Absorb some essential info that'll increase food's flavor without raising your blood pressure!
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Did you know that throughout history salt has often been more valuable than gold? And there is a good reason. Aside from being an important food preservative and making what we eat tastier, salt is essential for human life. However, in larger quantities, salt can also be deadly.
The components of salt (sodium and chloride) play a major role in our health. Salt is in a delicate balance with the amount of water in our bodies. Even though it is an essential ingredient of life, too much salt can raise blood pressure and negatively affect the cardiovascular system. This can lead to all sorts of serious health problems like an increased risk for heart attack, heart failure, stroke, kidney disease, and possibly stomach cancer and osteoporosis.
The average American man eats about 10 grams of salt a day, and the average American woman eats about seven grams. That is too much salt, probably more than twice what is considered healthy. Also, if you are over 50 or have other risk factors it is recommended you eat even less salt.
Some researchers project that if everyone in the whole country reduced salt intake by only three grams per day or ½ teaspoon, each year we would have 60,000 fewer new cases of coronary heart disease, 32,000 fewer strokes, 54,000 fewer heart attacks, and 44,000 fewer deaths. We would also see about $24 billion in yearly healthcare savings. That is a whole lot of power in a tiny grain of salt.
A lot of people think that all the commotion about excess salt and high blood pressure does not apply to them, but about 1/3 of adults already have hypertension and another 1/3 have pre-hypertension. For people who are 50 or older, the risk of developing hypertension is 90 percent. Therefore, the benefits of reducing salt intake extend to kids and younger adults as a means of prevention.
High blood pressure and the health challenges it leads to are a big deal. Heart attacks are the number one cause of death in the United States, and stroke is third. Worldwide, at least half of all strokes and heart attacks are connected to high blood pressure. In the United States alone, about 100,000 deaths each year have been linked to eating too much salt.
In fact, reducing our salt intake could be as crucial to preventing deaths as several other important strategies stopping smoking, eliminating trans fat from out diet and increasing the amount of fruits and vegetables.
There are a number of ways to lower your salt intake. Toss the saltshaker and do not add salt to the food you make. Ask restaurants not to add salt to your dishes. Another good idea is to check sodium content on labels. Did you know that about 75 percent of the salt we eat comes from processed foods like breads, cereals, soups, deli meats, fish and poultry? Not to mention the salt content in most fast foods.
Salt has not traditionally been regulated by the US government because it has been considered "GRAS" or "generally recognize as safe". However, a national coalition has been working recently to require food manufacturers to limit the amount of salt they put into their products. It has already taken effect in the UK, Ireland and Finland. Now Japan, Australia and Canada are also on board with this public health initiative to reduce salt usage.
I know from my own work as a nutritionist that change is difficult for a lot of people, even when the facts are clear and compelling. The good news is I also know that a person's sensitivity to salt can be "reset" within about three to four months. So by slowly reducing your high salt intake, your taste buds can adjust to and appreciate the full range of flavors without feeling meals are bland.
Now that good advice, is worth its weight in salt.
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