Vital Force Naturals

In my recent blog about Apple Cider Vinegar (HERE) I said that the reason us well being types like ACV is because of it’s potassium content, and I thought, maybe I should explain a little about that because it’s really simple and could make a huge difference as to why you feel tired and crap most of the time.

Both are electrolytes and their main role is the maintenance of water balance in the body, osmotic equilibrium and maintaining electrical neutrality and creating potential gradients across the cell membrane, which basically means substances are able to move in and out of the cell. Deficiency tends to be rare and only occurs through severe loss of fluids.

Sodium’s natural place is outside the cell and the natural place for potassium is inside the cell. During the day sodium and other substances move into the cell via a protein pump displacing potassium and the cell slowly becomes more toxic making you feel tired and sluggish. During the night potassium moves back in in the same way and sodium moves out. This is a continuous cycle using energy from ATP inside the cell.

Now, sodium is present in whole foods in small quantities while potassium is present and abundant in all cells and in whole foods. The key words here are ‘whole foods’. Salt (sodium) is a preservative and flavour enhancer and these days is used extensively throughout the food industry. This means that modern, processed foodstuffs, our average diet in the western world, tends to be much higher in sodium and a lot lower in potassium, creating an imbalance between the sodium/potassium ratio in the body which causes alterations in fluid retention, calcium excretion and cellular metabolism.

In times gone by, before foods were highly processed, we ate natural ingredients in their relatively natural form. Whole foods (here we are) contain both sodium and potassium but in very different quantities, sodium low, potassium high. Because sodium is present is only small quantities, the body thinks there’s a lack and will hold onto it, whereas potassium is so abundant the body will excrete it freely. This works perfectly when eating whole foods and the diet is full, balanced and varied. However, with modern food preparation and the tendency towards highly processed and altered foods, the ratio of sodium to potassium has changed, sodium in the form of salt is very high and potassium is very low if at all. The body hasn’t yet caught up with our change of food production and still thinks it needs to hold on to all the sodium eaten. This presents a major struggle for the body to have to cope with, can produce reduced neuromuscular function and muscles become weak and lose their tone. As we all know excess salt can cause high blood pressure, ulcers, cancers, oedema and is known to increase the urinary excretion of calcium resulting in calcium deficiency.

Salt, as opposed to sodium, is a highly refined chemical and is stripped of nearly all its trace minerals. Products like Himalayan pink salt, rock salt and sea salt are often a better choice with less processing happening and much of their valuable minerals still contained. Sodium is extremely important for the body and conversely too little is also detrimental to health. If you crave salt regularly you might want to check your diet, try to introduce more whole foods and less processed, and have a regular shot of apple cider vinegar which is where this all started! 😀