Yu Kang, an Associate Professor in the Department of Nutrition at Peking Union Medical College Hospital and a renowned nutrition expert in China, states that authoritative institutions recommend a daily sodium intake of no more than 6 grams. For patients with chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and kidney disease, the intake should be even lower.
Surveys have shown that the average sodium intake in the Beijing area is 12 grams or more. This increased intake silently raises the risk of developing chronic diseases like hypertension. There is a theoretical risk associated with salt consumption—the more you eat, the more you want. We've found that as some people age, their taste buds become less sensitive to salt. An elderly person might need several spoonfuls of salt to achieve the same salty taste as one spoonful did in their youth, leading to an unintentional increase in salt intake. It should be emphasized that the so-called "6 grams of salt" is our total daily intake, with about 2 grams coming from general food and the remaining 4 grams added during cooking. A beer bottle cap holds approximately 4 grams of salt, which is the total amount we should use for cooking in a day.
Some people ask, "I have a strong preference for salty food and can't go without it. Can I just switch to soy sauce?" Soy sauce also contains salt, and consuming large amounts of it can lead to excessive sodium intake. High-salt foods such as pickled mustard tubers, preserved vegetables, yellow bean paste, pickled greens, sausages, and ham should also be limited. If a hypertension patient eats stir-fried pork with pickled mustard tubers as a main meal, it will be difficult to achieve proper blood pressure control even with medication. Therefore, it is a problem that everyone must pay attention to: starting from a young age, we should cultivate a habit of light eating.
Changing from a "heavy" palate to a "light" one can be achieved with some small methods. For example, you can use the natural flavor of vegetables for seasoning. Enjoying the "original flavor" of a dish might be more appealing than "masking" it with soy sauce. You can also use white vinegar, lemon juice, or fruit juices for flavoring, or choose potassium-rich, low-sodium salt available on the market as a substitute for regular salt.