Does Too Much Plant Based SODIUM Cause Negative Health Effects?

I've been addicted to sodium my whole life and always preferred salty to sweet on SAD. Especially as cooked vegan this was always the case. My concern is that I am finding ways to overdo it once again with raw foods. Some days I will eat cantaloupe, celery, carrots and coconut water and I feel like I am using it as a crutch like I always have. Is it possible that some people's requirements are way higher than 500 mg per day? I also cannot find any info on which sodium compound is found in plants. If it's not sodium chloride then what exactly is it? This question has really been nagging me. I even sent an email to an old friend that majored in chemistry but have recieved no response to this question.

Tags: sodium

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Permalink Reply by Mango-Man on August 28, 2011 at 11:12pm

Hey it is impossible to get too much of anything fro whole, fresh, raw, plant foods that appeal to our senses and therefore we are optimally adapted to consuming. However, it is certainly possible to not get enough, particularly so if you have underlying health issues. For instance, me, I crave salt all the time. The two primary reasons for this is Kidney or adrenal issues. The dcotors tell me my kidneys are fine, and so I'm fairly sure, due to my symptoms, I have problems with chronic fatigue. This has not been clinically diagnosed due to incompetent professionals.

If I could consistently fit in my stomach and financially afford, I would easily be eating 1000mg of sodium per day from celery, melons and coconut water. However, coconuts are far too expensive here to be a regular part of the diet, the melons have been pathetic this season and I can only really eat a bunch of celery per day. If I blend it, it tastes horrible, even with lots of bananas/dates. Romaine lettuce on the other hand, I can eat lots of until I get tired or bored of chewing.

At one point I was eating half a case of cherry tomatoes with my dinner salad but that hardly made a dent in my sodium cravings.

Ultimately, you have nothing to worry about. If you crave salt, eat the salt. See what happens on a consistent 100% low fat raw vegan diet and healthful lifestyle in the next few months. If you are still heavily craving sodium in say 3 months time, I would see a professional to have your kidneys and adrenal functioning checked out

The salt in plant foods is sodium. Other electrolytes found in plants foods are potassium (obviously) and chloride is also found in tomatoes, greens and other foods, but it is a seperate element, not bound with sodium.

Hope this helps

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Permalink Reply by Star Khechara on August 29, 2011 at 12:14am

technically 'salt' doesnt appear in natural food at all. in chemistry a salt is a compund create from a reaction between an acid and an alkali. so Sodium (alakaline metal) reacted with Hydrochloric acid = Sodium chloride (the finished compound is the 'salt')

when we crave salt we are most likely craving the individual alkaline metals(minerals) as salt doesn't exist in food as the compund like that.

The sea contains salt as it aso contains the element chlorine with in water becomes hydrochloric acid and so the reaction happens in situ to create the sodium chloride 'salt'.

ps soap is also salt and we dont crave that.

I hope this doesn't sound pedantic but I just feel it is important to clear up the diference between a an alkaline mineral and a compound. It is important in nutritional biochemistry to understand this difference and there's a lot of salt posts on this forum but many contain misinfo about what salt is and what minerals are.

we do not actually need to eat salt (the compound) but we do need to ensure we consume all of the alkaline minerals from which our body's can create the compounds it needs.

Greens and many fruits contain sodium and potassium in the correct ratio for the human cell. Cellular health hinges very much on the correct ratio of sodium/potassium to keep the osmotic pressure of the cell in check.

Western diets contain too much sodium and to little potassium because of the over-use of the compound 'salt' which is created from sodium only and none of the other essential minerals.

Too much sodium throws the cellular 'sodium pump' out of whack and the cell walls become unstable and inefficient, the key to health is at the cellular level with nutrients in/waste out.

So dont eat 'salt' but ensure you eat foods rich in the alkaline minerals

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Permalink Reply by Moiraine Damodred on August 29, 2011 at 5:32am

It's NEVER about excess sodium, but a bad ratio of sodium to potassium. With what you're eating, it would be IMPOSSIBLE to have a health negative ratio of sodium to potassium, trust me. ;) 500 mg is actually optimal, but from plant sources, please, as you are brilliantly doing. Eat the greens, as well! As was said, it's artificial created sodium (not the type in plant tissue) that is the problem, regardless of ratios, actually, so you're totally fine.

The point of succeeding on the diet is not restricting on fruit and greens. So please enjoy.

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Permalink Reply by Fruitnut 5150 on August 29, 2011 at 8:38am

Thanks for the responses. One of my main reasons for trying to get to the bottom of this is because the Wikipedia article says that sodium is not found independently in nature. It says that it can only be found in the form of a compound.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium

I know you can't believe everything you believe on Wikipedia but when I did google searches about it nothing came up.