According to a set of survey data given by the British medical journal The Lancet Global Health, in China, the average daily salt intake of four-fifths of the people surveyed is 12.5g, which is more than twice as much as that stipulated in China's Dietary Guidelines (6g)!
Eating too much salt will increase the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases such as hypertension, stroke and diabetes.
Under various suggestions, many people advocate a light diet, a low-salt diet, or even no salt at all.
Is a low-salt or salt-free diet really good for health?
One,
Why can't you eat too much salt?
"I eat more salt than you do!"
This sentence, which we often hear from the elders at home, shows that salt is really a good thing.
However, although salt is known as the "king of hundreds of flavors" and is the most commonly used seasoning in cooking, excessive intake will have adverse effects on the human body.
Although salt has a seasoning effect, eating too much salt may lead to disfigurement, such as edema.
This is because when people eat too much salt, the sodium ion in the blood will increase, resulting in the feeling of water shortage. In order to retain more water, the body can easily find edema.
A large amount of salt will also increase the burden on the kidneys, affect the elimination of toxins, lead to edema on the face and make the face bigger!
Living in high salt for a long time will not only "disfigure", but also cause other bigger problems.
For example, a high-salt diet will increase throat mucus and cause throat inflammation or cough.
More importantly, high concentration of salt will inhibit the activity of respiratory cells and reduce their disease resistance. At the same time, it will also reduce saliva and lysozyme in the mouth, increasing the risk of respiratory tract infection.
Excessive salt intake will increase the risk of hypertension, myocardial infarction and cancer.
Studies show that salt intake is directly proportional to hypertension, that is, the more salt intake, the higher the blood pressure level. Every time the daily salt intake increases, the blood pressure will increase by 2 mm Hg on average, and the low pressure will increase by 1.7 mm Hg.
What is even more frightening is that long-term high-salt diet will also destroy the synthesis of prostaglandin E in the stomach, making the gastric mucosa more susceptible to external factors, leading to the occurrence of gastric diseases and increasing the risk of gastric cancer.
The Lancet, an authoritative international medical journal, published a large-scale survey report in the global diet field, and studied the potential risks and health hazards of diet in 195 countries for 27 years.
The results show that China ranks first among the top 20 countries in the world in terms of mortality and cancer incidence caused by diet structure.
And the chief culprit of this situation is: eating too much salt.
According to the statistics of the Ministry of Health in 20 12 years, the average salt intake of Chinese residents is as high as12-14g.
The daily salt intake of southern residents is as high as10-12g; Residents in the north reach 15-22g, ranking first in the world.
From this point of view, a high-salt diet is really unacceptable, and we really need to pay more attention to salt intake.
Second,
Is it healthier to eat less salt?
As mentioned above, high-salt diet seriously affects health and is a high-risk factor for gastric cancer, hypertension, nephropathy and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases;
The Dietary Guidelines for China Residents also clearly stated that the intake of edible oil should be reduced and the diet should be light and salt-free. Therefore, some people eat very lightly every day, either boiling or steaming, or even adding no salt, which is called "low-salt diet, healthy and healthy"
So, are people who eat low salt or even no salt healthier?
In fact, research shows that eating less salt does not necessarily make you healthier.
The European Heart Journal published a comprehensive article, analyzing the recommended daily salt intake, and the results are as follows:
If we consume too little sodium every day, its effectiveness in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease has not been proved.
On the contrary, a low-salt diet less than the daily limit of 3g may be harmful to health and counterproductive.
Why? Because sodium ion in salt is an essential nutrient for human body.
It is involved in regulating water balance, maintaining electrolyte balance, gastric acid synthesis, carbon dioxide transport and other important physiological functions.
For example, the chemical composition of the salt eaten on weekdays is sodium chloride, which will appear in the body in the form of sodium ions and chloride ions after absorption.
Sodium is an important element to maintain human life activities. If the concentration of sodium needs to be kept at an appropriate level, too high or too low will affect the normal human function.
For example, drinking plenty of water after strenuous exercise may lead to dizziness, vomiting and even coma. This is not only a symptom of water shortage, but also related to the low sodium concentration in the body, which needs to be supplemented in time.
In addition to sodium ion, chloride ion, a chemical molecule of salt, is an important component of gastric acid.
With gastric acid, food eaten in the stomach can be digested and absorbed, and bacteria entering the stomach can be killed.
If the intake of salt is too low, it will not only affect the synthesis of gastric acid, but also make the pH of human body out of balance.
Lack of salt has many adverse effects.
Long-term low-salt diet may lead to poor muscle contraction and impaired digestive function due to chlorine deficiency, thus affecting the growth and development of the body.
When the sodium loss per kilogram of body weight reaches 0.5 grams, nausea, vomiting and blood pressure drop may occur; If sodium loss reaches 0.75- 1.2g/kg body weight, blurred vision, increased heart rate, weak pulse, shock and even death due to acute renal failure may occur.
Therefore, whether it is a high-salt diet or an excessively low-salt or salt-deficient diet, it is a bad eating habit.
Third,
How to eat salt is more reasonable?
It is not good to eat too much salt, and it is not good to eat too little salt. What should we do?
I believe many friends have this doubt. Today, I'm going to give you a good talk.
1
Control salt intake
According to the recommendation of the World Health Organization, the salt intake of a healthy adult should be less than 6 grams.
In the Healthy China Action (20 19-2030), a new standard was put forward: the daily salt content per capita in 2030 was less than 5g.
Although the average salt intake of adults in China has been decreasing since 2000, it is still far higher than the maximum salt intake recommended by the World Health Organization. So in daily life, we must not emphasize the taste of salt for a long time!
In addition to controlling salt intake, we should also learn to identify some invisible salts.
After all, it is not only salty things that contain salt. Some foods contain high salt even if they are not salty. For example, soy sauce, monosodium glutamate, chicken essence, oyster sauce, lobster sauce and other seasonings should also be put less.
Some processed foods are actually very high in salt, such as potato chips, instant noodles, sausages and canned food. Not to mention things that look sweet, in fact, the salt content is very high, such as "candied fruit".
The love for pickled and marinated foods has greatly increased the salt intake of China people.
Since ancient times, people have used the characteristics of salt to keep fresh and preserved a lot of food. Today, the taste of pickled food has already developed people's outstanding taste buds, such as pickles, salted fish, salted duck and so on.
So, of course, it doesn't matter to eat these delicious foods occasionally. If you eat it regularly, you need to control it. When shopping for food on weekdays, try to choose foods with the words "pickled", "marinated", "smoked" and "sauce" as little as possible.
2
Choose the salt that suits you.
According to people's different needs for salt, there are many kinds of salt in life, such as iodized salt, non-iodized salt, sodium salt, zinc salt and selenium salt.
Generally speaking, the salt we buy is generally iodized, so we can eat it according to the standard of 4-6g per day.
But if you or your family have hyperthyroidism, thyroiditis, autoimmune thyroid diseases and other patients, you can not eat or eat less iodized salt.
Low-sodium salt, as the name implies, is that sodium has less nutrients and is replaced by other nutrients. Such as potassium chloride, magnesium chloride, etc.
Eating low-sodium salt can reduce sodium intake to some extent while ensuring the same amount of salt. The only drawback is that the taste is relatively light, which is suitable for people with light taste.
People who are not suitable, such as workers who are engaged in high-temperature operations and heavy physical labor intensity, and people with renal insufficiency, need to consume more salt or potassium due to work and physical conditions, so it is best to eat it carefully.
There are also some things that add calcium salt, zinc salt and selenium salt, which are mostly gimmicks.
Although they brought a lot of essential nutrients, the daily salt limit is only 6 grams, which can't be compensated no matter how much they eat.
Therefore, it is best to supplement a variety of nutrients through food supplements.
three
Tips for eating salt
Many people who attach great importance to taste think that a diet with less salt will lose their soul. In fact, a diet with less salt does not mean less taste, and the taste can be maintained by other means such as acid blending.
For example, soy sauce also contains sodium and salt, and the use of low-salt soy sauce can also achieve the purpose of reducing salt;
Onion, ginger and garlic can also be used as seasoning instead of salt. Put less salt and eat fresh garlic, onion, black pepper, vinegar and lemon juice to ensure the taste of food.
Cooking methods such as steaming, roasting and boiling can be used more. If the main course is salted, you must put little or no salt in the soup.
If you feel that you can't control it, you can put salt when cooking, so that the salt left on the surface of food will make us feel salty and control the salt intake.
Families with children can take action now and cultivate their children's low-salt taste from an early age.
I hope this popular science article about eating salt can make more people realize the harm of high-salt diet.
At the same time, I hope that everyone will not be afraid of salt, and choose the right intake to make the body healthy and balanced.