What is SODIUM?
Sodium is a common element in the natural environment and is often found in food and drinking water. In drinking water, sodium can occur naturally or be the result of road salt application, water treatment chemicals or ion-exchange water-softening units. Sodium levels may also vary in bottled water and carbonated water, depending on the brand.
The human body needs sodium in order to maintain blood pressure, control fluid levels and for normal nerve and muscle function. Sodium in drinking water is not a health concern for most people but may be for someone with specific health issues that require them to be on a sodium-restricted diet.
SODIUM IN DRINKING WATER
When thirst kicks in, we tend to reach out to the closest mineral bottled water we have at hand, without taking a single glance at its composition.
Most of the time, people are not very much concerned about the components of bottled waters, and are less likely to choose one brand over the other, unless it was the packaging or temperature of one bottle that was favored more during that particular moment.
Taking a second to scan the labels on a bottle of water does make a difference, Drinking water has lots of benefits and is important for our survival, but not every bottled water is the same in its composition.
“People never tend to read water composition since we all know the importance of water and that a person can live 40 days without eating but never without drinking,”
Each element in different brands of bottled water is important for the body, “One must read carefully the composition of water, and especially look for the amount of sodium content.”
Excess sodium consumption increases the risk of hypertension, heart diseases and strokes, which is why a very few residents pick bottled water with low sodium content.
Even though sodium in drinking water contributes only a small fraction of a person’s overall sodium intake, it is highly recommended to drink water low in sodium content.
“Sodium is the main positively charged ion outside the body’s cells,” “It attracts water, and this is why too much sodium raises blood pressure and aggravates hypertension. It is rare to find diets that lack sodium.”
As per the recommendations by Dietary Reference Intake (DRI), the recommended intake for people between the ages of 19-50 is 1,500mg of sodium per day, for those between 51-70 it’s 1,300mg per day and those 71 years and older it’s 1,200mg per day.
“It is for nutrition’s best sake to choose water rich in calcium and magnesium but low in sodium. Since our diet is very high in salt, it is recommended to drink water with sodium content lower than 20 mg/L. If you drink two liters of water containing 20 mg/l of sodium you will reach 40 mg that is about five per cent of the total intake,”
HIGHER SODIUM?
Excess sodium consumption from eating a meal high in salt can increase the body’s water content which can show up on the scale, but the body sheds the excess over the next day or so as the sodium is excreted.
“Gaining or losing water weight does not reflect a change in body fat. Fat weight takes days or weeks to change noticeably, whereas water weight can change overnight. If blood sodium rises, as it will after a person eats salted foods, thirst ensures that the person will drink water until the sodium-to-water ratio is restored. Then the kidneys excrete the extra water along the extra sodium.”
Excess salt is excreted as soon as enough water is drunk to carry the salt out of the body. So to keep body salt under control is to eat salt in moderation and drink more water.
ZERO SODIUM HEALTH BENEFITS:
The recipe developed for BWBB is an opportunity to talk about the properties of zero-sodium water.
Recently launched (2019) a new product ZERO SODIUM under new brand of CLOUD 9.
In the Middle Eastern countries, the market trend leans towards water with low sodium or Zero sodium.
BWBB’s Zero Sodium Water was the first step towards even healthier drinking water, removing the one mineral that many of us consume too much of on a daily basis.