Modern healthy diets advocate for low-salt intake. A person's daily salt intake should not exceed 8 grams; otherwise, it will endanger our health. Consuming too much salt can burden the kidneys and cardiovascular system, leading to worsening kidney disease, high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke. Although these are common sense facts that most people know, how many actually put them into practice?
When cooking daily meals or soups, people know that less salt is healthier, and that excessive salt can lead to problems like high blood pressure. For this reason, some families even use special salt-limiting spoons to control their salt usage. However, people rarely pay attention to foods with "hidden salt." Although the amount of salt in these foods is small, long-term consumption can bring many health risks.
Seasonings often contain salt. For example, every 5 milliliters of soy sauce is equivalent to 1 gram of salt. In addition, substances like vinegar, MSG, sauces, and seasoning packets also contain sodium. Even many vegetables, such as water spinach, bean sprouts, and seaweed, contain a certain amount of salt. Many people use baking soda as a leavening agent to make steamed buns, buns, and fried dough sticks.
The chemical name for baking soda is sodium bicarbonate, and the "sodium" in it is the same as the "sodium" in table salt. Excessive consumption can also lead to high blood pressure. Therefore, our staple foods like fried cakes, youtiao (fried dough sticks), bread, and biscuits also contain salt; we are just not aware of it.
There are also many snacks that don't taste salty but still contain a considerable amount of salt, such as common chips, melon seeds, preserved plums, and others.
In daily life, you should eat less of these "hidden salt" foods. If you do eat them, you must count them towards your daily salt intake. Therefore, your daily salt consumption should be lower than the conventional 6 grams. You should eat less fast food, snacks, and packaged foods. Get into the habit of eating less or no pickled vegetables, cured meat, cured fish, braised dishes, or roasted chicken. If you must eat out, try to avoid restaurants with heavy flavors and ask the chef to prepare the food lightly.
Excessive Salt Can Lead to Cataracts
Researchers in Australia have found that a diet high in salt can increase the likelihood of developing cataracts. A cataract is a clouding of the eye's lens, and if left untreated, it can lead to blindness.
Dr. Robert G. Cumming and his colleagues at the University of Sydney found that people with the highest sodium intake were twice as likely to develop posterior subcapsular cataracts, a type of cataract that causes the most severe vision damage, compared to those with the lowest sodium intake. Their research report was published in a recent issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.
The researchers examined the eyes of about 3,000 adults aged 49 to 97 and asked the participants to fill out a questionnaire about their dietary habits. A total of 160 people had posterior subcapsular cataracts, while 970 had one of the two other types of cataracts not associated with sodium intake.
The study also found that people with high salt intake might also suffer from other diseases that can easily lead to cataracts, such as diabetes or high blood pressure, and might have taken corticosteroid anti-inflammatory drugs.