(Good or bad?)
It seems as if Salt has gotten a bad rap in the last few years. For instance, many diets out there call for close to no salt, or low salt. And it's weird if you think about it, it is the only non-organic material that humans consume on a regular basis. Salt is a rock! And we eat rock on a daily basis!
Although it is true that you should monitor your salt intake, to write it off completely is to deny what makes our bodies work. There's a reason why there is a section of taste buds DEDICATED to detecting salt! It's because your body needs it!
Sodium and Chlorine, along with potassium, calcium and magnesium, are our bodies electrolytes. Our kidneys monitor and regulate the concentration of electrolytes in our body (By peeing). Any mess up in the levels and our cells can't do muscle contractions, or transmit nerve impulses.
According to the National Heart, Blood, and Lung institute, the recommended dose of sodium is 2.4 grams! So that mean's go ahead and put salt in your diet. But watch out for fast food or packaged foods as they like to use sodium to draw moisture out of the food, thus preserving it longer.
How much salt do you consume on any given week? What foods do you consume that contain the most salt?
healthkicker.com
(Good or bad?)
Comments (18)
I LOVE salt, lol. I try not to eat too much of it :3
I guess the reason why people extoll low salt diets is because so many foods out there already have salt... like you said, you have to be careful of fast food or preserved food. And since a lot of people don't get to cook fresh food at home, telling them to lower their conscious salt intake helps their overall health =)
I am a nutrition major and I don't think 2.4g should be the "recommended". The DRIs for sodium are an AI (adequate intake) of 1.5g and an upper limit of 2.3g per day.
One teaspoon (5ml) of salt alone already has 2.3g of sodium chloride in it. Many people's diets already reach 3 to 5 g of sodium chloride per day. Inadequate salt intake is not an issue in North America. Even if you don't use your salt shaker, sodium chloride is abundant in all kinds of processed foods that aren't even salty tasting.
I love salt =)
I know that some people cut out salt from their diets to reduce water retension. I don't know about ALL people who do it though...
As for me and how much salt I eat? Probably way too much. I have an unhealthy love for instant noodles... and usually ONE of them is worth like 90%+ of your daily salt intake for a 2000 calorie diet. I read labels! =]
I never add salt to anything. That's ridiculous. But I am not meticulous about my sodium like I am about calories or fat. Unless it's blatant.. such as ramen noodles.
I do like salty foods... I love roasted salted almonds as a snack.. or pretzels. But too much salt makes me thirsty (duh) and then I know when I've had too much.
i am a salt hater. not going to lie there
but the thing is i am quite the tiny person and i dont need as much sodium as the average person. I know that it's important for our bodies etc, but alot of the foods that we eat already contain alot more salt than we think. Especially fast food and stuff on the go.
im not sure, i like salty foods over sweet foods :D
@lizzie_wizzie@xanga - your not whistling Dixie ! salt intake in the USA is way up there, it's hard not to get too much salt in everything here!
especially in energy drinks
@T5421@xanga - Ooh, i always disliked how energy drinks never show a nutrition facts label. I don't even know what is in there!
i dun add salt(any condiments to be exact) to my foods either as i dun think its necessary for our bodies in nutritional sense.though i jus love saline crackers too much to totally cut out from<3thts one of ONLY unhealthy snack anyway considering i dun eat junk foods.
i like and use HAIN sea salt. its better than regular "iodized" salt. every morning i drink a cup of lukewarm water with HAIN sea salt, its good for the digestive system. salt is also known to fight off infection and cavities.
I'm addicted to soy sauce. I've been putting it on nearly everything since I was a teen. When I checked, it has 900+ mg of sodium!
I have no idea how much salt I have in one week
I don't consume a lot of salty foods. I don't really care for it. Then, I got put on a low salt diet because of the pills that I'm on. Not that it has really changed my eating habits (because I didn't really eat salty foods to begin with), but now I really can't. Even if I wanted to.
I try to avoid consuming too much sodium b/c it makes me bloated (>__<). So when I cook non-Asian food, I use herbs in place of salt to flavor my food, so everything's pretty low sodium.
But when it comes to Asian food, the dishes I eat/make tend to be saltier b/c of soy sauce, sriracha, hondashi, kimchi and other preserved vegetables, sauces, etc. But b/c they're so flavorful, you don't need to eat as much to be satisfied. Add a bowl of rice and you're good to go!! :D
my poor sister was diagnosed with low blood pressure and she was told to eat more salt. Lucky bum!
i think i eat too much salt. I had to cut out things like beefaroni and Tim Horton's food. :( :(
So sad. I also realised that V8 is really high in sodium!! WTF? Now I get the low sodium kind and it actually tastes better :D
There's enough salt already added in the food I eat. I know someone who went to italy on a trip and got used to their food, came back to say our bread tastes salty.