Salt and sodium

[missprim]

Do you know how to work out how many grams of salt are in 438 mg of sodium?
Many thanks.

[Pigletion]

salt is sodium chloride, NaCl (well mainly in the context that human's consume it).

To convert sodium to salt equivalent multiply by 2.5. Molecular weight of NaCl = 58.443 g/mol, Na = 22.99 g/mol, hence the 2.5 conversion factor (approximate).

(there are no grams of salt in pure sodium, salt is sodium chloride, but I assume this is what you meant)

[missprim]

Thanks Pigletion. Have multiplied 438 x 2.5 and get 1095.
Does that mean that 438mg of sodium = 1.095g of salt, or have I misundersood ? It's all a bit too complicated for me.

[missprim]

Thank you Eddie51

[Pigletion]

it means in 1.095g of sodium chloride (salt) there is 438 mg of sodium.

438mg of sodium does not equal 1.095g of sodium chloride, as you have no chloride (chlorine) present. 1.095 g of NaCl = 438 mg of Na + 657 mg Cl.

Don't want to labour the point, just want to make sure you have it clear in your head. Sodium is an element, as is chlorine and when combined 1:1 they form salt (NaCl).

Hope that makes sense! I've tried to go through it step by step.

[missprim]

Thanks again Pigletion. I think it might have been easier for me to understand if I had said why I wanted to know, so just in case you see this.........I am taking some tablets which are effervescent sp? and each tablet contains 438mg of sodium.As I tend to get high blood pressure and so try to keep my salt levels down, I was wondering if these tablets would raise my blood pressure. I know the best way would be to see my GP but I didn't want to take up an appointment time if I could find out myself.I read somewhere that we should try to have no more than 5g of salt per day and I was trying to work out how much these tablets would count towards that amount, but I'm still not sure how to understand.Sorry if I appear a bit thick :-) as you have really gone out of your way to make me understand, but if you see this, perhaps you might be able to let me know what I was trying to work out.Would these tablets affect my blood pressure?Don't worry if you can't comment on this as I know the answer might be 'See your GP'
but thanks again.

[Pigletion]

ah, ok. As you may have guessed, I am a scientist!

Sodium does readily form sodium chloride and other compounds, so there is a good chance that it could actually be as NaCl in your tablets.

So say you only want to consume 5g of salt per day, that is the same as consuming 2g of sodium. Either way your tablets are between 1/4 and 1/5 of this. So they may affect your blood pressure if they are increasing your sodium levels above the norm, but as you already watch your sodium/salt in take you should be ok. Most medications warn about sodium levels now and that they may effect blood pressure etc. Sodium is also vital for many bodily functions, so as long as you stay within the healthy limits, you'll be fine.

Also remember if you get dehydrated, you effectively increase your salt levels, so I would make sure you always drink enough fluid. Gentle exercise and watching your intake of saturated fat can also help blood pressure.

If you are worried, I think you could probably have a quick phone conversation with your doctor, rather than take up an appointment. Or perhaps NHS direct could advise you.

Hope this helps, sadly I'm not a doctor (well actually I am, but of the PhD variety not the medical! It's a recent thing, so keep fogetting!), but being aware of your salt intake and the fact you need to keep control of your blood pressure is definitely half the battle.

[Pigletion]

ah, ok. As you may have guessed, I am a scientist!

Sodium does readily form sodium chloride and other compounds, so there is a good chance that it could actually be as NaCl in your tablets.

So say you only want to consume 5g of salt per day, that is the same as consuming 2g of sodium. Either way your tablets are between 1/4 and 1/5 of this. So they may affect your blood pressure if they are increasing your sodium levels above the norm, but as you already watch your sodium/salt in take you should be ok. Most medications warn about sodium levels now and that they may effect blood pressure etc. Sodium is also vital for many bodily functions, so as long as you stay within the healthy limits, you'll be fine.

Also remember if you get dehydrated, you effectively increase your salt levels, so I would make sure you always drink enough fluid. Gentle exercise and watching your intake of saturated fat can also help blood pressure.

If you are worried, I think you could probably have a quick phone conversation with your doctor, rather than take up an appointment. Or perhaps NHS direct could advise you.

Hope this helps, sadly I'm not a doctor (well actually I am, but of the PhD variety not the medical! It's a recent thing, so keep forgetting!), but being aware of your salt intake and the fact you need to keep control of your blood pressure is definitely half the battle.

[missprim]

Wow, a real live scientist. I did wonder.
Perhaps I should also have mentioned the 438mg of sodium is in each tablet and I have been taking between 6 and 8 a day so between 2628mg - 3504mg of sodium per day.However I have cut down to 4 a day since I found out and I will bring this up with my GP next time I see him.
Thanks again Pigletion PhD or perhaps that should be Bsc, see, I really am thick :-)