Hidden salts
The salt we ingest does not all come from your own salt mill, in fact, you even ingest most of it unnoticed. A large part of the salt in our food comes from processed foods that you eat on your bread, such as cheese and meat products, but meat substitutes are also processed and therefore contain a lot of unnoticed salt.
In addition, you get a lot of salt through ready-made meals. Think of the easy dishes you prefer to eat quickly in front of the television, such as a frozen pizza, microwave meals, ready-made soups and sauces. But don’t forget the seasonings, such as bouillon cubes and sambal, for example.
So what is too much salt?
The recommended amount of salt you can consume daily is 6 gramwhich amounts to such a one and a half teaspoons of fine table salt. But in reality, women consume an average of 7.5 grams of salt per day and men even almost 10 grams.
Consequences of too much salt
Most people know that eating too much salt is not good for you, but the actual consequences are sometimes underestimated. And that while the consequences are not tender. An excess of salt – i.e. exceeding 6 grams per day – can lead to increased blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, stomach cancer and osteoporosis.
Especially for people with high bloodpressure, overweight of elderly it is wise to reduce salt consumption, because these groups run an extra risk of health consequences.
The effect on the body
When eating too much salt, the body retains more fluid than normal. Because there is sodium in salt – which regulates the fluid balance in your body – your kidneys have to work overtime to remove it from the body.
Your body therefore retains more fluid, including in your blood vessels. The heart has to work harder to pump blood, which raises your blood pressure. These effects can lead to the health consequences mentioned above.
Don’t just think of the salt mill
Leaving the salt mill off the table and also not adding salt to your food while cooking is good, but this does not immediately reduce your salt consumption to the recommended amount. Especially reduce the consumption of processed foods, because the majority of them contain salt!
