Eating too much salt is bad for the health
Salt is the main source of sodium in our diet. Sodium helps us in absorbing the food, regulates blood pressure and allows nervous system to work correctly.
We are always be advised that too much salt is bad for our health. Salt we sprinkle so liberally on our food at almost every meal is quite killing us.
Large quantities of salt is consumed daily by most of the people, much more than it considered good for us. It is one of the main causes of high blood pressure and it can give rise to strokes, heart disease and kidney disease. kidney stones and Oedema are the common side effects.
Salt increases appetite and adds taste to food. Salt is mainly a minerals which is sodium chloride. Without salt our body can not be fit and healthy. Every cell of human body depends on salt. Salt can control blood pressure working in the blood cells. Salt supplies nutrition to body. Salt dissolve calcium and other minerals. Salt helps our muscles to work properly.
Why taking excessive salt is bad ?
Salt is an important food item for our health. Without salt we do not like to eat anything. We even take salt with cooked food. Some people can’t eat food without adding extra raw salt in cooked food. Most of us don’t know excessive salt is bad for our health.
When our body temperature rises it helps to control fluid of our body. Water and salt keeps our body active. Consuming excessive salt causes pressure on kidneys. Excessive salt causes high acidity in stomach.
Taking less salt than the body requires may cause severe consequences. It may cause heart attack who suffers of hypertension. Excessive salt causes hypertension too. We must have to take salt in a balanced way.
Sodium is very important to regulate our blood pressure, but having too much in our blood causes our kidneys to retain water in an attempt to dilute the extra sodium. This extra water raises the pressure within our arteries. According to the WHO, 62 per cent of all strokes and 49 per cent of all coronary heart disease is attributable to high blood pressure. People with high blood pressure often don’t know they have it, as it can be a symptom less disease.
How to avoid excessive salt in food
Men are more fonder of salt than women. That’s why, there are more suffering with hypertension and stroke. Excessive salts is an aggressive enemy to human body. We can avoid excessive salt in our food with eating home made food and avoiding excessive processed food.
It is possible to reduce the amount of salt in the diet by taking few precautions:
- Don’t cook your food with salt but add just a pinch at the table.
- Don’t use seasoning flavour food because it has an extremely high salt content.
- Cut down on fast foods and other food which are usually very salty.
- Remember to drink at lease 8 glasses of water daily to help flush the kidneys and maintain the body’s correct fluid balance.
Salt clearly has a role to play in our diet, however the amount ingested through our food, must be controlled. So that it does not give bad impact on our health.