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by Dr. Philip S. Chua.
April 17, 2011
Salt (scientifically known as sodium chloride) has preceded man on earth and in the entire galaxy where it could be found.
As far as this vital mineral is concerned, there are two important caveats to remember: (1) Salt is essential to life, and, (2) Anything in excess is bad.
While salt is a fundamental ingredient in our system, in excess, it is unhealthy and dangerous, especially for those with high blood pressure, kidney disease, endocrine ailment, or heart failure. Excess sodium intake is a major contributor to the onset of high blood pressure. Sodium deficit, like among marathon runners and other athletes, and people who exercise a lot, sweat a lot and urinate a lot, or individuals having diarrhea (without proper electrolyte and fluid replacement) can suffer from sodium (salt) loss.
Salt deficit most unlikely
However, in the general healthy population, as a rule, except for those athletes mentioned above, practically no one suffers from deficiency in sodium. The other way around, too much salt, is more likely, especially among those who use the salt-shaker even before tasting the food, or those who use other sodium-laden condiments, like fish sauce, soy sauce, other sauces, even ketchup, and those who eat salted fish, salted eggs, dried meats, bacon, ham, sausages, etc.
Practically all food found in nature, red meat, poultry, fish, vegetables, fruits, nuts, have “perfect” amount of sodium in them. But early life exposure and habit have caused most of us to automatically add salt on top of the good spices when we cook. And then, we add even more sodium (from salt-shakers and the table condiments we pour or sprinkle on food, most of the times even before tasting the food first. This practice is the most common cause of salt excess in our body. Majority of us walk around with excess salt on board, which is not healthy.
How much salt we need
As individuals, our need varies according to our age, weight, activities, environment, etc. For most of us, on average, we need about 500 mg of sodium a day, which is roughly about one fourth (1/4) teaspoonful (NOT tablespoon) of table salt in 24 hours. This calculation includes the salt in the food we eat or beverage we drink. So adding ¼ teaspoon of salt a day to the food or drink we ingest will be too much, an overdose, unless the unsalted food items were cooked with absolutely no salt or condiments added. The US-FDA recommended daily maximum of 2,400 mg sodium is, medically speaking, too much. This is almost four times too much than what our body requires to function normally.
The American Medical Association and countless medical practitioners deplore this excess and “AMA estimated that a 50 percent reduction in sodium usage in processed and restaurant food could save 150,000 lives every year.” Unless one is doing a lot of exercising and sweating, around 500 mg is enough and will ward off a variety of health complications associated with high blood pressure.
And since excess salt in the body attracts water and causes water retention and weight gain, a person can easily drop five pounds by simply passing up the salt shaker, avoiding salty condiments, sauces, and salted food items, especially canned goods which have high salt content.
Subtle salt overdose
Quite often, we do not realize how much salt we eat with each snack or meal. Processed foods, including canned goods and soups, are high in sodium (used as preservative). One good example is a quarter pounder hamburger with cheese, which saturates us with almost 1,200 mg of sodium, which is more than twice (700 mg more salt than) our daily body requirement. And if you add ketchup and French fries to that, you can easily imagine how many of us “overdose” on sodium from this common or similar scenarios every day, from a single meal alone. And that does not even count the calories, fats and cholesterol in such fast food items.
Beware of salt traps
Some of the common salt traps include: the most obvious is the salt shaker (which is safer in the condiment shelf, together with the soy sauce and fish sauce, than on the dining table), canned goods (vegetables, about 1000 mg sodium per can), and processed foods (bacon, 200 mg sodium per slice, one hot dog, 600 mg sodium), which are better left in the grocery stores. Frozen foods may contain as much as a whopping 4,000-5,000 mg sodium (good for 8 to 10 days’ supply of sodium), all in one frozen meal! Fresh foods are definitely healthier, when properly prepared. Diet or light foods mostly have high salt content, to make these less-than-appetizing foods more palatable. Reading the food label for any sodium content will give one a clue. Any ingredient that has the word sodium in it is salt.
Herbs, condiments to the rescue
Watching our salt intake does not mean bland or joyless meals. One can be creative using healthier substitutes, like pepper, chives, basil, thyme, oregano, rosemary, curry, lemon, mustard, vinegar, etc., and end up with most tasty and satisfying meals, which are healthy as well. The natural salt in every food items provided us by mother earth’s fields and gardens is enough a chemical preservative, together with some of those condiments, for our body to ward off diseases, including cancer, and achieve health and maximal longevity. Any excess salt we take only tends to undermine our well-being and shorten our life.
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