Watch Your Salt Intake

A recent article in a U.S. newspaper suggests that we are ingesting too much salt. And it’s not the added salt in home cooking that’s the problem (this accounts for less than a quarter of the sodium in the American diet). Most of our salt intake comes from processed foods and restaurants.

This article says that only a quarter of a teaspoon of salt a day is required, but most Americans consume as much as 2 teaspoons. The Australian Better Health Channel agrees with the current salt problem, stating that the average Aussie consumes about double the recommended 920 - 2300mg of Sodium (a major component in salt) per day.

Since salt seems to be able to train the palate, we become tolerant to salty foods and so other foods taste bland, which just furthers the problem of wanting more salt.

Problems that Arise from Too Much Salt

It has been known for over 100 years that diets high in salt can cause high blood pressure. Better Health says that restricting your salt intake will actually lower high blood pressure. Excessive salt intake has also been linked to:

• Heart failure
• Kidney problems and kidney stones
• Oedema (excess fluid)
• Stroke
• Gastric cancer
• Left ventricular hypertrophy (enlarged heart)
• Osteoporosis

So do try and limit your salt intake. Most people know that obvious foods like hot chips and crisps contain high amounts of salt but taste isn’t always a good indicator, salt is hidden everywhere. For example, Better Health says that a bowl of cornflakes has about the same amount of salt as a small packet of plain chips.

Try and avoid processed foods such as pizza, crisps, dehydrated foods like instant pasta, and even white breads and rolls (all these foods seem to spell ‘unhealthy’ anyway). If you’re as tedious as me and compare the nutrition labels of packets at the supermarket – remember to read for fat, sugar AND salt content.