I have seen people gulp down gallons of water, during and after exercise, not knowing the element of danger present in not bothering to replace the salt lost through sweat. There are marathoners and triathletes who have died of hyponatremia (low blood sodium) because of high intake of water without adequate salt replenishment.
Salt is made up of two electrically charged particles: sodium and chloride — also called electrolytes. In your body, sodium helps keep the right amount of water inside and outside your cells and in your blood.
An athlete who feels thirsty during an exercise session drinks so much water, it dilutes the sodium outside the cells, too much water seeps into cells and they swell — including brain cells. This can result in the athlete feeling weak, nauseous and may be fatal in some conditions.
Consuming sodium-containing sports drinks helps, but it doesn’t protect against hyponatremia because sports drinks offer far more water than sodium. The typical sports drink may have only 1/5 the concentration of normal blood serum.
When you exercise, you lose some sodium via sweat. The amount you lose depends on:
1. How much salt you sweat. Some sweat more salt than some others
2. How much you sweat. Athletes who sweat heavily lose more sodium than those who do not sweat as much.
3. How much you exercise in the heat.
It is interesting to note how too much salt causes high blood pressure. As you know, kidneys are what regulate the sodium content in the body and they evict the extra salt through urine. But sometimes, if your BP is a bit salt sensitive, i.e., which increases with age, your body retains more fluid in the blood and blood pressure rises.
To reduce your risk of developing high blood pressure, you should not only eat a low-sodium diet, but boost your intake of calcium, magnesium and potassium –three minerals that help counter the negative effects of sodium.
How much salt does an athlete actually need?
For non-athletes, the body only needs 500 mg sodium and the U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommend no more than 2,400 mg sodium/day. Most easily consume 3,000 to 5,000 mg daily, mostly through processed foods.
In nature, sodium chloride never occurs in pure form. A multitude of essential major and trace elements are in its crystals. Here is a partial list of these minerals and their function in human metabolism.
Sodium: Essential to digestion and metabolism, regulates body fluids, nerve and muscular functions.
Chlorine: Essential component of human body fluids.
Calcium: Needed for bone mineralization.
Magnesium: Dissipates sodium excess, forms and hardens bones, ensures mental development and sharpens intelligence, promotes assimilation of carbohydrates, assures metabolism of vitamin C and calcium, retards the aging process and dissolves kidney stones.
Sulphur: Controls energy transfer in tissue, bone and cartilage cells, essential for protein compounds.
Silicon: Needed in carbon metabolism and for skin and hair balance.
Iodine: Vital for energy production and mental development, ensures production of thyroid hormones, needed for strong auto-defense mechanism (lymphatic system).
Bromine: In magnesium bromide form, a nervous system regulator and restorer, vital for pituitary hormonal function.
Phosphorus: Essential for biochemical synthesis and nerve cell functions related to the brain, constituent of phosphoproteins, nucleoproteins and phospholipids.
Vanadium: Of greater value for tooth, bone calcification than fluorine, tones cardiac and nervous systems, reduces cholesterol, regulates phospholipids in blood, a catalyst for the oxidation of many biological substances.
Most active people consume adequate sodium, even without adding salt to their food. For example, you get sodium from bread (150 mg/slice), cheese (220 mg/oz), eggs (60 mg each), and yogurt (125 mg/8 oz). Athletes who sweat a lot probably need more sodium, but generally consume more, particularly if they eat fast foods. Just two slices of cheese pizza (1,200 mg) can easily replace sodium losses through sweat.
Now let’s take a look at some of the important things salt does for the body:-
* Water balance regulation and fluid distribution either side of the cells is an important function of salt.
* Salt is very important to the proper function of the adrenal glands.
* Salt is most effective in stabilizing irregular heartbeat and contrary to the misconception that it causes high blood pressure, it is actually essential for the regulation of blood pressure – in conjunction with water. Naturally the proportions are critical.
* Salt is vital to the extraction of excess acidity from the cells in the body, particularly the brain cells. Acidity-Alkalinity is balanced constantly by the kidneys.
* Salt is vital for the generation of hydroelectric energy in cells in the body. It is used for local power generation at the sites of energy need by the cells.
* Salt is vital to nerve stimulation, brain function, and for the communication of nerve cells.
* Salt is vital for absorption of food particles through the intestinal tract. [Salt stimulates production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach.]
* Salt is vital for the clearance of the lungs of mucus plugs and sticky phlegm, particularly in asthma and cystic fibrosis.
* Salt is essential for the prevention of muscle cramps because it is involved in muscle contraction and expansion.
* Salt is vital to prevent excess saliva production to the point that it flows out of the mouth during sleep. Needing to constantly mop up excess saliva indicates salt shortage.
* Salt is absolutely vital to making the structure of bones firm. Osteoporosis, in a major way, is a result of salt and water shortage in the body.
* Salt is vital for sleep regulation.
* Salt is a vitally needed element in the treatment of diabetics.
* Salt is vital for the prevention of gout [painful inflammation of the joints] and gouty arthritis.
* Salt is vital for maintaining sexuality and libido [sexual desire].
* Salt is vital for preventing varicose veins and spider veins on the legs .
* Twenty-seven percent of the body’s salt is in the bones. Osteoporosis results when the body needs more salt and takes it from the body. Bones are made up of 22% water.
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