How Salt Effects the Body

Salt which is also known as sodium is in your blood naturally. When additional salt is consumed, it absorbs into your blood stream. When the salt gets absorbed into your blood it makes your blood saltier than it should be. When the salt runs through your body and comes into contact with your cells, the salt in your blood makes the fluid on the outer part of your body's cells saltier then the cells that are meant to be. The cells notice this change immediately. As a reaction the cells pull water out of the cells for protection. The cells in turn try to hold on to the water and then tell the brain of the change in quality of the water around them due to the additional salt that is added. When the brain notices that there is too much salt, the brain needs to sponge out the extra salt to prevent any harm. The way your brain does this is by obtaining water from having you feel thirsty. Another way your body gets rid of the extra salt is by slowing down the production of urine and retaining more water.

The constant balance of salt and water in the blood manages our blood pressure. Consuming salt isn't necessarily a bad thing; it just needs to be correctly proportioned throughout your diet.

Salt makes you temporarily gain weight due to the fact that it makes your body hold on to its water. Vice-versa when your body has a reduction of salt your body temporarily looses weight. The loss of weight is due to the abstraction of water. When a large amount of salt is consumed, water moves from our blood stream into our skin producing the excess weight. What people don't always remember is that salt, or sodium chloride, only contains 40% of sodium, when you add salt to foods that already contain sodium you are increasing the amount of salt intake. Increasing the amount of salt intake will cause you to gain excess weight. Excessive salt intake will higher your blood pressure. When you become overweight do to the water that your body absorbs, your blood pressure increases. When your blood pressure increases you can then develop more health problems such as diabetes. Weight gain can cause back pain, and extreme loss of energy. These symptoms can make it extremely difficult to lose weight, due to lack of motivation stemmed from the decrease in energy. You can cut down on the intake of salt by cutting down on processed and or packaged foods, which almost always contains an enormous amount of salt. You can even if desired cut out processed and or packaged foods from your diet altogether. Cutting out these foods can help you to be more health conscious, however they are not the only types of foods that contain salt. In conclusion your body needs less than 2400 mgs of salt and or sodium daily. You should monitor the amount of salt you consume to reduce the amount of water withholding your body produces. By reducing the amount of water your body withholds, you are reducing the amount of water circulating from your blood stream to your skin, creating body fat.