Salt, how much is too much – By Dr Harold Gunatillake

Website: www.Doctorharold.com

Transcript:

Salt is sodium chloride, the white crystals left over when seawater evaporates. Experts have been arguing about this for decades. One side says everyone needs to cut back on salt and that doing so would substantially reduce heart disease. The other side says universal salt reduction would have little effect on public health and would be a needless
deprivation for most people.

In Japan, the daily intake is a whopping 26,000 mg (more than 11 teaspoons of salt). But their lifespan seems to be more than in most other countries.

How salt affects your blood pressure and health depends on your genes, age, and medical conditions.

The human body requires a small amount of sodium to conduct nerve impulses, contract  and relax muscles, and maintain the proper water balance and minerals. It is estimated that we need about 500 mg of sodium daily for these vital functions . An average blood sodium level is between 135 and 145 milliequivalents per litre (mEq/L).

Hyponatremia occurs when the sodium in your blood falls below 135 mEq/L You check your blood sodium level when you check on your blood electrolytes.

What happens to the body when the sodium level is high? High sodium levels in your blood mean your blood doesn’t have enough water. In addition to triggering thirst, high blood sodium levels can lead to confusion, muscle twitching or a coma. A blood test is required to diagnose high sodium blood levels, but watching for early signs may help prevent serious consequences.

Immediate effects of taking high salt consumption are: Increased thirst Swollen feet or hands Headache (in some cases) A rise in blood pressure,

These symptoms aren’t particularly debilitating at the moment. Plus, since your kidneys are always helping balance the amount of sodium in your body, they don’t last long.

But what happens in your body when you overwhelm your kidneys with salt isn’t good. If your kidneys can’t eliminate the salt you’re taking from your diet; sodium starts to build up in your body. Then water collects; as you know, salt cause retention, resulting in bloating.

And causes strain on your heart. That is how you get high blood pressure, which strains your heart, blood vessels and kidneys.

“As your blood volume increases, your heart has to work harder to pump blood throughout your body. “This then increases pressure in your arteries. What’s more, when the heart is pumping harder, it places pressure on the vessels in every organ, including the kidneys.”

This is why, over time, overeating salt comes with long-term health consequences, including: High blood pressure (hypertension)
Heart disease
Stroke
Kidney disease
Kidney stones.

According to some researchers, this happens to individuals, but statistics do not seem to increase morbidity or mortality.

The WHO suggests consuming 2,000 mg (2 grams) of sodium daily, and the American Heart Association advises a much lower intake of 1,500 mg (1.5 grams) per day. Today, Americans consume much more sodium than health authorities recommend — averaging about 3,400 mg (3.4 grams) daily.

Sri Lankans consume about 11.4g of salt per day. The reason is that many curries are served with your rice, and each curry will have over a teaspoon of salt when you limit it to half a teaspoon per day. No wonder such high heart disease, stroke, and high blood pressure are prevalent among Sri Lankans.

In Japan, the daily intake is a whopping 26,000 mg (more than 11 teaspoons of salt), which ranks the highest globally in terms of longevity. The average life expectancy was 81.4 years for men and 87.5 years for women in 2019. Such success in health is attributable to the substantial reduction in age-standardized mortality from cardiovascular diseases, especially stroke (136 per 105 in 1980 and 24 per 105 in 2015) when stroke mortality was the highest in
the world between the 1960s and the 1990s. On the other hand, ischemic heart disease mortality was the lowest in the world between the 1960s and the 1980s and has continued to decline.

So, it appears that high salt consumption does not seem to cause an increased incidence of stroke, high blood pressure or heart disease among Japanese.

China and the United States are superpowers in salt consumption. But the Sri Lankan daily rice and curry diet beats them. High salt levels in food are a significant cause of high blood pressure and its related risks of heart and kidney diseases and death.

How salt affects your blood pressure and health depends on your genes, age, and medical conditions. So, limiting your salt intake should be a priority in your lifestyle.

Meat eaters consume much more salt than vegetarians. Processed meat products included: meat  alternatives; bacon; canned meat; frozen meat; meat burgers; salami and cured meats; sausages and hot dogs; sliced meat; dried meat; pate and meat spreads; kebabs; “other” meat products and raw flavoured meats. Whole hams, similar products, roast chicken, and raw unflavored meats are all high-salt foods.

Processed fish products included canned, chilled, frozen and “other” items. Overeating salt daily in your food may harm your health. This may not be true when you take the Japanese figures.

Hundreds of studies have examined the connections between salt intake and blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, and mortality. In general, they show that cutting back on salt lowers blood pressure and reduces the chances of having a heart attack or stroke. The trouble with these studies is that virtually everyone has flaws, which are pointed out immediately by those who disagree with the study’s conclusions. They are too short, too small, not like the real world, or influenced by factors other than sodium.

Some of the most compelling evidence that eating less salt can lower blood pressure comes from the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) trials. The first DASH trial showed that a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy products, whole grains, beans, nuts, fish, and poultry lowered blood pressure in people with normal and high blood pressure.

A low-salt diet is recommended for older people. A lower-sodium diet is good for older people of African American descent and Sri Lankans, who have high blood pressure or diabetes, or whose blood pressure is gradually creeping
upward. The Institute of Medicine, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and the American Heart Association recommend limiting your sodium intake to no more than 2,300″ 2,400 mg daily.

If you have heart failure, salt can cause or increase swelling. Too much salt can lead to hospitalisation for powerful intravenous drugs to remove excess fluid. People with heart failure are usually advised to keep their sodium intake under 2,000 mg a day. People with kidney disease are generally instructed to do the same. Does salt intake affect urine?

Drinking too much water isn’t the only thing that can make you have to pass urine in excess. Surprisingly, overeating salt can have the same effect. When your sodium intake is, your kidneys have to work overtime to clear out the extra salt. So you end up passing more urine than usual,

Night-time urination is reduced by cutting salt in the diet The need to pass urine at night (nocturia) – which affects most people over the age of 60 – is related to the amount of salt in your diet, according to new research presented at the European Society of Urology congress in London.

So, too much salt intake in your food can harm your body. Be aware of that fact and limit your salt intake.

I hope this video presentation was helpful.

Stay safe, and goodbye for now.