Since the Standard American Diet often involves too much salt, most people focus on reducing their sodium intake.   However, if you are not eating any processed foods, you are not adding any salt to what you eat, and you are drinking lots of water, it is possible you may end up sodium-deficient, especially if you eat Miso and other soy products.   You can take a blood test to see what your sodium level is.


Miso is known to have angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors.   These ACE inhibitors can cause diuresis, thus increasing sodium excretion in the kidneys and inhibiting sodium reabsorption in the renal tubules.   This is what causes it to be known for having a preventative effect on hypertension.


Some other foods that are known to contain these ACE inhibitors are other soy products such as tofu and tempeh, mushrooms, seaweed, and Hawthorne Berry.


So if you are eating a very healthy diet of no processed food and no added salt, and you are drinking a lot of water, and sweating a lot from exercise or from hot flashes caused by menopause, it is possible you may become sodium-deficient.


We often only hear about how harmful it is to get too much sodium, without ever hearing about how harmful it can be to become sodium-deficient.   Sodium is one of the electrolytes that is necessary to survive.


Here are some symptoms of sodium-deficiency (hyopnatremia):

Nausea and vomiting, headache, migraine, vision migraine (with possible temporary Aphasia), confusion, loss of energy, drowsiness, fatigue, restlessness, irritability, muscle weakness, spasms, cramps, seizures, coma


Good Health involves Balance.   It is important to drink enough water, but it is also important not to drink too much water.   The same applies to all of the various nutrients.   If your blood test shows you are sodium-deficient and you decide you need to add a little salt to your diet to bring your sodium level up to a Normal level, do the research regarding which salt currently on the market is testing in regard to the harmful heavy metals, such as lead, mercury, arsenic, and cadmium.   This may vary at different times.   Do the research and select the salt that has been recently tested to have the lowest amounts of these harmful heavy metals.


You can easily get your sodium level tested by having a blood test.   It would be good to work with your health care practitioner to get your blood tested for this as well as testing for things like possible vitamin and iodine deficiencies, cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and many other things.


Working with a Health Care Practitioner can help you see where you are in regard to seeing and interpreting blood and urine tests, with diagnoses of possible health conditions, and plans to cure these things.


Working with a Health Coach can help you stay on track with your chosen plan.   Health Coaches do not give Medical Advice or interpret test results, but help you stay on track with the medical advice you have been given.


*Information on this website if for general purposes only and is not intended to be medical advice or to apply to any one individual.


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