Re: Salt...Sodium...Chlorine...

[Guest guest]

Hi Tony:

Just a couple of silly little details ........... my somewhat

vague recollection is that the story was that the electrolyte

composition of the human body appears to be very close to what the

composition of sea water WAS at the time our ancestors emerged from

the sea. As more dissolved material has flowed into the sea from

rivers in the intervening time period, however, (and some

precipitated out also, especially calcium) sea water is now more

salty than it was back then, and the human body less salty than sea

water now is.

Second, as regards the salt in sweat. Is there reason to believe

sweat normally contains sodium and chloride ions in a 1:1 ratio?

Indeed, does our blood, and other tissues, contain Na and Cl ions in

a 1:1 ratio? If we eat some vegetable that has a very high sodium

content, or a very high chlorine content, or for that matter a very

high potassium content, let's say potato which has a potassium:sodium

ratio by weight of 78:1, would we expect that to cause an electrolyte

imbalance? (I haven't been able to find data for Cl content).

Many studies measure sodium intake by measuring sodium excretion in

urine, based presumably on the assumption that we all consume much

too much of it and excrete the excess, which is closely related to

the amount consumed.

I know that if I eat salty food my weight rises dramatically - on one

isolated occasion, by eleven pounds in 24 hours - as the body tries

to dilute the excessively high salt content by retaining water that

otherwise would have been excreted. So what I am suggesting is that

the body has elaborate mechanisms available to it to keep

electrolytes at around appropriate levels, excreting what is in

excess and retaining what is in short supply. So it is not clear to

me that someone who was deficient in one or more electrolyte

components would cause an imbalance by consuming a food or supplement

that contained the deficient element(s) in an appropiate quantity.

JR appears to be implying that he believes he has a deficiency in

both Na and Cl.

Anyway as I said, this is a bit of a detail.

Rodney.

> >

> > > MY bad.... I needed " sodium chloride " . Yes I remember my HS

> > chemistry,

> > > and freshman college chemistry, and..... I need SALT, in

goldilocks

> > > (just right) amounts. I am not at risk of getting too much.

> > >

> > > JR