Hello everyone. This week I want to tell you about salt consumption. Let's read my article together where you can find answers to all the questions you may have, such as how much should we consume daily, what is iodized salt, what are the health problems that may occur with excessive salt consumption, are we making a healthier choice when we change the type of salt.
Salt (sodium) chloride) is of great importance to humanity because it is both flavorful and used in the production and long-term storage of food. Salt, which has a very important place among flavoring substances, is used in ready-made soups and sauces, bread, meat products, pickles, brine, some bakery products, etc. It is used in many foods. First of all, I must say that sodium and salt are different things, even though they are constantly mixed. Sodium is a mineral found in salt. But it is not just salt. There is approximately 1 gram of sodium in 2.5 grams of salt. Sodium has many functions such as nerve stimulation, normal cell functions, and muscle tissue functioning. Excess sodium taken into the body is normally removed from the body by kidney and hormone control. However, since this process cannot occur in kidney patients, excess sodium accumulates in the body and causes edema. Excessive sodium intake increases blood pressure and also reduces the amount of calcium in the bones by increasing calcium excretion in the urine. Just as sodium has vital functions for our body, it is obvious that excessive consumption will cause health problems. In this case, it would be best to limit sodium intake. There are scientific studies showing that reducing dietary salt intake also reduces the risk of chronic diseases that may occur in the future.
High salt diets are associated with stroke and cardiovascular diseases, stomach cancer, urinary calcium excretion, osteoporosis and kidney stone formation. Consuming high amounts of sodium has negative effects on bone calcium balance in postmenopausal (pre-menopausal) women and may also cause hypertension in later periods. For individuals with hypertension, limiting sodium and salt intake will cause a significant decrease in blood pressure.
In order to protect from all these diseases, Dunya a The Health Organization's recommendation for salt consumption is below 5 grams per day. That means approximately 2 grams of sodium. This amount shows that our daily consumption should not exceed 1 teaspoon of salt. According to the results of a research conducted by the Ministry of Health in 2011, the amount of salt consumed per person in Turkey is approximately 3 times more than the amount an individual should consume daily.
I would like to talk a little about the use of iodized salt. Iodized salt is table salt enriched with iodine. Iodine is an important mineral due to its presence in the structure of thyroxine, a thyroid hormone, and its contribution to metabolic rate. Insufficient iodine intake causes a decrease in metabolic rate and also causes goiter formation. Insufficient iodine intake of pregnant individuals is the main cause of preventable mental retardation and brain damage. The use of iodized salt as table salt prevents all these diseases. It is recommended for health reasons to add salt after cooking to prevent iodine loss during cooking.
Finally, let me clarify your confusing questions such as which of the options such as sea salt, rock salt and refined salt is healthier and which one should we consume? . Although sea salt and rock salt contain higher amounts of minerals than refined salt, the amount of sodium they contain is similar. So, all of the ones we mentioned are salt and the important thing is to pay attention to the amount we consume rather than which one we choose. In other words, too much rock salt and sea salt can cause the diseases I have listed above.
Small tips to reduce your salt consumption:
- Remove the salt shaker from your table.
- When shopping, pay attention to the amount of sodium or salt written on nutritional labels and be careful not to exceed your daily consumption limit. Remember that MSG, baking soda, disodium phosphate, sodium alginate, sodium nitrite and nitrate found on the nutrition label also increase the amount of sodium in the body.
- Limit your consumption, as the amount of salt in pickles, pickles and delicatessen products is high.
- Complementing the food with lemon and spices can tolerate the decrease in the amount of salt.
Continue the diet that starts on Monday. I hope you have a healthy week.
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