Do you need salt to live?

Answer 1

You can throw away your salt shaker and live a very healthy life. But, you need to have sodium in your diet. Sodium is found in abundance in most foods, some too much so. Keep your sodium and potassium levels balanced, so eat lots of fruit and vegetables to offset all that sodium. That will help your blood pressure as well.

Answer 2

Sodium is distributed throughout all body fluids, including the blood, lymph, the fluid between cells, and the fluid within each cell. The blood and other fluids require a narrow range of sodium concentration. When a person consumes a salty meal the blood concentration of sodium increases, which stimulates thirst and more water is consumed to dilute the blood back to normal sodium levels. The extra sodium and water are then excreted by the kidneys. Water retention in many cases is a result of not drinking enough water to allow the kidneys to excrete excess fluid and sodium. The blood becomes too diulted if blood levels of sodium drop and water is replaced without sodium, the lack of sodium outside the cells allows water to move from the blood into the cells. Symptoms of water intoxication develop, such as headache, muscular weakness and poor memory. Sodium along with potassium and chloride function to maintain the balance of normal pH, the maintenance of muscle contraction and relaxation, and the maintenance of normal nerve transmission and function.