Chloride in diet (2024)

FAQs

Chloride in diet? ›

Foods with higher amounts of chloride include seaweed, rye, tomatoes, lettuce, celery, and olives. Chloride, combined with potassium, is also found in many foods. Potassium chloride is a common salt substitute. Most Americans probably get more chloride than they need from table salt and the salt in prepared foods.

One of the most important of these electrically charged minerals is chloride. It works with other electrolytes, such as sodium and potassium, to help balance acids and bases in your body. It also helps move fluid in and out of your cells. So if your chloride levels drop, you can become sick and dehydrated.

Conclusion: Chloride is, after sodium, the most abundant electrolyte in serum, with a key role in the regulation of body fluids, electrolyte balance, the preservation of electrical neutrality, acid-base status and it is an essential component for the assessment of many pathological conditions.

High levels of chloride may be a sign of: Dehydration. Kidney disease. Metabolic acidosis, a condition in which you have too much acid in your blood.

Food Sources

Chloride is found in table salt or sea salt as sodium chloride. It is also found in many vegetables. Foods with higher amounts of chloride include seaweed, rye, tomatoes, lettuce, celery, and olives.

Since dehydration is typically the main culprit for elevated chloride levels in the blood, increasing your fluid intake is the most obvious remedy. However, there could be other factors contributing to this electrolyte imbalance.

You may be given an intravenous (IV) saline solution to restore your electrolyte levels. If your electrolyte imbalance is mild, your doctor may advise you to eat foods rich in chloride or take a supplement. But check with your doctor before you take any supplements.

The main causes of chloride deficiency metabolic alkalosis [2,3], which include urinary salt wasting, excessive loss of salt in the sweat, intestinal chloride wasting, and poor dietary chloride intake, are depicted in Table 1.

What organ does chloride affect? ›

High chloride levels can indicate an underlying medical condition, such as kidney disease.

Hyperchloremia and a relative excess of chloride in the body have been linked to the development of reduced renal blood flow,1,2 increased interstitial edema including in the kidney and gastrointestinal system,3 excess morbidity and mortality in critically ill patients,4,5 and reduced survival and recovery in patients ...

The primary food source of chloride in the American diet is salt. Salt is a common ingredient used in almost all types of food, and it contains chloride. In fact, table salt is composed of sodium chloride, and sodium chloride is the main source of chloride in our diet.

Normal Results

A typical normal range is 96 to 106 milliequivalents per liter (mEq/L) or 96 to 106 millimoles per liter (millimol/L). Normal value ranges may vary slightly among different laboratories. Talk to your provider about the meaning of your specific test results.

Hyperchloremia is an electrolyte disturbance in which there is an elevated level of chloride ions in the blood. The normal serum range for chloride is 96 to 106 mEq/L, therefore chloride levels at or above 110 mEq/L usually indicate kidney dysfunction as it is a regulator of chloride concentration.

Eat foods with higher amounts of chloride.

Rye, tomatoes, and olives are other foods that are high in chloride. Typically, you'll get most of your chloride from table salt (sodium chloride). Adding salt to foods can also increase the chloride levels in your blood.

The best source of chlorine is ordinary table salt, but chlorides are also naturally contained in meat, milk, and eggs. Almost all canned foods have salt added during the canning process.

Other than some dried fruits, most fruits tend to contain only small amounts of chloride. However, some raw fruits and vegetables may have traces of chlorine on them due to being washed in a chlorine bleach solution for sanitization, according to Oklahoma State University.

(1) Sodium and chloride constitute table salt and therefore are widely found in modern diets. Foods low in electrolytes include refined oils, honey, certain boiled and drained vegetables, low mineral water, certain fruits, and for protein: egg whites.