Does salt harm the human body?

Too much salt is really harmful?

09/17/2014

Contrary to the widespread trend to abstain from salt more and more, there are also opposing opinions. Salt is almost entirely made up of sodium chloride and is indispensable for the human diet. The daily recommended amount of table salt is 6 grams, with most people in this country consuming 10 grams a day. However, extreme opponents consider 4 grams per day to be sufficient.

Salt is an ingredient in many foods
Not an easy task, considering that many foods such as bread, cheese, sausage and various convenience foods already contain a lot of salt. It does not matter much what the salt is. The Stiftung Warentest had „36 different salts tested and found little difference to the often highly praised products such as healing salts“. Interestingly, the salts of the discounters performed well. Also, you should include our drinking water in the salty bill and make sure that the selected product contains not more than 1 gram of NaCl per liter.

Sodium chloride = common salt is the sodium salt of hydrochloric acid, which is indicated by the chemical formula NaCl. A quantity can be found on every water bottle. Although blood pressure has been reduced in many hypertensive patients by reducing salt intake, there has been no particular impact on infarction or mortality. Another study even found that the risk of dying of cardiovascular disease was highest, although the study group reported the lowest salt intake. In 2013, a US expert committee presented its report on this. It shows that the daily dose of less than 2.3 grams recommended to US citizens has better health outcomes than if it were not taken into account.

For old people, who should completely abstain from salt because of hypertension, this can even lead to dehydration. As a rule, humans have a higher need for salty food after intensive exercise, sex or sauna sessions.

Rapid salt reduction stresses the body
The question remains how much salt would be the right amount. However, there is a lack of studies that can give a precise recommendation on a recognized upper limit. Most people living in Germany receive more than five grams per day recommended by the WHO (World Health Organization), even though they did not do any sweaty work, and many experts believe that people who consume many finished products should better reduce the salt balance. This recommendation also applies to people with kidney problems.

The salt reduction should be done in stages and not promptly. So the body can slowly adapt to the salt reduction without producing stress hormones. Otherwise it can come to a sudden withdrawal. People who complain about malaise after salty food should always consult their family doctor. (Bn)