Salt is good and bad

Since childhood, we have been taught that table salt is of no use. The most staunch adherents of a healthy diet give it up completely, while those who are not so staunch get iodized food – they say, at least there is some benefit from it. Nevertheless, salt performs several important functions in the human body, so it would be very reckless to discount it.

Sodium chloride is a very common compound in nature. In gastronomy, it serves as both a seasoning and a preservative. However, salt has developed a bad reputation over the last century. It turned out that it increases blood pressure and provokes heart and stomach diseases. Therefore, experts once decided that the maximum daily dose of salt for an adult should be one teaspoon. In this amount, salt is still useful, but in larger quantities it is already harmful.

But some inhabitants of the planet went further – they simply abandoned this seasoning completely. In their opinion, every grain of salt causes enormous harm to the body, increasing the risk of vascular diseases, promoting the development of atherosclerosis and leaching calcium from the body. However, even the strictest doctors do not approve of such an extreme – a complete refusal to use sodium chloride. Nutritionists have recognized that radically limiting salt in our diet can lead to unpleasant consequences, including dehydration.

But before we evaluate all the properties of salt, let’s start with the classification.

Salt can be coarse, medium or fine. According to the purity of the product, it is also divided into three categories: highest grade, first or second. In addition to sea and rock salt, which is well known to consumers, there are other types: black Indian, pink Himalayan, flower, kosher, Celtic, Maldon and so on. In fact, for every taste and color. Let’s study the features of some types.

STONE

It is extracted from mines, has a gray tint and an intense taste.

COOK

This is an improved stone that has simply been bleached, “crushed” and sieved.

MARINE

One of the most useful, since it contains essential microelements, including calcium, iron and magnesium.

IODIZED

Iodine is artificially added to it, which is why it acquires a rather specific taste. Recommended for everyone who lives far from the sea and does not receive iodine in sufficient quantities in their diet. The only thing is that this salt is contraindicated for people with an overactive thyroid gland.

BLACK

A natural, unrefined product that also contains iodine. And besides it there is potassium, iron and sulfur.

EXTRA

A food product produced on an industrial scale. Sodium chloride in pure form. In the process of processing with soda, this salt loses all its beneficial microelements.

BENEFITS OF SALT

1. This compound helps restore the body’s strength after illness. The sodium it contains stimulates muscle activity. When there is too little, muscle spasms can occur.

2. Maintains electrolyte balance. Let us clarify that electrolytes are involved in almost all important processes of the body, carrying an electrical charge.

3. Supports the nervous system and retains moisture in cells. For all nervous processes, our body needs water, and only salt can retain it in our body.

4. Has an antibacterial effect. Salt has antiseptic properties, so it inhibits putrefactive processes in the digestive system.

“Salt is 60% chlorine and 40% sodium, and the body really needs these macroelements,” explains nutritionist Olga Khrutskaya. – Thanks to sodium, the synthesis of steroid hormones of the adrenal glands occurs. When there is a sodium deficiency, a person experiences headaches and muscle weakness. As for chlorine, it is necessary for the formation of hydrochloric acid. As you know, it is this acid that digests protein foods in the human body. So the benefits of salt are undeniable.

HARM OF SALT

When there is an excess of sodium chloride in our diet, problems begin: hypertension, bloating, swelling, drowsiness, even cramps and epileptic seizures. Table salt raises blood pressure so quickly that doctors advise patients with second-degree hypertension to completely avoid homemade pickles, canned food, smoked meats and lard. And people whose relatives have had stomach cancer should consume such products no more than once a week. Since there is a hereditary predisposition to cancer, it is better to be safe.

“One of the significant disadvantages of salt is that it is addictive,” says Olga Khrutskaya. – For a person accustomed to over-salted food, normal food seems bland. It is very difficult for him to break himself and start eating more healthily. Meanwhile, an excess of salt causes colossal harm to his body, affecting blood vessels, overloading the kidneys and liver, but the salty lover is no longer able to voluntarily reduce the dosage. In addition, excessive consumption distorts the perception of taste.

In the last century, it was generally believed that salt improves the taste of dishes. Modern research suggests the opposite. When the sensitivity of receptors decreases, a person no longer understands the true taste of the products he tastes.

When your doctor strongly recommends reducing your salt intake and your food seems bland, try adding turmeric, various types of pepper or asafoetida to your food – then it will be easier for you to adapt to a new, lighter way of eating.

CONTRAINDICATIONS

You should reduce your salt intake to three grams per day:

1. Hypertensive patients

2. People with kidney disease

3. People with heart failure.

4. People with edema syndrome