Sodium (Na) (Let’s Not Be Salty)

Sodium

The all too famous Sodium – not to be mistaken for salt, which is sodium and chloride mixed together to form the compound of NaCl or Sodium Chloride. Sodium is actually a metal, an alkali metal to be exact. The 11th element of our periodic table, devised by Dmitri Mendeleev in 1869, is denoted by the letters Na for the Latin word Natrium. Sodium, back in the days of Ancient Egypt, was used to dry out and preserve mummies, hence why in today’s world it is used to preserve foods as well as to melt ice on our highway systems during the Winter months. Regarding the biological uses within the human body, Sodium is known as a blood purifier. When we have enough sodium, not table salt, in the blood we move around as if we are still very young, flexible, and probably stupid thinking we are invincible. Gotta give that credit to sodium! It helps to keep our blood stream alkaline by ridding it of all the acids and toxins that we come across in our daily lives. One of the most common problems many Americans battle today is arthritis, or joint inflammation. You may even be able to relate to this as you’re reading. Sodium helps to keep calcium in the blood stream doing what it does best rather than building up, or calcifying, in the joints causing immense pain and depression because you can’t move how you want to and you most definitely can’t keep up with your kids anymore either. Sodium works with many elements, but it really works well with its life partner Potassium, as I previously mentioned. Sodium and Potassium ions travel through a pump system of channels which allows the muscles to contract and extend without building up too much acid. Basically, they help flush out acid from oxidized calcium and carbon stored in the muscles. The main hurdle is that with every move you make you use up a little or a lot, depending on what you’re doing, of sodium so it constantly gets excreted via sweat, feces, and urine. If you don’t replace it, you are digging yourself an early grave. I would suggest you immediately change your lifestyle habits, get more organic sodium in you, and regain your youth. “Well how do I do that you might ask?” My answer: eat plentiful amounts of celery, carrots, okra, cucumbers, asparagus, root vegetables and unpasteurized goat cheese/milk on a daily basis. These are some common foods, however there are quite a few more containing varying amounts of sodium. To end this with a bold statement that you should always remember – You cannot neglect this element unless of course you want to age quickly!