Now the pace of life is relatively fast, many people basically have no time to cook, can only eat takeaway or fast food, as well as a variety of drinks, fast food, pastries, all of which have a common feature - containing surprisingly high salt content.
If you unconsciously consume too much salt every day, and the long-term heavy taste intake of excessive salt, what will happen to the body? Let's explore it in detail today.
What does the salt you eat do to your body?
The composition of salt is mainly sodium chloride, and eating too much salt in a short period of time will lead to an increase in extracellular sodium concentration, that is, an increase in osmotic pressure. To restore osmotic pressure, the brain signals thirst for you to drink water.
Many people think, isn't it just drinking more water? What's the big deal. In fact, the impact is not only to drink too much water, increase the number of toilet visits, but also affect night sleep, and more salt will retain more water in the body, and the next day these water will also enter the looser parts to cause edema, such as face, lower limb edema and so on.
In addition to this, this water left in the body immediately raises blood pressure. Studies have found that after an individual's 24-hour urinary sodium excretion increases by 100mmol, systolic/diastolic blood pressure increases by an average of 3/0~6/3mmHg.
In addition, a high-salt diet (such as 11g of salt per day for 7 consecutive days) can also impair vascular endothelial and microvascular function, which are also the basis for cardiovascular events such as acute myocardial infarction and hypertension.
With each heavy diet, these physical injuries continue to occur, and in the long run, high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, kidney disease, etc. will come to the door.
What happens to the body on a long-term high-salt diet?
Long-term high-salt diet, may be more harmful to the body than you think.
First of all, eating too much salt for a long time will definitely affect blood pressure. After a comprehensive evaluation of 11 studies, the median or mean follow-up period of these studies ranged from 3 to 11 years. The results showed that those who consumed 4g and 6g of sodium per day had an increased risk of hypertension by 4% and 21%, respectively, compared with those who consumed 2g of sodium per day, which equals approximately 5.09g of table salt.
From References[4]
Secondly, a high-salt diet increases the excretion of calcium ions and increases the risk of osteoporosis.
Image source: References [5]
In addition, a high-salt diet also has an impact on kidney function. The study found that patients with hypertension who consumed >2.93~4.03g of sodium per day (equivalent to 7.45g~10.25g of salt) had a 38% increased risk of chronic kidney disease compared with hypertensive patients who consumed 2.93~4.03g of sodium per day (equivalent to 7.45g~10.25g of salt).
In addition, a diet high in salt can lead to stroke and cardiovascular disease. Studies have found that for every 1 gram increase in salt intake per day, the risk of stroke increases by 14%.
How to change from "heavy taste" to "light taste"?
People's sense of taste is gradually developed, and it is necessary to constantly strengthen the concept of health, change cooking and eating habits, control the amount of salt in a quantitative way, and gradually develop a light taste.
According to the Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2022), it is recommended that adults consume no more than 5g of salt per day. You can gradually reduce your intake according to the current daily amount of edible salt.
How to reduce salt? Here are 4 tricks:
1. Pay attention to the problem of invisible sodium and eat less high-salt foods
Chicken essence, monosodium glutamate, oyster sauce and other seasonings have high sodium content, and special attention should be paid to; Although some processed foods are not salty to eat, salt is added during processing, such as noodles, bread, biscuits, etc.; Certain prepackaged foods such as preserved foods, salted foods, and processed meat products tend to be high-salt.
The best way to control salt intake is to buy less high-salt foods. You can pay attention to the nutrition label of prepackaged foods, sodium is a mandatory labeling item.
Image source: Galaxy
2. Use fresh ingredients and use substitution methods
Preserve the natural taste of the ingredients as much as possible when cooking, so that there is no need to add too much salt and other condiments to increase the taste of the food; You can also make good use of various natural seasonings such as star anise, pepper, peppercorn, green onion, etc. when cooking.
3. Use cooking methods wisely
When cooking, you can wait until it is almost out of the pan or turn off the heat before adding salt, which can reduce the amount of salt used while maintaining the same saltiness. For stewed and boiled dishes, because there is more soup, pay more attention to the amount of salt.
Don't judge whether there is too much salt just by tasting, but use a measuring utensil, such as a limited spoon.
In short, salt (sodium) as an essential nutrient, but when our salt intake far exceeds the standard, it will greatly increase the burden on the body and bring health risks. We must change our "taste-heavy" eating habits, embrace healthy living, and embrace a better future.
bibliography
[1] Yoshikawa M, Torimoto K, Hirayama A, et al. Daily salt intake is associated with leg edema and nocturnal urinary volume in elderly men. Neurourol Urodyn. 2020;39(5):1550-1556.
[2] Elliott P, Stamler J, Nichols R, et al. Intersalt revisited: further analyses of 24 hour sodium excretion and blood pressure within and across populations. Intersalt Cooperative Research Group [published correction appears in BMJ 1997 Aug 23;315(7106):458]. BMJ. 1996;312(7041):1249-1253.
[3] Cavka A, Jukic I, Ali M, et al. Short-term high salt intake reduces brachial artery and microvascular function in the absence of changes in blood pressure. J Hypertens. 2016;34(4):676-684.
[4] Filippini T, Malavolti M, Whelton PK, et al. Sodium Intake and Risk of Hypertension: A Systematic Review and Dose-Response Meta-analysis of Observational Cohort Studies. Curr Hypertens Rep. 2022;24(5):133-144.
[5] Teucher B, Dainty JR, Spinks CA, et al. Sodium and bone health: impact of moderately high and low salt intakes on calcium metabolism in postmenopausal women. J Bone Miner Res. 2008;23(9):1477-1485.
[6] Yoon CY, Noh J, Lee J, et al. High and low sodium intakes are associated with incident chronic kidney disease in patients with normal renal function and hypertension. Kidney Int. 2018;93(4):921-931.
Planning production
Author丨Jiang Yongyuan Master of Internal Medicine, Third Military Medical University
Review丨Tang Qin, Director of the Science Popularization Department of the Chinese Medical Association, Researcher
Planning丨Linlin
Responsible editor丨Lin Lin
Source: Popular Science China