In This ArticleView AllIn This ArticleWhy You Need ItHow Much to EatWays to Flush It Out
In This ArticleView All
View All
In This Article
Why You Need It
How Much to Eat
Ways to Flush It Out
Most people have a love-hate relationship with salt—aka sodium. It tastes great, and sodium is needed to help our bodies function properly. However, too much sodium over time can lead to serious health concerns such as anincreased risk of heart diseaseandhigh blood pressure. If you have or are at risk for one of these conditions, your healthcare team will likely advise you tolimit your sodium intake. But for those times when you’ve overindulged in salty foods, here are a few ways to flush out excess sodium from your body.
6 Sneaky Signs You May Be Eating Too Much Salt
Getty Images / d3sign
Why Your Body Needs Sodium
Sodium, a mineral and electrolyte found in salt, is commonly used to add flavor to foods. But it has several other uses that can contribute to your overall health. Sodium is needed for our nerves to work efficiently and our muscles to properly contract and relax. It’s also an essential nutrient for regulating fluid and electrolyte balance in the body.
How Much Sodium Should You Eat?
Sodium is naturally present in certain foods, such as milk, celery and beets. Most of the salt we eat tends to come from store-bought foods and foods prepared at restaurants. Salt is added to foods for flavor and, in some cases, for preserving foods.
According to the2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, Americans should consume less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day as part of a healthy diet regimen. Unfortunately, the majority of adults eat more than 3,400 mg of sodium each day. Consuming too much sodium can bring about some serious health concerns, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and more.
The Ultimate Low-Sodium Foods List for a Low-Sodium Diet
How to Flush Excess Sodium From Your Body
While eating too much sodium, in the long run, puts your health at risk, in the short term, you may feel a little bloated after eating salty foods. The four tips below are meant to help you with relieving the bloating symptoms, but if you have or think you havehypernatremia, a condition where your electrolyte levels are imbalanced due to dehydration, taking certain medications or consuming a high sodium diet, leaving your sodium levels abnormally high in the blood, please talk to your primary healthcare provider. Similarly,hyponatremia, or low blood sodium, can occur with too much fluid intake and could be dangerous.
Drink More Water
Here’s How Much Water You Should Be Drinking Every Day
Increase Your Potassium Intake
There can be too much of a good thing, though. As you age, your body has a harder time removing potassium from your blood. It’s also a mineral to keep an eye on for people with kidney disease. Try to get your potassium from food sources rather than supplements, and talk to your healthcare practitioner if you have questions.
Get Moving
Increasing your physical activity is a great way to help your body get rid of any excess sodium. Exercising causes your body to shed a combination of water and salt through sweating. Because of this natural process, it’s important tomaintain good hydration when working outregularly, including drinking water during your workout when needed.
However,you can drink too much waterduring exercise. Hyponatremia is rare, but it is something that marathoners and athletes should be aware of. Hyponatremia means your blood sodium is too low—this can occur if you drink too much water. If you’re exercising for a long time, especially in hot conditions where you may sweat more, be sure to consume some salt and drink water to quench your thirst, but don’t overdo it.
Put Down the Salt Shaker
Cooking more at home also gives you more control over how much salt to add to your foods. You can also use herbs and spices to add extra flavor without increasing sodium. Browse our collection ofhealthy low-sodium recipesfor meal inspirations. And for those days when you need to get dinner on the table quicker, consider getting meals from alow-sodium meal delivery service.
9 Easy Ways to Cut Back on Sodium
The Bottom Line
Sodium is essential for many bodily functions, but too much of it can be problematic and cause serious health concerns. If you’re feeling bloated, puffy or like you’ve eaten too much salt, try increasing your water intake, adding more potassium to your daily diet, increasing physical activity and reducing added salt.
Was this page helpful?Thanks for your feedback!Tell us why!OtherSubmit
Was this page helpful?
Thanks for your feedback!
Tell us why!OtherSubmit
Tell us why!
