Oh, isn't it the salt on which stories have been written, vows have been made, songs have been written, wars have been fought on for centuries. Salt has been one of the indispensable substances of our lives for centuries. It was such a valuable item in ancient times that it was even used as currency. In the past, Roman soldiers were paid in units corresponding to salt. The origin of the word "salary", which means "fee" in English today, is "salt", meaning "salt".
The introduction of salt into our lives has increased with the progress of civilization. As people moved to a settled social order, the need to preserve food without spoiling increased, so salt was used. Salt is a good preservative. Foods can be preserved for a long time by treating them with salt.
In parallel with the increase in the consumption of animal foods and the need for canning, salt consumption and the risk of developing high blood pressure have also increased.
There are so many different areas where salt is used that they cannot be counted. Salt, which is used in many places necessary for humanity, acts as poison in the body when taken in excess.
In fact, salt is a really necessary substance for the body. Salt has a great contribution to the functioning of cells and the easy circulation of blood within the vessels. But how much should be taken, this is very important. Normally, the body's daily salt need is around 250-500 mg. But we take in 20-25 times this amount of salt, or even more, in our daily food, approximately 9-12 grams of salt.
Now let's talk about the relationship between salt and hypertension. This relationship has been known for a very long time. Now let's explain how salt causes high blood pressure: First of all, salt means volume, when too much salt is consumed, the blood volume in the vein increases. Increased vascular volume is an important factor in the development of high blood pressure. However, the most important mechanism is the effect of salt on the kidneys. Salt causes high blood pressure by activating a hormone system called the renin-aldosterone system. There are many theoretical mechanisms proposed for the effect of salt on high blood pressure. It will not be mentioned here because it will only confuse us.
As can be seen, excess salt, which is one of the most important minerals for our lives, is very harmful. It may be related.
So what is salt? The salt we use on our tables is actually salt called sodium chloride. The main salt that plays a role in high blood pressure is sodium chloride. The substance that plays a role here is the element sodium. Although there are suggestions that the element chlorine may also play a role in hypertension, it has not been fully proven.
Sodium can also occur with bicarbonate. We call this sodium bicarbonate. It is in the form of sodium bicarbonate found in cola drinks. The salt that plays the main role in high blood pressure is sodium chloride, that is, table salt. The bicarbonate form plays less of a role.
Salt can cause some negative effects other than high blood pressure. Excessive salt intake may increase the risk of stroke independent of high blood pressure. Due to the thickening of the heart walls, kidney disorders are more common in those who consume excessive salt. There are opinions that excessive salt intake plays a role in osteoporosis and kidney stone formation. Apart from these damages, it is said that excessive salt consumption is closely related to stomach cancer, eye cataract development and asthma.
So why do we love eating salty food? Some of us even add salt to the food without even tasting it. Salt addiction is explained as follows: The two most important substances that create taste and flavor are oil and salt. The more you preserve these two ingredients, the tastier the dish will be. As they say, Turkish food is very delicious. Of course, whatever food you add more salt and oil to, that food will be delicious. Just look at how much salt and fat is in our kebabs and desserts, which are claimed to be our dishes, and you will understand where the flavor comes from. In fact, these dishes are not the native dishes of Anatolia, most of them are imported from abroad, especially from Middle Eastern countries. Our native Anatolian dishes are not too oily and salty. The authentic dishes of the Aegean and Southern Anatolia are based on vegetables and fruits. In the past, herbal dishes such as kava and bulgur were consumed more in the interior regions. Recently, these habits have changed, and the primary foods consumed in these regions are foods consisting of meat, fat and salt.
Now let's talk about taste. It is the buds in our mouth and tongue that perceive flavour. As we eat salty, these buds count. Their temperature and size increase. That's why we want more salty food. When we reduce the salt, the number and size of these buds decrease. This time, even normal salty food starts to seem too salty to the person. To achieve this situation, it is necessary to be patient for a while and get used to eating without salt.
So, is high salt consumption our destiny? Although human beings have passed very successful tests in adapting to the environment throughout their lives, they have failed to adapt to excessive salt consumption. Excess salt causes many negative conditions to develop in our body. As we explained above, although our ancestors were herbivores, as civilization progressed, humanity became carnivorous. Carnivory has led to changes in taste and increased salt consumption.
We encounter salt in accordance with our parents' tastes from the early stages of our childhood. I would like to make a reminder here: Think about it this way, when we give soup to our babies, who tastes the salt, it is the mother. If the soup is unsalted according to her taste, she adds salt and feeds it to the baby. The poor baby has no role here; the salt of the food is adjusted according to the mother's taste. In other words, from the first moments of our lives, we encounter salt according to our parents' taste. After a while, our taste buds get used to salt and our salt consumption gradually increases.
One of the important points I want to emphasize here is that salt does not cause high blood pressure in every person. Why is it that although salt is a very important factor in some people, it has no effect on blood pressure in others? Here, some factors that we cannot explain play a role. As we explained in the obesity section, many factors play a role in high blood pressure. Salt is just one factor. First of all, the person's genetic predisposition to hypertension is very important. One of the suggestions put forward is that people who are sensitive to salt may have a condition that prevents the excretion of salt from their kidneys.
Being sensitive to salt plays an important role in the functioning of the renin-angiotensin hormone system. Many more mechanisms have been suggested for salt sensitivity. It should not be forgotten that when eaten without salt, blood pressure is completely reduced. It is wrong to think that people will return to normal. Salt restriction is very helpful in treating blood pressure.
So, how do we know if a person is sensitive to salt? Although many methods have been described for this purpose, they are insufficient to determine salt sensitivity. But do you know what is the most valid method? If the patient says that his blood pressure increases when he eats salt, this person is sensitive to salt and serious salt restriction is required. Overweight people, diabetics and the elderly are sensitive to salt and benefit greatly from salt restriction.
In addition to normalizing blood pressure, salt restriction also causes some blood pressure medications to be more effective. As physicians, we use lower doses of blood pressure medications for patients who comply with the salt restriction.
I want to connect this topic as follows. There is a close relationship between salt and hypertension, and salt restriction in treatment is important for every blood pressure patient.
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