Lower Your Salt – Save Your Bones

More Salt in your diet can result in more Calcium loss from your bones.  This also explains the association of Osteoporosis with Calcium containing Kidney Stones.  Calcium containing kidney stones are more likely the unintended consequence of too much sodium in the diet rather than too much calcium.

Most of us get far more than the recommended 1500 to 2500 mg of sodium daily.  My BP issues require that I try to stay under 1500 mg.  To do that, I have to avoid “flavor enhanced” (with injected salt water) meats, deli foods, prepared and canned foods, most chips and crackers, most salsas and condiments, many cheeses, and most “fast food”.  We do a lot of made from fresh in our home.

Dr Todd Alexander and others at the University of Alberta Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry found the link while studying kidney function.  The same molecule that keeps or discards sodium in the kidney also keeps or discards calcium.  That makes it very difficult for the kidney to get rid of sodium without peeing out calcium too.

You steal calcium from your bones if you pee out a lot of calcium, unless you absorb a lot of calcium from diet and supplements.  Remember that you need enough vitamin D3 to absorb calcium.  Stealing calcium from your bones produces osteoporosis / increased fracture risk.

Take control naturally by limiting the sodium (salt) in your diet.  Start by reading labels.

Jay Ginther, MD

Categorised in: Bone Health, Nutrition, Osteoporosis, Take Control Naturally