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Increased salt intake is associated with hypertension, the development of osteoporosis, and it is believed that kidneys suffer as well. Therefore, experts recommend to limit salt intake to 6 grams a day, and to watch out for hidden salt that is found in hard cheeses, sauces, breads, soups and bags of corn flakes.
Is there an appetite for salt?
Scientists are still debating on whether there is an appetite for “salt,” and comparing preference for salt in animals and humans which coincides in some segments. For example, while animals show innate appetite for licking salt in a lump, people do not normally eat salt but will gladly eat salty foods. Maybe our physiological functions are caused by an evolutionary imperative – we have 2 million years of mostly meat-eating legacy, followed by 8000 years of collecting precious salt that is used primarily for food preservation that would eventually be followed by excessive salt consumption inherent in today’s age.
Reducing salt intake coincided with the invention of the refrigerator, but still, almost a century after that, we enjoy cured meat products, fish in brine, aged cheeses, olives and canned vegetables. Today we crave salt as much as we have learned to enjoy the capsaicin (the substance from hot peppers), caffeine, sweet, fat food and other fermented flavors – some with a measure, and some without.
Salt was once valuable
During the long period of human history, salt was considered precious, especially in areas away from the sea. Specifically, a certain amount of salt is necessary for the growth and maintenance of health. However, our biological need for salt is partly conditioned by our penchant for salty taste. Children are born with the ability to sense sweet, sour and bitter, while the ability to feel the salty sensation develops during the first few months of life. Infants do not respond to the taste of salty probably because undeveloped ability of the senses. After five months of age infants showed greater liking for salt water compared to tap water.
Salt is has now become such a customary ingredient of our food that we don’t even notice when something is too salty. However, high salt intake is associated with hypertension, the development of osteoporosis, gastric cancer, and it is believed that it damages the kidneys as well. Therefore, experts recommend to limit salt intake to 6 grams a day. In short, ration salt added to meals.
New types of salt
Crystallization of the salt is a product which primarily consists of sodium chloride (NaCl), and may also contain magnesium and other salts in varying amounts depending on the origin and production process.
Sea and rock salt
The two most common types are sea salt and rock salt. Sea salt is obtained from sea water and rock salt from underground salt deposits.
Salt consumption is typically iodinated, and lately more and more frequently we meet with different kinds of savory salt that cannot be iodinated. Examples are the flower of salt, black and red and smoked salt and Himalayan salt.
How is flower of salt produced?
Method of producing a flower of salt is entirely natural, which means they must be harvested by hand and cannot be dried in the facility, but in the sun.
Grey salt is moist, unrefined salt, gray in color with a purple glow emanating from clay that is found in the sediment. Special type of gray salt is the Celtic salt, slightly grayish in color, produced by traditional thickening and drying of salt water from the Atlantic Ocean in the French region of Brittany.
Smoked sea salt is a salt that is not flavored with liquid smoke flavor, but is naturally exposed to smoke, the product of burning wood.
Himalayan salt is coarser, has larger crystals, is of pink to reddish color with whitish crystals of salt, which is mined in the area of Pakistan from distant mines about 300 km from the Himalayas. This salt is becoming more popular for its products and special decorative and multifunctional kitchen boards.
Salt and High Blood Pressure
Salt consists of two ions: sodium and chloride, which are important for the performance of a number of biological functions. Concerns about excessive salt intake and high blood pressure usually associated with sodium.
Salt and Diet
Therefore, a child with a low salt content is actually child low in sodium. However, it turned out that not all compounds of sodium equally dangerous for the occurrence of hypertension.3
For example, sodium bicarbonate, which is rich in mineral water, has no adverse effects. Moreover, drinking bicarbonate mineral water has a beneficial effect on blood lipids and blood pressure.
A large number of scientific studies over the past two decades were carried out to determine the effect of salt intake on the incidence of hypertension. An analysis of numerous studies showed that mild restrictions of food sodium causes significant drop in blood pressure in people with hypertension.
This observation is important to the population point of view. Since most of the salt we consume daily is in processed industrial products, it is necessary to adequately label the content of sodium chloride.
Also, the relevant institutions should encourage the food industry to the reduce salt in food products.
How much salt is recommended?
The amount of salt we eat depends on individual eating habits. Most often up to 20 percent of total daily salt intake is derived from foods that naturally contain salt, such as eggs, meat and fish. Subsequent addition of salt in kitchen food adds additional 15% of the total entered salt. The remaining 75 percent of the total entered salts derived from processed foods that are often not perceived as salt because salt present in these foods is not visible to the eye.
Recommendations for daily intake of salt vary depending on the age and health status of individuals.
General recommendations for the upper limit of salt intake are:
- 1 gram for infants up to 1 year
- 2 grams for children aged 1-3 years
- 3 grams for children aged 4-6 years
- 5 grams for children aged 7-10 years
- 6 grams for other age groups
At the declarations data on the amount of salt or sodium is not always present, and information on salt content can sometimes be confusing. How can we determine whether the amount of salt is small or large in relation to the amount of food where it is added? We can use the following guide:
High – the amount of salt that is greater than 1.5 g per 100 g of product (which is about 0.6 g of sodium)
Low – amount of salt that is less than 0.3 g of salt in 100 g of the product (which is about 0.1 g of sodium)
If the amount of salt per 100 g of food is between these two values then we can consider that we take a moderate amount of salt.
Hidden salt
Today we are still not fully aware that most of the salt enters the body through the finished and semi-finished foods and consuming meals in restaurants. Salt in a small amount enhances the taste of sugary foods and is therefore often found in deserts, where it would not be expected.
Hidden salt is found in food that we use every day. Just some examples of semi-finished and finished food that is an important source of hidden salt: sausages, cured meats, pates, hard cheeses and cheese spreads, snacks like potato chips, sticks, peanuts, pistachio, finished sauce, mustard, mayonnaise, hamburgers, soup out of the bag , semi-cooked dishes such as ragout and many others.
Corn flakes can be deceiving
Interestingly, even corn flakes can be a source of large amounts of hidden salt, and even taste can be deceiving because it is slightly sweet. The bread daily on our plates also greatly contributes to the amount of salt entered is in the body.
Tips for limiting salt intake:
- Reduce the amount of salt you used for cooking – instead of salt use spices and herbs
- Do not put a container of salt on the table where you eat
- Read the declaration and compares the proportion of sodium and salt in some products
- Select fresh, frozen or unsalted canned vegetables
- When cooking, reduce the addition of salt in food in half
- Avoid foods high in salt, such as crisps, salted crackers, all kinds of foods in brine
- Eat fruits and vegetables, they do not contain a lot of salt and are rich in potassium, a mineral that is important for the salt balance in the body