The good and the bad news
THE GOOD AND THE BAD OF ONE OF OUR FAVOURITE SEASONINGS
We all need salt or rather, the sodium chloride in it to balance the fluids in our bodies, and to help with muscle and nerve function. The problem is, most of us consume too much of it, often without realising it, and that can have a harmful effect on our body, including increasing the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Some people think the solution to cutting their salt intake is to not add it to meals at the table. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple – around 75% of the salt we eat is contained in everyday processed foods and we may not always think about just how much salt they are contributing to our daily intake.
Foods that can contain lots of salt include:
Bread, rolls and other baked goods
Crackers
Processed meats, such as bacon, ham, sausages and salami
Tinned vegetables Soup
Cereal
Tomato sauce and mayonnaise.
How to reduce your salt intake
Use fresh rather than packaged meats. While beef, chicken and pork naturally contain sodium, the amount is much less than sodium added to products such as bacon and ham during processing. Also, avoid smoked products.
Use herbs and spices to give food added flavour instead of salt.
Limit how often you have packaged and ready-made meals – they can be a huge source of salt.
Read food labels and compare brands to find the one with the lowest sodium content.
Limit your use of canned vegetables or look for lowsalt options. Rinsing canned foods that contain sodium (such as beans) can help a little.
Cut back on condiments. Ready-made dressings and sauces can be very high in
sodium – check the labels. If you can’t do without added flavouring, try balsamic vinegar, horseradish or lemon juice instead. You could also try making your own low-salt relishes, mayonnaise and sauces.
Go easy on fast foods as most takeaways contain a lot of sodium.
Eat lots of fresh fruit and vege. Instead of having potato chips and other salted snacks, try unsalted nuts and seeds.
Make your own stock and gravy instead of using cubes or granules.
How much salt should you have each day?
It’s recommended not to exceed 6g (that’s 2300mg of sodium) per day. That’s about a teaspoon. If you have high blood pressure, you should be aiming for even less. Most people tend to eat more than 8.5g (3400mg) every day, which over time, can cause problems.
It’s wise to start checking labels for sodium content – food is considered to be low in salt if it has less than 120mg of sodium per 100g of food.
If the sodium content is more than 600mg of sodium per 100g of food, then it is high and should be avoided or eaten sparingly.
When it comes to foods that tend to have a high salt content, look for bread that has less than 450mg sodium per 100g; cereals that have less than 400mg per 100g and crackers that have less than 350mg per 100g.
What does too much salt do to you?
When we eat more salt, and therefore sodium chloride, than our body needs to function, the ability of our kidneys to do the job of removing unwanted fluid from our blood is affected.
This can damage these organs, but this excess fluid can also put extra strain on your blood vessels, increasing blood pressure.
Over time, increased blood pressure levels can put so much strain on your arteries they can burst, or the walls can harden and thicken to cope with this pressure. This narrows the space for blood to get through and can result in organs being damaged because they’re starved of the nutrients delivered to them in your blood. The arteries can also become completely clogged, leading to heart attacks, strokes and vascular dementia.
Some studies also show links between high sodium intake and stomach cancer, osteoporosis and auto-immune diseases such as lupus.