Salt Consumption & Health Issues: The taste of food is incomplete without salt. Salt is used in most foods not only to enhance the taste, but it is also essential for health. Problems can arise when there is a lack of sodium in the body. However, excessive intake of salt is also dangerous. Consuming too much salt increases the risk of many serious diseases and can cause serious damage to health. Many experts even consider excess salt to be a hidden killer, as its effects are not apparent suddenly, but slowly cause disease.
Dr. Sonia Rawat, Director of the Preventive Health and Wellness Department of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in New Delhi, told News 18 that excessive consumption of salt causes hypertension i.e. high blood pressure. This can increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. This disease develops slowly and people come to know about it later. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends people consume less than 5 grams of salt a day, meaning about 1 teaspoon or less. However, an average person in India consumes 8 to 11 grams of salt daily, which can lead to serious health problems.
Health experts said that consuming too much salt can cause many problems other than heart attack and stroke. Consuming too much salt can lead to health problems such as kidney stones, stomach cancer, kidney disease and weakened bones. If people reduced their salt intake by just 1 gram every day, more than 4000 people could be saved from problems like heart attack and stroke every year. This means that even a small reduction in salt consumption can significantly improve health. Children and adolescents should eat less than 5 grams of salt per day.
According to doctors, fast food and junk food are high in salt. To reduce salt intake, people should avoid eating out and cook low-salt meals at home. If we gradually reduce the amount of salt, after some time our taste buds will adapt to that amount of salt and we will not feel the lack of salt in the food. Instead of salt, you can use herbs, spices and lemon to enhance the taste of food. This will help you avoid excess salt intake.