Sodium rich foods
Sodium is an essential nutrient having important roles in the regulation of blood and body fluids, the transmission of nerve impulses, heart activity, and certain metabolic functions.
Sodium participates in the regulation of blood volume, blood pressure, osmotic equilibrium, and pH. Sodium is also important in neuron function and osmoregulation between cells and the extracellular fluid.
Sodium is actively pumped out of cells. (Potassium is actively pumped into cells.) So the sodium concentration is low inside cells and high outside cells in the extracellular fluid, where sodium is the most prominent positive ion.
The concentration of sodium in the extracellular fluid is about 140 mmoles/liter. (This is probably a concentration close to that in the primodial ocean where the first unicellular organisms developed.)
In an average human weighing 70 kg, the extracellular fluid (including the fluid of blood) amounts to about 15 liters. This amount of fluid carries around 50 grams of sodium or 90% of the body’s total sodium content. Here sodium exists as sodium chloride. More on sodium here.
The recommended intake of sodium as sodium chloride is 2.3 grams per day.
The Western diet usually contains too much (about 3-4 grams per day).
Below is a list of foods having the highest content of sodium in milligrams (mg) per 100 grams of the food. The list also includes the number of kilocalories (kcal) and the sodium content in milligrams (mg) per kcal, and the list is sorted with respect to the latter with the highest values at the top.
As you can see there are many foods having a high sodium content per kcal. So if you are lacking in sodium (which is uncommon), you could easily correct the deficiency by eating some of these foods. Small amounts should be sufficient in most cases.
You should be careful not to get too much sodium. You can easily overdose yourself.
The list is made using ECstep’s Personal Nutrition Data Program and includes more than 100 of the sodium richest foods. Commercial brand products are not included in this list.