potassium ratio in a healthy balance.

Some of the many biological processes, is the natural salt are crucial:

• Maintain your acid-base balance.
• Hold and regulate your blood pressure, which supports communication with your brain your muscles, it takes place a healthy sodium-potassium ion exchange, which in turn supports the function of the adrenal glands that produce dozens of vital hormones.
• Himalayan salt has a naturally low sodium content, as well as a naturally higher potassium content, compared to other salts, including other salts, such as natural sea salt or Celtic salt.

The importance of maintaining an optimal sodium-potassium ratio.

It’s a good strategy to promote public health, to waive the strict sodium reduction, and instead recommend a high-quality diet express that is rich in potassium, since this nutrient compensates for too much sodium.

Imbalances not only causes hypertension (high blood pressure), but also lead to a number of other diseases, including:

• Heart disease and stroke
• Osteoporosis
• Ulcers and stomach cancer
• Kidney stones
• Cataracts
• Erectile dysfunction
• Rheumatoid arthritis.

The easiest way to bring your sodium-potassium ratio in a balance is by abandoning a diet with processed foods that are rich in potassium but low in sodium. Processed foods usually contain too much fruit sugar, which is clearly associated with an increased risk for heart disease and virtually all chronic diseases.

Your body needs potassium to regulate the pH levels in your body fluids, and potassium also plays an essential role in the regulation of blood pressure.

As indicated in the study, potassium deficiency leads to:

Edema (swelling), hypertension heart, irregularities / arrhythmia muscle weakness and muscle cramps, continuous thirst and constipation.

How can you optimize your sodium-potassium ratio.

• Remove all industrially processed foods that have a high proportion of processed salt and contain little potassium and other essential nutrients.
• Eat fresh and processed food, ideally from organic farming, in order to ensure an optimal nutrient content.
• When using additional salt you use a natural salt.

The production of green vegetable juice is an excellent way to ensure that you get enough nutrients for optimal health, which is about 300-400 mg of potassium per cup.

Some vegetables that are rich in potassium: lima beans, winter squash, spinach, avocado, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, avocados, asparagus and pumpkin.

Other potassium-rich fruits include papaya, plums, melons and bananas. But be careful, bananas also contain a lot of sugar and have a high potassium content.

How much salt your body needs?

A strict vegetarian diet contains about 0.75 grams of salt per day, and it is estimated that the diet in the Paleolithic contains about 1 to 1.5 grams of salt, a lot of which was clearly sufficient for survival, although they far is below the currently recommended quantities.

If you want to find out if you take the right amount of salt on your body, you can determine your serum sodium levels and adjust your diet accordingly this mirror. As a general rule, the ideal sodium levels is 139, with an optimum range 136-142.

When the mirror is much lower, you probably need to take more salt (natural and unprocessed varieties); if the level is higher, you should restrict your salt intake.

Keep in mind that if you have weak adrenal glands, you lose sodium and then eat more natural salt to compensate for this.