As long as people who know something about health should understand the importance of a light diet, and low salt occupies a very important position in a light diet.
Just a study published in the famous medical journal "European Heart Journal" seems to subvert people's perception, the study after counting relevant data from 181 countries, the analysis found that the daily intake of salt increased by 2.5 grams. Life expectancy increased by 2.6 years at birth and 0.3 years after age 60. That is, statistical analysis found that salt intake and longevity were positively correlated.
So has the light diet long advocated by health and medical staff been overturned?
In fact, it is not, because even if it is published in a reputable medical journal, the results of this research are still not recognized by mainstream medicine. This is only an observational trial and does not prove a direct relationship between salt intake and longevity.
In particular, the observation sample of this study is large, including multiple races and regions. Ignoring the influence of race, physique, food culture, climate and other factors, it is obviously not rigorous to directly attribute the length of life expectancy to salt intake.
Just like the impact of eating spicy on the body: for people living in humid and cold areas, eating spicy can eliminate moisture and resist the cold, but for people in dry areas, eating spicy can easily lead to heat, constipation and other consequences.
So the lighter the diet, the better?
In fact, not quite, salt can participate in a variety of life-regulating activities after being ingested into the body:
1. Electrolyte balance
Sodium in table salt is one of the important elements in regulating electrolyte balance in the body, and insufficient intake will lead to electrolyte imbalance and affect health.
Electrolyte balance is one of the keys to maintaining normal physiological functions of the human body. Electrolytes include sodium, potassium, chlorine, calcium, magnesium and other plasmas, which play a variety of important physiological roles in the body, such as maintaining osmotic pressure balance inside and outside cells, regulating acid-base balance, and participating in the normal function of nerves, muscles, hearts and other organs. If there is an imbalance in the electrolytes, it can lead to a variety of diseases, such as high blood pressure, arrhythmias, muscle spasms, etc., and even life-threatening.
2. Blood volume balance
Sodium is one of the important elements for maintaining blood volume balance, and if sodium intake is insufficient, it may lead to a decrease in blood volume, which can lead to hypotension.
Low blood pressure will lead to insufficient blood flow to various organs of the human body, thereby affecting the supply of oxygen and nutrients, causing damage to organs, causing cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, kidney diseases and other diseases.
3. Neuromuscular control
Sodium is one of the important elements in regulating neuromuscular conduction, and if sodium intake is insufficient, it can lead to neuromuscular conduction disorders – leading to insufficient release of neurotransmitters (such as acetylcholine) at the neuromuscular junction, which affects muscle contraction and relaxation. This leads to a decrease in the strength and frequency of muscle contractions, as well as the appearance of a feeling of muscle fatigue.
In addition, the energy supply at the neuromuscular junction is also affected, leading to muscle fatigue.
4. Immunity
Moderate sodium intake has a certain effect on immunity, because maintaining normal intracellular and extracellular fluid balance and blood volume is a prerequisite for normal immune function. Too much or too little sodium intake can lead to decreased immunity. Too much sodium intake may lead to edema, high blood pressure, etc., which in turn affect immunity, while too little sodium intake may also lead to imbalance of intracellular and extracellular fluid balance, affecting the function of immune cells.
Not only that, sodium also plays an important role in stimulating the proliferation of spleen cells and the production of immunoglobulins, enhancing the phagocytic ability of macrophages, promoting the maturation and activation of T cells, and has the ability to regulate the immune system.
5. Digestive ability
The main component of gastric acid is hydrochloric acid, and the main component of salt is sodium chloride, so salt is not only an important condiment, but also an indispensable substance for maintaining the normal digestion and absorption function of the human body.
In addition, salt can also promote the conversion and production of amylase, promote the activation of amylase, and accelerate the digestion and decomposition of starch. At the same time, salt can also promote the absorption of free glucose by the intestinal wall, accelerate the sugar into the blood, and improve the body's utilization efficiency of food.
However, although the human body can not be without salt, in fact, only a small amount of salt needs to be ingested, which can meet the needs of various regulatory activities of the body, and in modern life, there are still "invisible salts" that can be seen everywhere, such as milk, meat, eggs and other ingredients that naturally contain a certain amount of sodium; Or in processed foods such as biscuits, bread, and noodles, the sodium content is not low.
Therefore, even people with light taste may have excessive sodium intake. At present, according to the prevalence of hypertension in mainland China and national physical fitness studies, it is usually recommended that adults consume 5~6 grams of salt per day. However, after long-term investigation, it has been shown that the daily salt intake of mainland adults has reached 9~10 grams, far exceeding the health standard, so salt control is the mainstream practice.
How to control salt correctly
1. Reduce eating out
The food production in the restaurant is generally complex, and a variety of seasonings are used at the same time, and most of the seasonings are indispensable to the participation of salt, so the salt consumed when eating out is actually far beyond the saltiness perceived by the sense of taste.
Therefore, eating out, or choosing takeaway, is not conducive to the calculation and control of salt intake.
2. Choose packaged goods
When buying salted duck eggs, bacon, sausages and other pickled products and semi-finished products, supermarkets and markets will have bulk goods for sale, one of the disadvantages of such products is that there is no nutrition list, for people who need salt control, there is no way to evaluate the salt content or sodium content of food, resulting in the difficulty of salt intake control.
3. Discover "invisible salt"
When buying goods, carefully check the nutrition facts table to understand the sodium content of the food; When cooking your own meals, you should also control the salt content of various seasonings and take it into account when arranging your diet plan to prevent excessive intake of "invisible salt" and increase your total sodium intake.
4. Pay attention to body signals
Although this dietary standard is applicable to most people, the need for salt may vary depending on the individual's constitution: if you have a disease that requires dietary adjustment, such as high blood pressure, you need to adjust the sodium content in your diet according to your doctor's advice.
Therefore, when you are unwell, you should go to the hospital in time, carry out drug treatment under the guidance of professionals, or adjust your diet, and develop new sodium intake indicators to make dietary control more in line with your personal situation.
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[1] SAEEDI P PETERSOHN I, SALPEA P, et al. Global and regional diabetesprevalence estimates for 2019 and projections for 2030 and 2045: Results from theInternational Diabetes Federation Diabetes Atlas, 9(th) edition Jl. Diabetes researchand clinical practice, 2019, 157: 107843.