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Wanna talk about the dangers of too much salt or too much sodium .
Okay ?
We have heart disease .
We have high blood pressure .
We have stroke , edema , increased mortality .
Sounds pretty scary .
Right ?
Well , these things occur not for the reason you think .
I mean , the question is , is it really too much sodium ?
Is that what's causing the problem ?
In reality , our body tends to hold sodium if there's a potassium deficiency .
In fact , there's something called salt sensitivity where the body is retaining sodium , but the reason why you retain sodium and therefore water , is because you have a potassium deficiency .
This is something that's really overlooked and not talked about too much .
We're so focused on sodium , we kinda forget about this other mineral called potassium , but sodium potassium always work together in the body .
It's kinda like a teeter totter .
The requirements for sodium per day are 23 100 milligrams , but the requirements for potassium are 47100 .
That's actually more than double .
So this ratio is really , really important .
Okay .
2 to 1 , twice as much potassium as sodium .
And guess what ?
You will no longer be salt sensitive .
In fact , the symptoms of this excess sodium will disappear when you increase your potassium .
You see the majority of the population has this problem of too much sodium and not enough potassium .
Okay ?
They don't consume enough greens .
They eat a lot of processed foods .
You get your sodium from junk foods , refined foods , and restaurant foods .
Very few people ever consume enough potassium foods .
Right ?
They think if I have a banana a day , that's gonna do it .
A banana has about 300 milligrams .
Now remember , you need 47100 .
Okay ?
You'd have to have , you know , more than 12 bananas , and then you're gonna get all the sugar , which is not gonna happen .
So you have this situation where people are just really heavy on the sodium , but very , very low on the potassium , and this is where we have the problem .
On top of that , okay , 38% of the population has a genetic , variation with a certain gene called the ACE gene , which means that gene is overactive , which means they're gonna be more salt sensitive when they have more sodium , and they're gonna have more blood pressure because of that .
This simple solution is just to increase your potassium , especially if you have this gene problem , and not do what everyone else is doing by reducing their sodium , reducing their salt , going on a low salt diet .
Because now they have a situation where they're low in sodium and low in potassium .
And that's even worse because they're gonna be going around so tired .
You need both sodium potassium for something called the sodium potassium pump .
Okay ?
In fact , all of your cells have this pump .
This is what activates the nerves .
This is what activates the muscles .
And when you're deficient in these key electrolytes , boy , you get all sorts of issues with the heart , like arrhythmias .
You get tired , you feel weak , and all you need to do is increase the sodium and potassium , but in the right ratios .
And the real problem is a potassium deficiency .
Low potassium causes the retention of sodium , And this is where you have all the problems with the heart , with the blood pressure , with hardening of the arteries , with increased risk of arrhythmias and stroke .
Potassium is not retained like sodium is .
So when we have a lot of potassium , it's easily eliminated through the kidneys , unless you have like stage 5 kidney disease , which is very rare .
However , sodium is much more retained , especially if you have low potassium .
So this is probably a common cause of , leg cramps as well .
So we do need sodium .
Okay .
We need sufficient amounts , but we need a lot more potassium .
Now to really learn about how to get more potassium through your foods , this is the next video you should watch right here .