Daily Salt Intake: Food without salt tastes bland. The sodium present in it is essential for the body, but if its quantity exceeds then it can cause dangerous side effects. Health experts advise against eating too much salt. The World Health Organization (WHO) also advises to consume salt as per taste. According to WHO, every year more than 18 lakh people die due to excessive sodium intake. Since salt contains a lot of sodium, one should avoid eating too much salt. Only a certain amount of salt should be consumed in a day.
How does sodium cause death?
Excessive sodium in the body can lead to high blood pressure. Due to this, the risk of heart disease, gastric cancer, obesity, osteoporosis, Meniere’s disease and kidney disease increases. In such a situation, one should avoid eating too much salt.
How much salt should be consumed daily
Experts say that if you are feeling weakness in the muscles for a long time, then it can also be a sign of excess sodium in the body. Apart from this, frequent feeling of thirst, mild headache, frequent urination, swelling in the body are signs of high sodium level in the body. According to WHO, adults should eat at least 2,000 mg or less than 5 grams of salt a day. It has been advised to give salt to children between 2 to 15 years of age depending on their energy.
What to do to eat less salt
1. Eat only fresh and less processed foods.
2. Choose low-sodium products, which contain less than 120mg/100g of sodium.
3. Cook food with less or no salt.
4. Use herbs and spices as an alternative to salt to taste food.
5. Avoid packaged sauces, dressings and instant foods.
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