There are actually different kinds of edible salt. * Regular table salt is the refined variety with more additives like iodine. This is usually sourced from mineral rock deposits. * Unrefined or less refined types are kosher salt and sea salt which is made by evaporating seawater. While they may have varying degrees of additional mineral content, the basic composition of all these types is still sodium chloride and the recommended limits still apply.See alos also :
* [[Sodium]]
* [[Iodine]]
==Special Precautions of Sodium chloride==
* Your body has its own way of regulating sodium and chloride. Excess amounts of these compounds are usually expelled in the urine. But of course when you really overload on regular table salt, you could give your kidneys too much to handle. Those already suffering some kind of renal disease have to drastically reduce salt in their diet.
* increase in blood pressure. People with hypertension are always advised to lessen eating of salty foods and other dishes that contain a lot of sodium. Strokes and cardiovascular diseases are the other associated conditions.
* Hypernatremia is the condition where there’s more sodium than water in your body. Hyponatremia is just the opposite. Both are dangerous and can occur if you don’t properly rehydrate after a lot heavy physical activity.
==Health benefits of Sodium chloride==
As vital as it is, the human body needs only very little salt. Too little salt can be just as bad as too much. Both lead to cases of electrolyte imbalance. The daily upper limit for adults is around 2,300 milligrams. For those aged 51 years and above, it should be just 1,500 mg. For children it’s even less with the limit set at 1,000 mg a day.
* necessary to retain hydration, the reason why salt is in things like Gatorade and other electrolyte drinks * to treat patients suffering from dehydration, diarrhea, etc.
* Salt is key to carrying babies to term
* acts as an antihistamine
* It’s even a sleep aid! A few grains in a glass of water before bed helps you sleep more soundly.
* Exercise : One of the possible reasons why your muscles feel really weak or why you may experience extreme muscle contraction after an intense exercise is because you’ve lost a lot of sodium or other electrolytes through sweat.
[[Category:Treatments]]