SALT- An important ingredient in our diets
Salt is a very important part of everyone’s life and their diet. A Component in our diets without which we can’t imagine our lives. When there is no salt in a diet the whole diet seems to be incomplete and of no taste. It feels like we are eating something very dull and therefore leads to low energy.
Table of Contents
Salt which is known by the name sodium chloride in scientific terms is a very important part of our balanced diet. It comprises sodium and chloride ions which are very important in carrying out important functions in the human body. There are various body functions which need to be taken care of by the sodium component which we get from our daily salt consumption. Our body requires a small amount of sodium to balance water and Minerals and to contract and relax the muscles and it also conducts nerve impulses.
It is scientifically proven that the body requires not more than 6 grams of Salt on a daily basis. And it is required to perform the daily vital functions within a body. But as we know that the excess of anything is dangerous and the same goes to the consumption of salt also as the high consumption of salt leads to hypertension, high blood pressure, heart disease and sometimes heart attacks or stroke. So one needs to have a balanced consumption of anything in our diet.
Importance of salt
Salt has 40% of sodium in and this sodium is used in the balancing of fluids in our body. As the balance of the fluid and sodium helps in the better functioning of the heart Kidneys and liver. It regulates fluids in the body and also helps in preventing low blood pressure.
It is also important in the nutrient absorption from the diet we consume.
Salt is also used in various other ways like it is used in the preservation of food items as high content of salt prevents the production of bacteria and the food and provides an unsuitable place for them to survive. Therefore, people mainly store pickles in oil and salt to preserve them from any bacterial attack.
But there are some certain drawbacks if one consumes high amount of salt
High consumption of salt
Eating high amounts of salt in our diet can lead to high blood pressure or hypertension.
It also distorts the functioning of the Kidneys
As our Kidneys try to retain water to maintain an accurate ratio of sodium and water and therefore we feel bloated or puffy than usual.
It can also lead to larger flow of blood through the blood vessels and therefore increases blood pressure.and can also cause feeling of thirst.
And there are certain long term effects of high consumption of salt in our diet as it can lead to heart diseases and premature deaths.
And can also cause kidney and liver diseases. And may increase risk of stomach cancer.
Low consumption of Salt
Consuming low amounts of Salt has its own effects like it can lead to low blood pressure which leads to dizziness , vomiting, nausea and muscle cramps. Having low concentration of salts in our diets leads to less quantity of sodium which helps in the flow of fluids and blood within the body. So if there is a low amount of salt that it would ultimately lead to heart failure due to reduced functioning by sodium.
Increased risk of death in case of diabetic patients as it can lead to heart attack or stroke. As the Kidneys get overloaded with work due to less quantity of sodium in the body.
Higher risk of hyponatremia
It is basically a disease which is directly associated with low levels of sodium in the body. In this the person feels dehydrated and the brain muscles swell which can lead to headaches, seizures, coma and even death.
And it is mainly prevalent in older adults.
What happens if you stop eating salt for a week?
If we won’t eat salt for a week, it may cause a lot of problems that we saw earlier in the article. The osmotic balance inside and the outside of the cells would be disrupted and can cause swelling of cells and cells can even burst in that case.
If we stop eating Salt for a week the first reaction our body gives is that it reduces the water content in our body which leads to the situation of dehydration. One starts feeling nausea and starts vomiting which further deteriorates the situation. As through vomiting some sodium also gets out and makes the situation even worse.
And after two weeks muscle twitching starts because our muscles require sodium for their contraction and relaxation.
And after 3 weeks the brain starts swelling as the blood vessels surrounding the brain have less salt than the tissues and therefore the water transports into the cells through osmosis which results in swelling of brain muscles. And therefore can cause seizures and at last into coma.
And having a low salt diet can lead to mental confusions and impacts our mental abilities and can also cause cardiovascular problems.
And low consumption of Salt reduces bloating as high concentration of sodium in our diets leads to increase in weight.
Salt in our diets
Salt is an ingredient of our diet without which the food gets tasteless. Salt is the part of our diets which adds energy to the food. Most of the salt which we consume comes from processed foods like pizza, bread sandwiches etc. According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the top 10 sources of sodium in our diets are cheese, snacks like chips, popcorn, pizza, bread/rolls, soups, burritos, cured meat,chicken,omelets, eggs and sandwiches.
Different types of salts consumed in our daily lives.
There are different types of salt which we consume.
- Iodized table salt, fine
- Kosher salt, coarse
- Kosher salt, fine
- Sea salt, fine
- Sea salt, coarse
- Pink (Himalayan)
- Black salt
- Potassium salt
Production of salt
After knowing about the importance of salt in our life and how it impacts both positively and negatively. Now let’s understand how salt is produced and how we get to add a very important and habitual ingredient in our lives.
The salt which is used in our diets accounts for 17.5% of the total production of salts in the world. As there are different types of salts which are also used in the scientific processes or in the manufacturing of many products and in many chemical industries.
And the top most producers of salt in the world are the USA ,China, India, Germany, Canada and Australia and among these the USA is on the top.
The main source of salt is seawater or the ocean water which have the salinity upto 3.5%. Mainly the salt is produced by the process of evaporation when the water is evaporated and the remaining particles are of salt. It is mainly practiced in countries which have high evaporation levels.
And in countries where such an atmosphere is not there ,the salt is extracted through mechanical means by the extraction from fast sedimentary deposits which are laid from the evaporation of seas and lakes. And therefore we can say that it is not a very easy process to follow, and money is required for the extraction of salt for our daily consumption and also for its use in the industries and for scientific purposes.
Conclusion- What happens if you stop eating salt
Sodium chloride is the scientific name for the common salt which we consume in our day to day life. Without salt our life seems to be very dull and with less energy and it is not only mentally that we feel so but physically also. If our diet has been low in Salt content our body feels very dull and less enthusiastic. It feels like we are not able to do things. We are not able to make a decision also and all this is scientifically related and proven too.
As we got to know to the article that the high consumption of salt as well as low consumption of salt both have its defects on a body and their food gives us a message that there should be a balanced concentration of salt in a diets because if we consume a lot of salt then it can cause hypertension heart diseases and can also cause a heart attack. It leads to the malfunctioning of the Kidneys due to pressure on them. And low consumption of salt can lead to problems of business nausea vomiting and it can also lead to swelling of brain muscles which could ultimately lead to seizures and then coma.
Salt is very important in other ways also as we saw in our history regarding the Dandi March which our national leader Mahatma Gandhi initiated in regards to the civil disobedience act. And salt was the way through which he showed his disobedience towards the exploitative law of the British colonizers by breaking the salt law. So we can say that salt in every way is a very important and crucial part of our lives and therefore it needs to be consumed and regulated in the right way and in the right amount.
