If you’re feeling irritable from lack of sleep, you may need more sodium in your diet.
James DiNicolantonio, a cardiovascular research scientist, shared a video on Instagram explaining why too little salt in your diet can make you restless at night.
“People who were put on a low-salt diet, because of the activation of the sympathetic nervous system, had a worsening of their sleep,” he explains in the clip, which has received more than 3,000 likes.
He said this activation of the sympathetic nervous system is a “stress response” that can affect sleep.
He added that several studies showed that a low-salt diet of about 2,200 milligrams of sodium per day was enough to lead to sodium depletion.
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When the body is low in sodium, it will pull sodium, magnesium and calcium from the bones, to the detriment of health, he explained.
NYpost.com has reached out to DiNicolantonio for further comment. He’s not the only medical expert to warn about low sodium and poor sleep.
An article in Ageist explained that when sodium levels drop in the body, the adrenal glands respond with more adrenaline, which helps retain sodium. Adrenaline triggers the body’s fight-or-flight response and is not conducive to a restful night’s sleep.
When someone has low sodium levels, they are even more likely to make more trips to the bathroom, potentially in the middle of the night. When people have low sodium levels, they don’t produce as much antidiuretic hormone. ADH (antidiuretic hormone) helps the body retain urine during sleep.
The American Heart Association recommends that people consume around 2,300 mg of sodium per day.
Experts warn that diets too high in sodium are harmful to health. High sodium can lead to high blood pressure, heart attacks and strokes.
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