Salty Foods That Harm Your Kidneys and Increase Diabetes Risk

Have you ever eaten a meal or snack that didn’t taste particularly salty, perhaps even a bit sweet and sour, but afterward felt extremely thirsty, dizzy, sleepy, found your shoes tighter, and kept running to the bathroom? Be cautious; you might have unknowingly stepped on a “high-sodium landmine,” putting your body in high osmotic pressure and blood sodium levels.

The dangers of high sodium intake

Most people are aware that consuming too much salt or sodium over time can lead to high blood pressure, stroke, and heart disease, and it’s the second leading cause of chronic kidney failure and dialysis. However, what’s more alarming and unexpected is that many clinical conditions, such as gout, kidney stones, osteoporosis, stomach cancer, and even diabetes and dementia, are closely related to high blood sodium levels.

People in the U.S. consume too much salt. The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that adults consume no more than 2,300 milligrams (mg) of sodium daily. However, the average American consumes about 3,400 mg of sodium daily, about 50 percent more than the recommended amount.

Symptoms of excessive sodium intake

While eating salty foods might prompt self-awareness, the real danger lies in foods that don’t taste salty, but are high in sodium. High-sodium foods don’t taste salty but have extremely high sodium content. After consuming them, your body may quickly exhibit the following three changes.

Swollen eyelids and feet

Sodium ions attract water, and excessive salt intake typically results in localized swelling. For instance, puffy eyelids make it hard to open your eyes, shoes and socks suddenly feel tight, and rings and watches feel snug even if you haven’t gained weight. These are all external signs of excessive salt intake.

Excessive thirst and frequent urination

Eating too much salt can lead to hypernatremia and increased osmotic pressure in the body. When in hypernatremia, the body naturally tries to expel sodium to restore balance, triggering thirst signals from the brain, making your mouth and throat feel dry, and prompting you to drink water.

The kidneys primarily excrete sodium through urine, so you’ll drink water and run to the bathroom frequently. Urinating more than eight times a day or more than twice at night is considered frequent urination. If you feel thirsty and need to urinate after a high-sodium meal, your kidneys work harder to expel excess salt, increasing urination frequency.

Headache, fatigue, brain fog, irritability, and insomnia

You might have encountered a high-sodium landmine if you feel exhausted, sleepy, foggy-headed, or have a headache after a meal. Clinical studies show that adults consuming 3.5 grams of salt daily are one-third more likely to experience headaches than those consuming only 1.5 grams. Generally, headaches are closely related to high blood pressure, but many high-sodium consumers experience headaches and fatigue even without high blood pressure.

Excessive salt intake can lead to dehydration, which impairs cognitive function and causes brain fog. Remember to drink more water if you experience headaches, fatigue, and brain fog after lunch. High blood sodium not only causes headaches and brain fog, but also leads to irritability and insomnia. Eating a salty dinner might result in insomnia.

What diseases can result from eating too much salt?

If you enjoy salty foods, what health issues might arise over one, two, or ten years?

1. Diabetic nephropathy: Eating too much salt can lead to diabetes. Studies show that a long-term high-salt diet increases the risk of diabetes by about 40 percent. Salt stimulates the secretion of ghrelin, the hunger hormone, making you feel hungry and eat more. It also inhibits insulin secretion and increases insulin resistance, reducing insulin sensitivity over time and significantly increasing the risk of diabetes. Diabetes is the leading cause of dialysis in Taiwan, so excessive salt intake is also a cause of diabetic nephropathy.
2. Hypertensive nephropathy: Sodium attracts water, so consuming a lot of sodium increases the water content in blood vessels, raising blood pressure. High blood sodium also leads to vascular sclerosis and reduced elasticity, increasing the risk of hypertension over time. Chronic high blood pressure decreases kidney function, leading to renal hypertension, hypertensive nephropathy, and chronic kidney failure.
3. Renal sodium excretion: Salt is sodium chloride, and excessive sodium ions increase the kidney’s workload. High blood sodium reduces renal blood flow, accelerating kidney aging.
4. Urinary stones: Sodium and calcium are usually excreted together. When sodium ions are excreted in large amounts, calcium ions are also excreted in large amounts, increasing calcium ion concentration in urine, leading to urinary crystals and a higher risk of stones.
5. Acute gout: A high-sodium diet increases the frequency of acute gout attacks in hyperuricemia patients, rapidly worsening kidney function.

Besides these risks, excessive salt intake can cause stomach inflammation, stomach cancer, myocardial infarction, cerebral infarction, osteoporosis, and dementia, so caution is necessary. While everyone knows that foods like pickles, ramen, beef jerky, preserved plums, braised beef noodles, curry rice, and braised pork rice are highly salty and should be consumed in moderation, many foods that don’t taste salty are high-sodium landmines that require extra caution.

Seven high-sodium foods

1. Bread: Bread is an easily overlooked high-sodium food. Salt is added to toast to improve dough hydration and enhance gluten strength and elasticity, improving texture. Every 100 grams of white bread contains about 443 mg of sodium. It might not seem like much, but two and a half slices exceed 600 mg of sodium. Eating 8-10 slices equals the recommended daily sodium intake. But you won’t just eat plain bread; you’ll add peanut butter, jam, or other toppings, increasing sodium intake.
2. Cheese: Cheese is nutritious and popular among children. Besides being used in dishes, parents often give it as a snack, thinking it’s healthy, unaware that every 100 grams of sliced cheddar cheese contains about 1,594 mg of sodium. Children consuming high sodium can quickly become thirsty and agitated and experience frequent urination and nocturia.
3. Processed foods: Processed foods are primarily high in sodium. Cold cuts, hot dogs, and cured meats such as salami are a top source of sodium in the average U.S. diet, with 365 mg in a single slice of ham. Frozen meals are often high in salt, unhealthy fats, and calories. Pizza contains many ingredients high in sodium, including cheese, sauce, dough, and processed meat.
4. Canned foods: Canned entrees, such as ravioli, spam, chili, and tuna fish, are high in sodium, as are canned vegetables. Just 1 cup (154 grams) of canned, drained tuna in water can contain around 337 mg of sodium, while 1 cup of canned mixed vegetables contains around 450 mg of sodium. Manufacturers add sodium to canned soups as a preservative and flavor enhancer, which can add between 700 mg and 1,000 mg of sodium per serving.
5. Sauces, dressings, and condiments: One tablespoon of ketchup contains 154 mg of sodium, while a tablespoon of oyster sauce contains 437 mg of sodium. Soy sauce is the worst offender, with a single tablespoon containing 879 mg of sodium. Salad dressings, including Caesar, which doesn’t taste salty, are also high-sodium dressings, containing 1,275 mg of sodium per 100 grams.
6. Sports drinks and tomato juice: When chilled, high-sodium sports drinks taste sweet and refreshing, misleading people into thinking they quench thirst but increase it. Many vegetable beverages, such as tomato juice, may not taste salty, but they are high in sodium. For example, a single 340-ml serving of 100 percent tomato juice contains 980 mg sodium.
7. Broth and stocks: Packaged broths and stocks, used as the base for soups and stews or to flavor meat and vegetable dishes, are notoriously high in salt. For example, an 8-ounce (240-mL) serving of beef broth averages 782 mg of sodium. Chicken and vegetable broths are similarly high in sodium.

How to remedy excessive sodium intake?

Modern refined diets lead to daily sodium intake exceeding recommendations. To accelerate sodium excretion, you can adopt the following three methods.

1. Hydrate adequately: Drinking enough water helps expel excess sodium. Drinking sufficient plain water daily promotes urinary sodium excretion. You should drink 3-4 percent of your body weight in plain water daily to expel excess sodium ions.
2. Increase potassium intake: Potassium helps balance sodium excretion. Foods rich in potassium include bananas, avocados, cantaloupes, and spinach. Consuming these foods aids in sodium excretion.
3. Moderate exercise and bathing: Exercise and bathing help increase sodium metabolism, and sweating expels sodium ions. However, excessive sweating during exercise can lead to excessive sodium loss, causing hyponatremia, which is dangerous. Remember to replenish your drink with sports drinks or plain water with a pinch of salt during heavy sweating.

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