HOW MUCH SALT IS GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH? SAVE YOUR LIFE
The craze of human beings about salt is not new. Despite all the warnings, the whole world eats a lot of salt. Sometimes it even goes beyond the limit of being harmful.
New arguments are being made about salt. Years of research are being challenged. It is being said that salt is not a villain, which we have to eliminate from our food. Rather it is necessary for our health.
The most important element in salt is sodium. This is very important for our body. From creating the right level of water in the human body, sodium is helpful in the work of transporting oxygen and other nutrients to all the organs. Not only this, sodium adds lightning to our nerves. But, historically, it has been advised to eat less salt.
In India, fasting food is prepared without salt. It is said that it is a part of Tamasi food. There will be many people in India who eat food without salt. But, these examples are limited.
We have been eating a lot of salt for centuries. We eat many times more salt than the standard set by the World Health Organization. All the efforts of the governments have failed to reduce the consumption of salt.
According to the guidelines, no person should eat more than 6 grams of salt in a day. On average, every citizen in the UK consumes 8 grams of salt a day. At the same time, in America, this number is 8.5 grams. According to Australia's George Institute of Global Health, the average Indian consumes about 11 grams of salt daily, almost twice the recommended norm.
It happens that the salt we eat by mixing itself in our food, we eat as much. Everything that comes from the market contains more salt than the prescribed standard. Salt is added to slices of bread, soups, and cereals.
The problem gets worse when packaged products contain sodium instead of salt. From this, we are eating less salt, whereas the reality is quite the opposite. Salt also contains sodium and chloride ions. There is 1 gram of sodium in 2.5 grams of salt. But people think of sodium as the number of salts.
WHAT DOES THE RESEARCH ON SALT SAY?
It has been proved many times by research that eating too much salt increases blood pressure. This increases the risk of heart attack and other heart diseases. Most experts are unanimous about the harm of salt.
When we eat more salt, more water gets stored in our bodies. Its pressure falls on the kidneys. They have to work hard to clean this water. If this happens for a long time, there is a complaint of increasing blood pressure for more days. This is called hypertension.
Hypertension is the major cause of 62% of cases of heart attacks. Hypertension is also the cause of 49 percent of the diseases of the heart tubes. According to the World Health Organization, 23% of people in India die of cardiovascular diseases.
Eating five grams of salt daily above the recommended norm increases heart and artery disease risk by 17 percent. At the same time, the risk of heart attack increases by 23 percent.
Research has also shown that reducing the amount of salt eaten reduces the problem of blood pressure. Consuming less than 1.4 grams of salt a day reduces the incidence of high blood pressure by 42 percent. The number of dangerous heart attacks is also reduced by 40 percent.
DIFFERENCES IN RESEARCH ON SALT
But the problem with research is that it cannot be said with certainty that this reduction in blood pressure or the risk of heart attacks came from simply reducing salt intake. People who eat less salt generally have better health. Some people are aware. They exercise regularly. Don't smoke or drink alcohol. Drink very little.
Francesco Cappuccio of the University of Warwick, UK, says that it is impossible to assess the direct effect of salt on the body based on such a few experiences.
But, in this way, there is no research related to obesity and smoking, which are the cause of death of people.
In the 1960s, the Japanese government launched a massive campaign appealing to the people to eat less salt. As a result of the campaign, the average amount of salt consumed in Japan has come down from 13.5 grams to 12 grams per day. During this time, there was a reduction of up to 80 percent in deaths due to heart attack and blood pressure complaints.
Daily salt consumption in Finland fell from 12 grams in the 1970s to 9 grams per day in 2002. As a result, there was a decline of up to 80 percent in other heart diseases, including heart attacks.
It is not possible to justify this research for every human being. The reason is that the effect of salt on every person is different. The effect of salt on every person is different according to the community, age, and body mass index. Family history of hypertension also plays an important role in this.
DISADVANTAGES OF EATING LESS SALT
Now many scientists are also saying that even eating too little salt can cause blood pressure. Such people say that eating less than 5.6 grams of salt daily can also cause a heart attack. It is sure to have a bad effect on health.
According to research done on 1 lakh 70 thousand people, eating less than 7.5 grams of salt per day increases heart disease. On the other hand, by eating 12.5 grams of salt daily, these conditions get better. Whereas in Britain, it is twice the salt than the prescribed standard.
Andrew Mante, the leader of this research campaigning against low salt, teaches at the University of Ontario. They say that there is less chance of complaining of blood pressure by eating less salt, but it does not directly benefit health.
Andrew Mente says that instead of eating too much or too little salt, we have to choose the middle path. Too much salt is also poison, and less salt is also harmful. That is, the road is left in the middle.
But, not everyone agrees with Andrew Mante. Cappuccio of the University of Warwick says that eating less salt lowers blood pressure. He calls the research of those advocating eating more salt incomplete.
Sarah Stanner, a member of the British Nutrition Foundation, says that reducing the amount of salt reduces problems ranging from blood pressure to heart attacks. There would be very few people who would eat less than 3 grams of salt daily. This number is a sign of danger.
TROUBLE EATING OUTSIDE
Sarah Stanner says that it is impossible to eat so little salt on today's date. Because we eat a lot of things bought from outside, there is a lot of salt. The need is that the quantity of salt in the food items sold in the market should be reduced.
Experts' opinions are also divided on the fact that after eating excess salt, it can be reduced by exercising or exercising regularly.
Sarah Stanner says that the ill effects of salt can also be reduced by eating green vegetables, fruits, nuts, and milk products because they contain potassium.
Sue Matius of Lancaster University says that we have to worry more about the salt in canned and packaged goods. The salt that we eat by putting ourselves is very less. Fulfills our daily needs.
Sue Mattias says, "Eating too much or too little salt, both of which are not good for us."
"Excess salt is harmful, but it is not good to abstain completely from eating it," advises Mattias.
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