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| What will happen if you do not salt the food |
Salt is a healthy product. What will happen if you do not salt the food
Do you want to say that salt is definitely harmful? Or is it still impossible to do without it?
What does the lack of salt lead to and is it really as dangerous as its excess?
The fact that you need to consume as little salt as possible, we hear constantly. However, few people know that the other extreme - the complete rejection of salt - is no less dangerous than its excess. We will understand what happens to the body if salt is excluded from the diet.
Risky experiment
In the 30s of the XX century, an interesting study was conducted: the scientist and four volunteers decided to abandon salt in the diet. It was not easy to do this, because salt is found in small quantities even in natural food products, for example, in raw meat and fresh vegetables. However, the researchers developed a special diet: vegetables boiled in three waters, bread according to a special recipe and artificially synthesized milk. They drank a lot of water and spent several hours under special “heat guns” in order to remove salt from the body with sweat.
The first effect manifested itself quickly: the experimenters almost completely lost their sense of taste. Their taste buds ceased to respond properly to stimuli, and even the onion seemed sweet to the subjects. After some time, they lost their appetite. Despite the fact that the balance of other elements in the diet was observed, soon the volunteers began to feel a sense of causeless fatigue.
They barely kept their feet, although their vital signs were normal, and their blood became dark and viscous. And a few days later the experiment had to be stopped: all participants without exception showed hyponatremia - a lack of sodium, a life-threatening condition. Why is salt deficiency so dangerous?
The salt of life: why is it necessary?
Salt, or rather, the sodium that enters it, is a vital electrolyte. Electrolytes help regulate the main processes in the body: pulse, digestion, blood pressure, respiration and even brain activity. But this is not all: salt helps maintain fluid balance in the cells, and the muscles and nervous system function properly. If there is not enough salt, the cells begin to "draw" water from the blood plasma, and the water-salt balance in the body is disturbed, edema can occur - yes, yes, as well as from "busting"!
It is important to know that our body does not produce sodium on its own, and we get it only with food. But the “reserve" cannot be accumulated, as our body gets rid of sodium constantly, releasing it along with physiological fluids - including tears and sweat. If you do not replenish sodium reserves in the body on time, the very hyponatremia that the experimenters suffered in the 1930s may occur. Symptoms of this condition at first resemble fatigue or poisoning: nausea, headaches, muscle cramps, irritability, fatigue, anxiety ... If hyponatremia is not eliminated on time, then it ends in disaster: coma, cerebral edema, and death.
However, we note that achieving such a frightening ending is not easy: you need to drink a lot of water, actively sweat and exclude from the diet even foods containing salt by nature. Sometimes a medication or physical activity leads to this condition. Therefore, hyponatremia should beware of those who are actively involved in sports, because during training, a lot of salt is released along with sweat, and heavy drinking makes the concentration of salt in the body even less. However, a simple lack of salt in the diet harms health.
Salt and heart - friends or enemies?
Salt and heart health are a seemingly incompatible combination. However, modern studies in the United States, Great Britain and Germany have shown that lack of salt is also harmful to the heart and blood vessels. For example, scientists at the University of Glasgow for 35 years examined about 13,000 people and came to the conclusion: too little is also bad. Especially for hypertensive patients.
People with hypertension are used to limiting salt, but according to new research, they also need to be careful not to consume too much. If a person receives less than 3000 mg of sodium per day, the risk of heart attack and stroke increases. Lack of this element can also lead to heart failure. Thus, hypertensive patients are advised to limit themselves in salt intake, but not to forget about the necessary minimum. 3000 mg of sodium is about seven grams of salt. However, this does not mean that in search of sodium you need to add food: sodium is also found in natural products. For example, in a glass of milk - 140 mg of sodium, in two eggs - 350 mg, in a gram-steak - 60 mg.
Cholesterol Salt
The health of the heart and blood vessels is associated not only with blood pressure and muscle condition. Figuratively speaking, it is important not only in what condition the "tunnel" (vessels), but also which "train" (blood) rushes through it. And here salt is again indispensable. Its deficiency leads to an increase in the level of "bad" cholesterol, which can settle on the walls of blood vessels. And not only him: the level of triglycerides also increases in the blood - special substances that are usually found in fat cells, but sometimes able to “break out” and also remain on the walls of blood vessels.
How to avoid a lack of salt?
It’s still much easier for a modern person to “sort out” than to “pick up” salt, because 80% of the salt we consume goes unnoticed: it is hidden in processed foods - bread, cheese, sausage, sauces, restaurant dishes. However, it is much better to consume salt consciously. How?
Reduce the proportion of convenience foods and other prepared meals in the diet, eat more fresh vegetables and high-quality protein, and use salt-free spices to cook to control its amount in the finished dish. Also carefully observe yourself during sports and drink no more than you want. To drink as a reason for a break, alas, is canceled!
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