Excessive Salt Consumption: If you are consuming too much salt, this can be dangerous to your body. It’s because excessive intake of salt is never recommended for anyone.
It comes with a lot of diseases and health experts always propagate to stay alert wat the consumption of salt.
Too much salt and sugar consumption has always been to a risk factor. These pose a risk as this can become a reason of various metabolic disorders.
In one of the recent episodes of science, the Director of the Department of Nutrition for Health and Development in the World Health Organization (WHO), Geneva, explained how consuming too much salt can pose to several health issues.
Health Risks Associated With Excessive Salt Consumption
Excessive salt consumption can cause a number of health risks, including:
- High Blood Pressure: Consuming too much salt can increase your blood pressure, which can lead to hypertension, heart attack, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases.
- Kidney Problems: High salt intake can cause damage to the kidneys and reduce their ability to filter waste from the blood, leading to kidney disease or even failure.
- Edema: Excess salt intake can cause water retention and swelling in the body, particularly in the legs, ankles, and feet.
- Osteoporosis: High salt intake can cause the body to excrete calcium, which can lead to the weakening of bones and increase the risk of osteoporosis.
- Stomach Cancer: A diet high in salt has been linked to an increased risk of stomach cancer.
- Dehydration: Excessive salt consumption can cause dehydration, as the body tries to rid itself of excess salt by flushing out water.
To reduce the risk of these health problems, it’s recommended that adults consume no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day, which is equivalent to about one teaspoon of salt.
Most of Us Consuming Too Much Salt: WHO
WHO experts recommend not to consume more than 5gm of salt each day. They believe most people are consuming too much salt in a day.
This is what WHO expert Dr Branca has to say, “The WHO recommends not to consume more than 5 grams of salt every day, which is roughly half of what on average people consume in the world. You can get salt from what you add to foods at home, or you can get salt from the manufacture of products,” he adds.
Manufactured Foods Are Full of Largest Amount of Salt
As per WHO, we often neglect the amount of salt intake while consuming manufactured foods. It’s because they are full of highest quantity of salt in them.
This is what Dr Branca says, “About 80% comes from manufactured food, such as bread, cheeses, preserved meat, but also high salt snacks, and food consumed out of home,” says Dr Branca.
A Packet of Chips Contains Half the Salt Needed In An Entire Day
The expert explains that foods that we consume while going outside our homes generally contain excessive amount of salt. For example, if you purchase a packet of chips, it will generally contain 150 gm of salt.
The single packet of chips actually contains half of salt needed each day. As per a WHO report, a single serving of potato chips packet contain 170 milligrams of sodium.
There’s A Need to Cut Down Salt Intake In A Gradual Manner
For the best results, you can gradually cut down the intake of salt as per your taste. Although, it will take a few weeks, it will finally adjust your excessive salt consumption.
“We can also decide to buy less of the food that contains a high amount of salt i.e. of processed food. We can buy certain options less frequently. We can also buy alternatives,” Dr. Branca suggests.
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