Sodium

Low sodium is fairly easy to achieve with a little practice.

Fist, stop eating canned and prepared frozen foods. Just about all of them are really loaded with sodium. (Even the ones that claim to be healthy) (There are usually other reasons as well why the  prepared foods in the grocery store labeled "healthy" aren't really very healthy. That is discussed in other places)

We have all been indoctrinated about how good soup is for us. Start reading the labels. Canned soups are typically from 800-2400mg of sodium per serving. A serving is not a bowl! A serving is 1/2 cup 2.5 servings per can. My daily limit is 1500 mg. One bowl of canned soup would put me over my limit. The average American consumes in excess of 4000 mg of sodium per day. The recommended daily allowance for a healthy normal person is 2500 mg or less per day. I restricted sodium diet is from 1500-2000 mg per day. Our bodies only need from 250-300 mg per day. We don't need it, we just like the taste of it.

One level U.S. teaspoonful of granulated evaporated salt contains approximately 6,200 mg sodium chloride, or approximately 2,400 mg sodium. Sodium isn't just in what we think of as table salt. There is a lot of seafood that has a lot of naturally occurring salt. (Such as shrimp) sodium is also found in celery, onions and vegetables, and most meats. There are also other things beside salt that contain sodium, such as baking powder, baking soda, MSG (monosodium glutamate) and probably a lot of other things I am not thinking about.

There have been recent articles in the mainstream media about to little salt in our diets. If you listen carefully, they are not talking about salt. They are talking about iodine. Early in the 20th century it was recognized that there were serious complications caused by too little iodine in our diet. The simple solution was to add iodine to our diets by adding it to salt, which was commonly consumed. In my opinion (take it with a grain of salt) it is better to cut way down on the salt consumption and get iodine from other sources such as seafood and fruits and vegetables grown in coastal areas where the soil has iodine from the ocean or add it as a supplement. It is already being added to salt as a supplement so why not decrease the salt and get the iodine from other sources?

Either too much or too little potassium can cause serious health risks.

Too little. An abnormally low plasma potassium concentration is referred to as hypokalemia. Hypokalemia is most commonly a result of excessive loss of potassium, e.g., from prolonged vomiting, the use of some diuretics, some forms of kidney disease, or disturbances of metabolism. The symptoms of hypokalemia are related to alterations in membrane potential and cellular metabolism. They include fatigue, muscle weakness and cramps, and intestinal paralysis, which may lead to bloating, constipation, and abdominal pain. Severe hypokalemia may result in muscular paralysis or abnormal heart rhythms (cardiac arrhythmias) that can be fatal.

Too much Abnormally elevated serum potassium concentrations are referred to as hyperkalemia. Hyperkalemia occurs when potassium intake exceeds the capacity of the kidneys to eliminate it. Oral doses greater than 18 grams taken at one time in individuals not accustomed to high intakes may lead to severe hyperkalemia, even in those with normal kidney function. Hyperkalemia may also result from a shift of intracellular potassium into the circulation, which may occur with the rupture of red blood cells (hemolysis) or tissue damage (e.g., trauma or severe burns). Symptoms of hyperkalemia may include tingling of the hands and feet, muscular weakness, and temporary paralysis. The most serious complication of hyperkalemia is the development of an abnormal heart rhythm (cardiac arrhythmia), which can lead to cardiac arrest.