Do you know how much salt you are consuming? Pickle, papads, baked items, chips, store bought food.. salt is everywhere, making it difficult to gauge how much you are really consuming. Excess salt can damage vital organs like heart, kidneys, brain etc. Learn which type of salt is better for you and how to balance your salt intake while still keeping the food palatable.
Why is salt important for us?
Salt (chemical name – sodium chloride) plays an important role in the human body. Here are a few reasons:
While salt is important, excess of salt or consuming the wrong type of salt leads to health issues. Hence, eat salt in moderation & eat nutrient rich rock salt or sea salt instead of refined table salt.
Why is excess of salt bad for you?
Excess of anything is bad & so is excess of salt. Eating a lot of spicy food? Eating a lot of processed or junk food? You may be overdoing it, understand why salt can be bad for your health:
Do you eat a lot of salt?
The chemical name of salt is sodium chloride. Salt is 40% sodium & 60% chloride. Sodium is important to maintain water balance in body. But too much of sodium can lead to health issues such as blood pressure & kidney diseases.
Salt find its way into our body not only through the salt we put in the food we cook, but also through many other foods which contain salt & we don’t even realise. Here are a few:
Salt has been used as a preservative for centuries & this is why processed foods are high in salt content.
The chemical compound of salt is sodium chloride. Apart from being used as a preservative, sodium is used for enhancing flavours. Some flavourings don’t contain salt, but still contain large amounts of sodium. For eg: Soy sauce is used as a flavour-enhancing ingredient & it’s very high in sodium.
Keep a close tab on the labels of processed foods you buy !! Most of them will contain ‘salt’ or ‘sodium’. Know what you put in your mouth. Salt creates a false appetite, no wonder these foods are high in salt!
How can you cut down on your salt intake?
If you want to cut down on your salt / sodium intake, these are the few things you can do:
Know Your Salt – Which is The Best For You & Your Family?
Salt in its natural form is rich in many minerals. But as we process it for consumption, it keeps losing the mineral content.
The salt we commonly use at home is refined white salt / table salt. It is the most processed form of salt.
As salt keeps moving away from its natural state due to processing, it becomes toxic for the human body. Hence, it leads to health issues such as high BP & damage to kidneys.
On the other hand, rock salt (sendha namak) & sea salt are less processed. In addition to sodium chloride found in table salt, they have additional minerals such as calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron, zinc, iodine, manganese, selenium, etc. They are often free from or have less chemical additives.
Conclusion
Have more questions about salt? Read more in this FAQ about salt.
Recommended read / watch:
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Do you know how much salt you are consuming? Pickle, papads, baked items, chips, store bought food.. salt is everywhere, making it difficult to gauge how much you are really consuming. Excess salt can damage vital organs like heart, kidneys, brain etc. Learn which type of salt is better for you and how to balance your salt intake while still keeping the food palatable.
Why is salt important for us?
Salt (chemical name – sodium chloride) plays an important role in the human body. Here are a few reasons:
While salt is important, excess of salt or consuming the wrong type of salt leads to health issues. Hence, eat salt in moderation & eat nutrient rich rock salt or sea salt instead of refined table salt.
Why is excess of salt bad for you?
Excess of anything is bad & so is excess of salt. Eating a lot of spicy food? Eating a lot of processed or junk food? You may be overdoing it, understand why salt can be bad for your health:
Do you eat a lot of salt?
The chemical name of salt is sodium chloride. Salt is 40% sodium & 60% chloride. Sodium is important to maintain water balance in body. But too much of sodium can lead to health issues such as blood pressure & kidney diseases.
Salt find its way into our body not only through the salt we put in the food we cook, but also through many other foods which contain salt & we don’t even realise. Here are a few:
Salt has been used as a preservative for centuries & this is why processed foods are high in salt content.
The chemical compound of salt is sodium chloride. Apart from being used as a preservative, sodium is used for enhancing flavours. Some flavourings don’t contain salt, but still contain large amounts of sodium. For eg: Soy sauce is used as a flavour-enhancing ingredient & it’s very high in sodium.
Keep a close tab on the labels of processed foods you buy !! Most of them will contain ‘salt’ or ‘sodium’. Know what you put in your mouth. Salt creates a false appetite, no wonder these foods are high in salt!
How can you cut down on your salt intake?
If you want to cut down on your salt / sodium intake, these are the few things you can do:
Know Your Salt – Which is The Best For You & Your Family?
Salt in its natural form is rich in many minerals. But as we process it for consumption, it keeps losing the mineral content.
The salt we commonly use at home is refined white salt / table salt. It is the most processed form of salt.
As salt keeps moving away from its natural state due to processing, it becomes toxic for the human body. Hence, it leads to health issues such as high BP & damage to kidneys.
On the other hand, rock salt (sendha namak) & sea salt are less processed. In addition to sodium chloride found in table salt, they have additional minerals such as calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron, zinc, iodine, manganese, selenium, etc. They are often free from or have less chemical additives.
Conclusion
Have more questions about salt? Read more in this FAQ about salt.
Recommended read / watch:
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