As World Salt Awareness Week concludes, the truth of the matter is that excessive salt can be dangerous to your health.
Executive principal officer at Liberty Medical Scheme, Andrew Edwards advised that too much of a good thing can be bad and the same can be said about this popular seasoning. Excessive salt can force your body to retain water, leading your heart to work harder to circulate blood in your body.
“This can cause your blood pressure to rise. South Africa has one of the highest rates of high blood pressure in the world – one in three adults has raised blood pressure. There is also increasing evidence of a link between our current high salt intake and stomach cancer.”
Edwards said prevention is better than cure and having your blood pressure checked regularly is a pro-active step in preventing a stroke or heart attack. Dubbed the silent killer, about 75 per cent of the salt we intake is in processed foods including, bread, biscuits, cereals and takeaways.
In 2013, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi introduced new regulations that would allow for a gradual decrease in the salt content of processed food between 2016 and 2019. Edwards added that sodium is the most important ingredient to look out for when reading food labels “Premium salts are not necessarily better for you, whether it’s pink, black, comes in crystal or flake form.”
At an average of 6–11g per day, South Africans consume too much salt at more than double the recommended dose. Understanding food labels will help you to choose healthier options:
• Sodium-free means less than 5 milligrams of sodium per serving
• Very low sodium means 35 milligrams or less per serving
• Low sodium means 140 milligrams or less per serving
• Unsalted, no salt added or without added salt means no salt is added to the food. These foods are not necessarily low in sodium, because some sodium may naturally be present in the ingredients.
• Healthy means less than 360mg sodium per serving, or no more than 480mg per meal for meal-type products.
