Sodium is the major cation of extracellular fluid, comprising over 90 per cent of the cations on the blood.
Sodium is consumed in a variety of forms such as sodium chloride (salt), sodium bicarbonate and common food additive such as monosodium glutamate, sodium phosphate, sodium carbonate and sodium benzoate.
Tissue formation, as in growth, requires about 1.1 -1.2 mg/kg of tissue gained; the requirement for maintenance should be considerably less.
The RNI for sodium is 1.6 g/day for adults, with an LRNI of 575 mg/day. The majority of people in the UK consume levels in excess of the RNI. Average intake range in Australia and New Zealand has been set up at 460 – 920 mg/day for adults.
Chloride occurs generally in association with sodium as the major anion in extracellular fluid, but it is not found in bone.
The human body contains sodium about 1.8 gm Na/kg at free bodyweight, most of which is present in extracellular fluids. The content of serum normally is about 140 mEg/liter .
Because obligatory losses of sodium are so low, dietary sodium depletion is hard to induce and sodium deficiency usually results from losses caused by renal, adrenal, or enteric disease; renal disease may cause either retention or loss of sodium.
Note:
*RNI – Reference Nutrient Intake
*LRNI – Lower Reference Nutrient Intake
How much sodium our body need?
