HEALTHY EATING OF SODIUM CHLORIDE

Salt also known as sodium chloride is essential to good health and is vital to our existence because it supplies electrolytes to the body. Salt is used for seasoning and preservation of foods, but when in excess it has an excellent chance of interfering with our system, it can also be addictive; that even with all the salt in a meal some people will still prefer adding table salt to their meals, salt is also disease promoting; it's acidifying with the body makes it difficult for the body to maintain it's alkalinity.
Salt /water ratio is good for metabolic rate of the body; it facilitates the transmission of signals in the nerves and muscles and help sustain fluid contents inside and outside the blood cells.  High salt intake is dangerous to health because of its damaging effects on the heart and other organs. 

Health benefits of salt
1. Helps digestive system to absorb nutrients
2. Promotes insulin sensitivity
3. Good for oral rehydration
4. Improves metabolism
5. Maintain dental hygiene
6. Prevent iodine deficiency
7. Cures cystic fibrosis
8. Treat sore throat
9. Relieves muscle pain

Ingesting too much salt will lead to:
1. Water retention
2. Cardiovascular problems
3. Osteoporosis
4. Dehydration
5. Cancer
6. Kidney Stone
7. Diabetes
8. Mineral depletion

1. Water retention
If your salt intake is high the kidneys hold back on releasing water for urine in order to dilute the excess salt around the cells and in the blood stream, this may results in an increased blood volume due to water retention and the symptoms include edema (swelling from excessive accumulation of fluid from the cells)

2. Cardiovascular problems
High salt intake Is bad for the heart, it is the leading cause of cardiovascular disease, it increases the volume of blood in the blood stream, thickening the blood vessels and forming blood clots, reducing the heart ability to pump blood around the body and making the heart to work harder by putting more pressure on blood vessels, the extra work and pressure stiffen the blood vessels leading to high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke and it can also lead to heart failure

3. Osteoporosis
High salt intake is bad for the bones, the amount of calcium that the body loses through urination increases with the amount of salt you eat, if calcium is in short supply in the blood, it can leach out calcium from the bones to make out for that which is lost  making bones week and prone to breaking thereby causing the disease known as osteoporosis

4. Dehydration
High salt intake will make you experience dehydration making you excrete too much water into your urine, the extra salt you consume will need extra water to balance it out, it will look for a way to pull out water from within the cells, you will then experience extreme thirst, nausea, dizziness, stomach cramps, vomiting and diarrhea

5. Cancer
High salt intake is linked to an increase in stomach cancer because it damages the lining of the stomach, making it vulnerable for bacteria that causes inflammation and lead to tumour growth

6. Kidney stone
High salt intake raises the amount of salt in the blood stream and reduce the ability of the kidneys to remove water, causes too much calcium to be excreted by the kidneys into the urine; leading to calcium buildup and therefore causing kidney stones

7. Diabetes
High salt intake can raise the risk of developing diabetes by raising blood pressure

8. Mineral depletion
High salt intake depletes essential minerals the body needs for proper functioning like calcium, potassium and magnesium

People at risk of high salt consumption
1. Senior adults (50 years and above)
2. People with elevated blood pressure
3. Diabetic patients
4. Pregnant women

Potassium
Potassium is one of the minerals for the normal functioning of the body system, it helps in kidney health, maintains blood pressure by neutralising the effect of excess salt in food, it also help to balance the inflow of nutrients into the body cells and the evacuation of waste from body cells. Potassium simply beats down the effect of sodium in our system and help relax blood vessels, excrete the salt and decrease blood pressure

                                            

Caution
Table salt or better still adding extra salt in cooked food is very dangerous to health, it causes serious overburden on the excretive organs, which can lead to tissue damage and cell death. The body recognizes it in food as un natural and aggressive toxin, then triggers the process of expelling it from the body, the best thing is to stay away from table salt or the idea of adding extra salt to already cooked food.






The keys are:
* Enjoy your meal with less salt
* Stop adding salt to your cooked meal