Is it true that the use of salt is harmful?

One of the most popular nutrition myths says that salt is a white death, it is harmful to health. We decided to check if this is true.

Information about how dangerous the salt is for our body, you can find on sites medical institutions, for example hospitals. They write about it Mediaeven experts UN They are alarming. Reasoning About whether it is worth completely abandoning salt, you can find on Portals About dietetics and a healthy lifestyle. The stereotype that salt is poison is so common that it can be found even in movie.

First of all, you need to figure out what it is salt. It is 97% sodium chloride and serves as one of the main sources of these elements for our body. Sodium - electrolyte, which Playing An important role in maintaining the water-salt balance, and also provides the transfer of nerve impulses.

The lack of sodium in the blood itself is already a fairly serious disease, Hyponatremia. It can lead to severe neurological and mental disorders, convulsions, coma and even death. Another danger of low sodium in the body is dehydration, which can also lead to heavy consequences For health. Both dehydration and hyponatremia are especially Dangerous for older people. Sodium is excreted from our body naturally with urine and then. That is why athletes after difficult training can To feel the lack of sodium, one of its symptoms is muscle cramps.

In 2016, specialists of the Kokrain library Studied The results of various studies on the relationship of salt consumption, pressure and cholesterol and found that a diet with reduced salt content contributes to a certain increase in cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood. And this, in turn, can bring to diseases of the heart. In addition, food salt is often enriched iron, iodine And Folic acidTherefore, its use can fill in the lack of these substances in the body.

American Cardiological Association Recommends Consuming 1.5 g of sodium per day is about 3/4 teaspoons of salt. However, an average American eats About one and a half, exceeding the norm by half. The same discovered And nutritionists of Australia. And the excessive use of salt, indeed, can negatively affect human health.

So, numerous research doctors Showedthat overeating salt Promotes The development of hypertension, which, in turn, can lead to heart attacks and strokes. In 2020, scientists They saidthat an increase in the daily consumption of sodium by only 1 g leads to an increase in the risk of death from cardiovascular diseases by 6%. Blood pressure influences And on the health of the kidneys, so very salty food can adversely affect them.

However, on this subject, scientists so far could not come to a single opinion. Some of them They thinkthat evidence of the effect of salt consumption on blood pressure Not enough. In any case, you should not panic and completely abandon salt: proventhat the use of one or two teaspoons within one or two does not help increase pressure. In addition, a review of 2014 showedthat the reduction in the amount of salt in the diet by 2 g helps to reduce systolic blood pressure by only 3.82 mm Hg. With medium meanings In 125-144 mm of an eg, such a decrease is not particularly significant.

Scientists found outthat some people are more sensitive to salt than others. Probably, it is they who should closely monitor compliance with the consumption rate of sodium. But then the reduction of salt in the diet will be more effective for them than for those who are not so sensitive. The risk group, according to scientists, includes elderly people, hypertension, African Americans, people with chronic kidney diseases, those who had low birth weight.

Some research Bind diet with a high content of salt with risk development of stomach cancer. So, one of the studies conducted in Japan with the participation of more than 40,000 people showedthat this risk is as much as 30% of those who prefer strongly salty foods.

At the same time, scientists have not yet come to a consensus, how exactly cancer can cause cancer. According to one version, she Promotes reproduction bacteriaprovoking peptic ulcer, which can develop into cancer. On the other - diet with a high salt content can cause cellular mutations, which ultimately lead to cancer.

Another danger of excess salt consumption - osteoporosis. The fact is that the body removes excess sodium through urine, and calcium is also excreted with it. Accordingly, the more salt it is necessary to remove the body, the more it will wash off calcium, which can cause bone violations.

It really makes sense to limit salt in the diet, since it is not as easy to monitor the amount of salt eaten as it seems, especially if you use finished products, such as sauces. Salt is contained in almost all foods, but it is not always possible to evaluate its amount by eye. Rospotrebnadzor Curses Salt content table in various products. According to them, 100 g of medium -faced herring contains 336%of the day of sodium, in 100 g of Parmesan - 106%, and in the same number of olives - 97%. Thus, in order not to exceed the norm, you not only need to choose one thing per day, but also not at all to use salt in other products, which is almost impossible.

Thus, excess salt consumption can be dangerous to health, although scientists still could not come to a consensus on this subject. Nevertheless, it is impossible to completely abandon it, since it is a source of sodium, which is necessary for the body for normal life, and its lack can lead to sad health consequences. Therefore, as with many other products, everything is fine with salt, however, to say that its use in any quantity brings death is closer, is unfair.

Half truth

What do our verdicts mean?

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