According to a scientific study about 100.000 heart strokes and 92.000 deaths could be avoided if the salt intake from food is reduced modestly. Reducing salt intake is seen as a rare possibility to decrease health risks by yourself – others you might not be able to influence because they are written in your DNA.
Too much salt raises your blood pressure and strains your organs, especially your kidneys. Over long-term, a high salt intake can lead to serious health problems such as organic diseases and even gastric cancer.
Know How: The human body consists of 60 % water. Salt is binding this water outside the cells and in the tissues. Salt keeps the tissue strong, regulates the water balance, helps to keep the function of muscles, nerves and the structure of the bones.
Salt consists of sodium and chloride – chloride is also a component of the gastric acid and absolutely necessary for a good digestion. The recommendations for daily salt intake vary between 4-6 gram per day, The World Health Organisation recommends an salt intake of 5 gram per day to avoid long-term health problems.
The human body needs 100 ml water to excrete 1 gram of salt. If you drink to less water, your kidneys, heart and heart circulation are overstressed. On the other hand a lack of salt can result in vomiting, extreme sweating, dysentery, tiredness, dizziness or even a shock.
If you want to reduce your salt consumation, get used to check more often the food labelsor nutrient tables, because a large amount of your daily salt intake comes from “hidden” salt sources like sausage, cheese, bread and convenience products. Try to use more herbs to make food tasty instead of salt – in addition to their aroma they deliver also secondary plant compounds. A simple to do list for you to avoid high intake of salt – try this:
- do not add additional salt to your food
- do not use mixed herbs which contain salt
- do not use packet soup
- do not consume ready made sauces or boullion
- eat fresh vegetables instead of canned veggetables
- avoid eating salt meat and jerky
- do not eat salty snacks
- consume water low in sodium
If you want to get more detailed information on research of this topic, visit the website of the World Health Organization to read about actual research results and projects or the website of the American Heart Organization. Both websites are a great and serious source of information in this matter.
