Salt harm and safe rate
About how harmful or useful salt is, disputes have been going on for many years. It is rare that a dish can be prepared without this component, but at the same time it can harm health. Almost all experts agree that it is all about the amount of salt used.
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The benefits of white salt
To maintain normal health, a person simply needs to consume salt. It is she who maintains the water balance in the human body at the proper level. With a lack of salt, a malfunction occurs in the activity of internal organs and their systems.
Salt is composed of sodium and chlorine. The last element is involved in the production of hydrochloric acid, which breaks down food in the human stomach. And sodium is present in the cells of bone, nerve and muscle tissue and helps them to work harmoniously. Metabolic processes cannot do without the participation of salt. It provides every cell of the body with an optimal set of nutrients. Thanks to salt, the development of pathogenic microflora in food stops, as it is an excellent preservative.
Salt can even be used as a medicine:
- After insect bites, it is enough to apply salt gruel to the affected area, and the pain will subside by itself.
- Salt baths are useful for the strength of the nails.
- Saline solution is used to treat acne.
- For colds, gargling with saline is one of the most effective treatments.
The benefits of pink salt
This unusual substance is mined in the mountains of Pakistan, therefore pink salt is also called Himalayan salt. Since ancient times, such salt has been in demand in folk medicine.
Pink salt contains many health-promoting nutrients, so it can replace regular white salt. Due to its chemical composition, which includes almost the entire periodic table, pink salt cleanses the body of toxins and decay products, which helps to reduce excess weight.
It is useful to use Himalayan salt for people suffering from edema, as it perfectly normalizes the water-salt balance and relieves the body of excess fluid. Pink salt helps to normalize the gastrointestinal tract, solving many intestinal problems, including relieves constipation. The constant use of Himalayan salt has a beneficial effect on the work of the heart muscle, strengthens blood vessels and improves blood circulation.
The benefits of black salt
In addition to white and pink, there is also black salt, which has long been known and is popular both in cooking and in medicine. The composition of black salt is more extensive than the composition of the usual table salt. In addition to sodium chloride, it contains a wide range of mineral elements.
Due to its various mineral components, black salt is an excellent regulator of the acid-base balance of the blood. It can be used to increase appetite, to reduce stomach acidity, as a rejuvenating therapy and to enhance the body's immune defenses. With the help of black salt, you can soothe and moisturize the itching of the skin, relieve pain, get rid of spasms and cramps.
It is good to use black salt to improve the condition of the hair. To do this, it must be added to tomato juice and taken every day. Such use enhances the growth of hair, helps to strengthen the roots, gives shine to curls and treats dandruff.
Salt harm
Despite all the benefits of sodium chloride for the body, this substance should not be abused. An excess of salt leads to fluid retention in the body, and this creates additional stress on the kidneys and heart. An excess of salt results in swelling of the extremities, causing headaches and various organ diseases. Large amounts of salt raise blood pressure, which can trigger a heart attack or stroke. Also, in recent years, studies have been carried out showing that high amounts of salt slow down mental performance.
Since salt retains fluid, nutritionists often strongly recommend avoiding it, as a large amount of it provokes fluid stagnation, edema and weight gain. Therefore, at losing weight salt can be not used at all or its amount can be drastically reduced.
Salt rate
When asked about the daily rate of salt, WHO experts answer that this amount should not be more than a teaspoon. Since in modern conditions a person very often eats outside the home, for such busy people this number must be reduced by one and a half, or even two times.
In general, the daily salt rate also depends on the person's age:
- For newborns, salt is not added to food at all.
- For children under 3 years of age, the amount of salt should not exceed 2 grams.
- For children under 10 years old, 4 grams of salt per day is enough.
- And for adults, this number should not exceed 5 grams.
We advise you to follow the recommendations of experts and not exceed the recommended amount of salt. This way you can stay healthy. There is also no need to overuse restaurant food. In addition to a large amount of salt, other substances "not useful" for health, for example, sugar and fats, can be added to it.
