There are heaps of different kinds of salt: pink, iodized, kosher, sea, just to name a few. Salt can come from either salt mines in the ground, or from evaporating the water out of salt water. What they all have in common is that infamous mineral that I’m going to talk about below: sodium.
In food, salt is used add or enhance flavour, and as a preservative. Bacteria and mould need water in order to grow and salt prevents this and preserves food by drawing this water out.
Would you be shocked to find out that 75% of our salt intake comes not from the salt shaker but from processed foods? This is from things like canned foods, pickled foods, boxed foods, deli meats, restaurant food, and fast food. Snacks like chips, pretzels and salted nuts are also included here.
Salt vs. Sodium
Salt is actually ‘sodium chloride’. It’s about 40% sodium and 60% chloride; this means that one teaspoon of salt (5,000 mg) contains about 2,000 mg of sodium.
Sodium itself is really not that bad! It is actually an essential mineral and an important electrolyte in the body. It helps with things like fluid balance, and proper nerve and muscle function.
It is when your consuming too much sodium that it’s not great! People who are regularly getting too much sodium can have an increased risk of high blood pressure, stroke, heart attack, stomach cancer, and kidney stones. None of them good.
That one teaspoon with about 2,000 mg of sodium I mentioned above is pretty much your whole day’s worth of sodium! People who eat a lot of pre-made, packaged foods tend to consume way too much sodium. In fact, 90% of American adults consume more than 2,300 mg per day. And their national average intake is closer to 3,400 mg of sodium per day!
If you are already at high risk for any of the conditions mentioned above, then you probably shouldn’t be having more than just 1,500 mg of sodium each day.
Sodium and high blood pressure
So, how exactly does salt increase blood pressure? And what’s that got to do with it making you thirsty?
Well, there is something called “salt-sensitive high blood pressure.” This is how it works:
The salt you consume is absorbed quickly and goes into the blood.
Your body goes “arrgh that blood is way too salty!”, so more water is added to the blood to dilute it (i.e. you body signals that you’re thirsty to make you drink more fluid). More water in the blood means more fluid your heart needs to pump and more fluid pushing against the walls of your vessels. It also sends more blood to the kidneys so the sodium can be filtered out into the urine.
This is how too much sodium increases your blood pressure. Increased blood pressure also puts a strain on your kidneys and other sensitive vessels, including vital vessels in your brain and heart.
You can cancel out this effect by decreasing the amount of salt you eat (from both the salt grinder and processed foods and). In fact, limiting salt intake has been shown to slightly reduce blood pressure.
Tip: If you eat more whole foods and more mineral-rich plant foods you can reduce high blood pressure.
Conclusion
If you eat mostly whole, unprocessed foods, and are generally quite healthy then you probably don’t need to worry about your salt intake. Feel free to add a little salt during cooking or at the table for flavour.
If your trusted medical practitioner has told you to reduce your salt or sodium intake, you can do this by cutting back your intake of processed foods, adding less salt to the food you make, and eating more plant-based foods.
Recipe Low-Sodium Italian Spice Mix
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 ½ tbsp dried basil
1 tbsp dried parsley
1 tbsp dried thyme
½ tbsp onion powder
½ tbsp garlic powder
Mix all ingredients together and place in a sealed container. Sprinkle where you would normally use salt. This is especially yummy with Italian dishes.
Serve & enjoy!
Tip: Feel free to play around with the ingredients. If you love garlic, add some more. If you hate basil, leave it out.
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