Article: Sodium
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Sodium occurs naturally in a wide variety of foods with about 75% of the sodium in our diets coming from processed foods such as bread, cookies, butter, margarine, cheese and snack foods.
Sodium has important functions within the body:
- maintains fluid balance and as a result helps to maintain blood pressure is important for nerve and muscle function helps keep the pH of the blood within the normal limits is involved in carbohydrate metabolism
Breast Milk And Sodium
Breast milk contains approximately 138 mg of sodium per litre. Infant formula regulations stipulate the range of sodium permitted. Formulas for newborns have a sodium content similar to breast milk.
Infants receive enough sodium from breast milk and infant formula without the addition of salt. With the introduction of solids, the intake of sodium can rise considerably. The increase tends to be lower for those fed commercial infant foods where the sodium content is regulated.
Salt And Your Baby's Diet
Salt should never be added to an infant's diets. Infants have a limited ability to excrete excessive sodium which can result in hypernatremia or dehydration.
Tip!
When starting solids, start with an iron fortified rice cereal as it is the easiest to digest and the least likely to cause an allergic reaction in your baby.
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