The Dangers of Salt To Our Bodies

Two days ago, I wrote a short note on my Facebook fan page about the dangers of too much salt intake and the risks it poses to the human body. I decided to dig deeper into this topic.

It’s up to you to educate yourself about the food and drinks you consume.
Take pride in how and what you eat. Treat your body like gold. Your body is your business. I think some people treat their cars better than they treat their bodies. ;-)

Don’t expect food companies to do your homework for you. Quite frankly, they won’t.
Most of them have no idea what damage they are doing to society as a whole.

It’s up to you. It’s up to me. Let’s get back to the basics.

So lets talk about something common found in people’s kitchen’s around the world:

Many people consume excessive amounts of salt, also known as sodium, on a daily basis without knowing the potential health risks associated with salt intake. Your health symptoms or conditions may be linked to your salt intake. Salt can raise your blood pressure and people with high blood pressure are three times more likely to develop heart disease or suffer from a stroke than a person with a low intake of salt.

The human body needs salt to function. Sodium, the main component of our body's extracellular fluids, helps carry nutrients into cells. It also regulates other body functions, like blood pressure and fluid volume. Our bodies cannot function without sodium (salt), but we only need a very small amount. The recommended daily amount is about 500 milligrams and we can go up to 2,400 milligrams, though it is healthier to stay around 1,800. Many people consume as much as 9,000 milligrams per day and this can cause harmful effects.

While a healthy kidney may be able to get rid of the excess salt, you may end up losing calcium. This can be especially harmful to women as the calcium loss may eventually be linked to osteoporosis.

Many scientists are concerned about the amount of salt in processed foods. Seventy-five to eighty-five percent of our sodium intake comes from processed foods. Sprinkling less salt at our table or cooking with less salt will not necessarily solve the problem. The reason for this is that there is a vast quantity of sodium in the bread, processed meat, canned vegetables and even in pizza and fast food chains. Many foods you buy already contain salt, foods such as ready meals, sauces, baked beans, pizzas and processed foods, bread and cheese products also contain salt.

This is why I am so against processed food, canned foods, junk foods. I recommend fresh fruit, vegetables and water as a necessity to all human beings and for them to make it part of their daily lifestyle.

Here are some facts about salt and water:

• According to one medical authority, the average person takes in about a half ounce of salt daily, but could get along well on just one fifth of that amount. If the excess salt is not eliminated, the result is dropsy. There has also been shown to be a direct relationship between salt and high blood pressure.

• The salt habit not only may tax your kidneys and cause high blood pressure but also will likely cause you to eat too much. When you have parties, it might be a kindness not to serve only salty foods with the drinks. Consider also serving unsalted nuts and such toothsome raw vegetables as carrot sticks and celery stalks. In this way your guests will be avoiding too much salt as well as getting a more balanced repast. And when you do use salt on your food, you may find it beneficial to use a vegetable salt, which can help to cut down on your intake of actual sodium chloride.

• If you eat too much salt it can cause blood pressure which can also lead to kidney failure and eye damage, eating less salt can lower the blood pressure and reduce the risk.

• In 1994 the British government recommended that people reduce their consumption of salt from 9 grams per day to a maximum of 6 grams per day. Only in recent years have scientists begun to discover that excessive consumption of salt may be associated with serious health problems and that the government’s guidelines should be taken very seriously.

• According to one report (1) in the British Medical Journal, people who consume high amounts of salt are at risk of stroke and cardiovascular disease. The recent INTERSALT study measured the salt intake of over 10,000 people in 32 countries and found that a difference of just 6 grams of salt per day was found to result in a difference of systolic blood pressure of 10mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure of 5mm Hg for a 55 year old male or female. These figures suggest that a extra 6 grams of salt consumed daily can increase in the risk of heart disease by 21 percent and stroke by 34 percent.

• Other researchers (2) have found that excess salt in the diet can lead to excessive calcium loss and thereby increase the risk of osteoporosis.

• Researchers from Leuven University in Holland reviewing the dietary habits of people from 24 different countries have discovered that a high intake of salt can significantly increase the risk of stomach cancer (3).

Some testimonies:

• Too much salt can lead to high blood pressure. I was told to stay away from salt even though I rarely use it, I couldn't understand why. Then I found out that many processed foods have a lot of sodium in them. I wasn't aware of the sodium content of soup. It's off the charts. Chinese food is another no no.

• The # 1 danger is high blood pressure...also, too much salt causes you to retain fluid and can lead to swelling (edema).

• 1st Danger of having too much salt is the person will get raise in Blood pressure. That in turn makes lots of complications such as heart trouble in later stages of his life

• A lot of people add salt to their meals which already have salt in them. Ready cooked meals have more salt in them than you're meant to have in you daily allowance (6g) averaging 17.5grams in one of them. Having too much salt narrows your arteries which leads to a heart attack and you may die you don't get to hospital immediately.

• As others have already stated: High blood pressure plus too much salt is not good for your kidneys, as your body would usually retain water from too much salt.

• Not only high blood pressure but High cholestorol.I know this first hand actually!I`m living proof and when i cut my salt and sodium count,my cholestorol went WAY down,and my father had the same problems.

Things you can do to reduce your salt intake:

• Buy your food from reputable stores that promote healthy, fresh food.

• Make a habit of checking labels on the foods you buyIf you can, spare no expense on quality food. Don’t just buy food from anywhere.

• Reduce your processed and junk food (canned food, ready-made meals, pizza’s, bread, etc) intake and start eating fresh food (fresh fruit, fresh vegetables). Buy your meat from a reputable butchery.

• Slowly change your eating habits. Buy a steamer and steam your veggies. Break those bad habits that you have been practicing for years.

• Buy a juicer and drink fresh juice.

• Make it a habit of eating fresh fruit and drinking water everyday

Your 'Oi! Halt The Salt' Friend,
Craig "The Business" Geswindt