Salt often ignored, holds the key to all flavor and taste. Not only is it present in most of what we eat. We have started consuming it more without even realizing so, which is affecting our health.
Salt is actually consumed double the amount that is required.
Salt intake has to be in a well maintained balance. High salt intake tends to increase blood pressure which in turn leads to increased risk for coronary heart disease and for stroke.
Can’t recollect eating anything particularly salty?
The Culprits
Most of the salt we eat sneaks- in through packaged food. Namkeens, Papads, Pickles, Ketchups, Cakes, Butter, Cheese, Biscuits even Soups, Cereals and even Chocolates contain excess amount of salts. When you check their labels, you won’t find Common Salt listed. Instead you find Sodium. To calculate the amount of salt i.e. Sodium Chloride in them, multiply the sodium concentration with 2.5. In other words, 1 gram of Sodium = 2. 5 grams of Salt
For ex. Parle G has 169 mg sodium per pack which means the salt content is 422.5 mg
So, how much Salt is OK?
A healthy adult should have less than 6 gm i.e. about one teaspoon of Salt in the diet. But Indians are found to take 8-10 gm of salt in their diet every day from direct and indirect sources. Since a large quantity of the Salt we eat comes from readymade food stuffs, it is difficult to measure the actual amount of salt consumed.
The Dangers
The effects of Salt on High Pressure are known but it leads to other health problems. A high sodium intake causes greater retention of water in your body, which leads to swelling of the ankles and weight gain.
Salt also leads to thinning of bones i.e. osteoporosis and loss of calcium through urine. It is also found to be closely related to stomach cancer, asthma and Kidney Disease.
How to control the intake?
At Home
- Reduce intake of packaged food.
- Add less salt in your food.
- Use Lime juice, Vinegar, Oregano, Basil, in place of Salt.
- Cut down the amount of Rock salt, Black Salt and Chat Masala added to food.
- Season your food with Fresh or Dried Spices, Garlic, Ginger, Chilies to add to taste.
- Processed foods to be avoided, as they are high in sodium and poor in potassium.
- Do not use Mono-sodium Glutomate (Ajinomoto) in dishes that can taste well without it.
- Avoid consuming Peanuts, Salted nuts, Salted crackers and Pizzas.
- Balance your meals by adding high potassium foods like fresh fruits and vegetables.
While dining out
- The innocent looking soup contains more salt than dishes like Fried Rice or Hakka Noodles. So avoid soups.
- At an Indian joint, opt for sabzi without red gravy. Red gravy means extensive preparation, more spices and more salt.
- When gorging on Continental, avoid pasta dishes as they are made from maida, which has high salt content.
Does it really help?
A Study in the British Medical Journal showed that cutting down on Salt reduces Cardiac Disease by one fourth and death by heart disease by one fifth over to 10-15 years.
According a study published in Pimenta, Participants with hypertension and of an average age of 55 were given a high sodium diet for a week followed by 2 week washout period and a low sodium diet the next week. Compared to the high-salt diet, after being on the low-salt diet for a week, the participants had an average drop of 22.7 points for systolic blood pressure (the top number) and 9.1 for diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number).
The Large Picture
High blood pressure affects more than 1 billion people worldwide. Even small reductions in blood pressure readings can have a large impact on rates of blood-pressure-related diseases such as heart attack and stroke when spread over such a large population.
Eating less of salt does not mean eating bland tasteless food. It is about making smart choices about your diet. Taste buds get use to the high amounts of salt due to processed foods. As you stop consuming them, they get used to less amount of salt. Gradually you end up appreciating finer nuances of the ingredients and develop a greater palate for taste and flavor.
