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One needs to understand that without salt, the body cannot function. Sodium chloride is involved in many metabolic processes; chlorine binds water and participates in muscle contraction and hormone secretion. Salt helps in creating the conditions for the existence of red blood cells. In the stomach, salt forms hydrochloric acid, without which the digestion of food is impossible. However, there is also harm coming from the overuse of this element.
For many years now, scientific evidence has accumulated that there is a connection between excessive sodium intake and the incidence of certain diseases (Elias et al., 2019). High salt intake leads to high blood pressure (Grillo et al., 2019) and significantly negatively affects other body systems. It increases the risk of suffering from stroke, cardiovascular disease, kidney failure, stomach cancer, and more (Rust & Ekmekcioglu, 2017). These diseases lead to great suffering for the sick and require significant expenditures for their treatment.
When the daily intake of salt is exceeded many times, it begins to accumulate in the body. This leads to an excess of the regular content of sodium and chlorine in the tissues, edema forms, and blood pressure rises. The increased sodium content adversely affects the functioning of the kidneys, as a result of which the flow of urine is impaired (Wang et al., 2018). Metabolic processes in the body are inhibited, leading to oxygen starvation, which adversely affects the work of the heart muscle (Kitada et al., 2017). People who eat foods with a high salt content have an increased risk of developing urolithiasis (Bacallao et al., 2016). It occurs due to a decrease in the solubility of monosodium uric acid salt, which precipitates and contributes to calculi formation in the renal pelvis.
Based on the evidence that excessive salt intake is detrimental to health, leading health authorities worldwide have begun implementing national and international programs to reduce sodium intake in recent years. In particular, the Nutrition Department under the Israel Ministry of Health (2013) has drawn up a national program to reduce salt intake through food. This program covers various combination activities that aim to reduce people’s daily salt intake by 3 grams.
Some of the activities carried out within the framework of this program include a study on urinary sodium excretion, which is an essential basis for an accurate estimate of sodium intake in a population. It is also assumed to work with the food industry to phase out sodium in food. Analytical studies should be carried out to check the salt content of foods from selected categories of products (Israel Ministry of Health, 2013). The authorities plan on raising the level of awareness of the population about this issue. It is intended to conduct a public multi-stage advertising campaign, mainly on social networks.
Many people consume too much sodium from salt and not enough potassium. As mentioned before, high sodium intake and inadequate potassium intake contribute to high blood pressure, increasing heart disease and stroke risk. Reducing salt intake to the recommended level, which is less than 5 grams per day, could help prevent 1.7 million deaths per year (Hyseni et al., 2017). People often do not know how much salt they consume (Pesantes et al., 2017; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016). Most of the salt comes from processed foods or foods often consumed in large quantities in many countries. It is also added to food during cooking (for example, by adding broth, bouillon cubes, and soy/fish sauce) or during meals (by adding table salt).
It is better to gradually reduce salt intake so that the taste buds can adapt to this. Food should be seasoned with herbs, unsalted condiments, spices, fruit juices, a little vinegar, and salty foods, such as ketchup, mustard, soy sauce, and other similar salad dressings, should be eaten in moderation (Health Foundation, 2018). It is essential to read the information on the packaging and choose among similar products that contain less salt. Some food manufacturers change the formulation of their products to reduce sodium, and labeling should be checked for sodium before purchasing or consuming foods (Health Foundation, 2018). Potassium can mitigate the adverse effects of excess sodium intake on blood pressure. Its intake can be increased by consuming fresh fruits and vegetables.
The most common but also the most useless is evaporated table salt. The harm lies in the fact that all the beneficial properties of salt fade during the cooking process. Such a product is extracted from natural deposits and undergoes intensive purification; no practical trace element remains. When this salt is consumed, pure sodium chloride enters the human body. One of the most valuable and expensive is Indian black salt, which contains hydrogen sulfide (Carapeto et al., 2018). A small amount of it has a beneficial effect on the body (lowering blood pressure and improving the gastrointestinal tract).
Salt enters the human body along with food, but it is also easily excreted from it. Residents of hot regions are especially in need of this element’s replenishment, as they sweat more actively and water-salt metabolism accelerates. The question of how much salt a person needs daily is still controversial in scientific circles. Lack of salt in the body has detrimental consequences: cell renewal stops, and their growth is limited, leading to cell death (Farquhar et al., 2015).
The salty taste stimulates salivation, which is especially important for the digestion of food. In addition to saliva, sodium and chlorine are also present in pancreatic fluid and bile and are involved in digestion at different levels. Sodium promotes the absorption of carbohydrates, and chlorine, in the form of hydrochloric acid, accelerates the digestion of proteins (Elias et al., 2019). Salt regulates the circulation of fluids in the body, is responsible for thinning blood and lymph, and removing carbon dioxide.
For three days or a week without salt, there will be no adverse changes. Moreover, if a person has consumed an excessive amount of salt before, he or she will notice a positive effect: excess fluid will go away, and weight and puffiness will decrease. However, it cannot be assumed that losing weight occurs since the total amount of water in the body decreases, and not fat (Kang et al., 2018). Prolonged exclusion of salt for more than two to three months can lead to negative symptoms. When exactly they happen depends on the characteristics of one’s body. The body’s compensatory systems can maintain sodium in the blood at a certain level for a long time.
People should not give up salt completely since it is a necessary component for the healthy life of the human body. A completely salt-free diet can lead to unfavorable mineral imbalances in the blood and disrupt thyroid and heart function. However, it brings a positive effect only if the norms of salt intake are observed. Compliance with the standards of salt intake will decrease the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. According to the information provided, the consumer himself must decide and choose what salt and in what quantity to eat. The optimal daily dose should be selected individually based on the characteristics of the individual organism, its needs, and existing chronic ailments or the prerequisites for the development of such.
References
Bacallao M. R. A., Caldevilla R. Y., Mañalich C. R., Gutiérrez G. F., Badell M.A., & Llerena F. B. (2016). Effect of salt intake on the renal excretion of water in urolithiasis patients. Revista Cubana de Investigaciones Biomédicas, 35(4), 323-330.
Carapeto, C., & Brum, S., & Rocha, M. (2018). Which table salt to choose?Journal of Nutrition & Food Sciences, 8(3), 1-4. Web.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2016). New research: Excess sodium intake remains common in the United States. Web.
Farquhar, W. B., Edwards, D. G., Jurkovitz, C. T., & Weintraub, W. S. (2015). Dietary sodium and health: More than just blood pressure. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 65(10), 1042–1050. Web.
Grillo, A., Salvi, L., Coruzzi, P., Salvi, P., & Parati, G. (2019). Sodium intake and hypertension. Nutrients, 11(9). Web.
Health Foundation. (2018). Salt in everyday foods adds up quickly. Web.
Hyseni, L., Elliot-Green, A., Lloyd-Williams, F., Kypridemos, C., O’Flaherty, M., McGill, R., Orton, L., Bromley, H., Cappuccio, F. P., & Capewell, S. (2017). Systematic review of dietary salt reduction policies: Evidence for an effectiveness hierarchy? PloS ONE, 12(5), e0177535. Web.
Israel Ministry of Health. (2013). The National Sodium Reduction Program. Web.
Kang, H. J., Jun, D. W., Lee, S. M., Jang, E. C., & Cho, Y. K. (2018). Low salt and low calorie diet does not reduce more body fat than same calorie diet: A randomized controlled study. Oncotarget, 9(9), 8521–8530. Web.
Kitada, K., Daub, S., Zhang, Y., Klein, J. D., Nakano, D., Pedchenko, T., Lantier, L., LaRocque, L. M., Marton, A., Neubert, P., Schröder, A., Rakova, N., Jantsch, J., Dikalova, A. E., Dikalov, S. I., Harrison, D. G., Müller, D. N., Nishiyama, A., Rauh, M., Harris, R. C., … Titze, J. (2017). High salt intake reprioritizes osmolyte and energy metabolism for body fluid conservation. The Journal of Clinical Investigation, 127(5), 1944–1959. Web.
Elias, M., Laranjo, M., Potes, M., & Santos, A. (2019). The role of salt on food and human health. In M. C. Çinku & S. Karabulut (Eds ), Salt in the Earth (pp. 1–25). IntechOpen. Web.
Pesantes, M. A., Diez-Canseco, F., Bernabé-Ortiz, A., Ponce-Lucero, V., & Miranda, J. J. (2017). Taste, salt consumption, and local explanations around hypertension in a rural population in Northern Peru. Nutrients, 9(7), 698. Web.
Rust, P., & Ekmekcioglu, C. (2017). Impact of salt intake on the pathogenesis and treatment of hypertension. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, 956, 61–84. Web.
Wang, Y., Chu, C., Wang, K. K., Hu, J. W., Yan, Y., Lv, Y. B., Cao, Y. M., Zheng, W. L., Dang, X. L., Xu, J. T., Chen, W., Yuan, Z. Y., & Mu, J. J. (2018). Effect of salt intake on plasma and urinary uric acid levels in Chinese adults: An interventional trial. Scientific reports, 8(1), 1434. Web.
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