I promise that if your change a little thing in your lifestyle – the dosage of salt use – you will experience success in better maintaining your health.
A new report by the World Health Organization suggests that cardiovascular diseases, cancer, lung disease and diabetes, are the deadliest diseases in the world.
According to the organization, every two seconds, a person under the age of 70 dies somewhere in the world from a chronic disease, and a total of 17 million people die from chronic diseases every year! This is much more than those who die from infectious diseases.
The main causes of these diseases are chronic stress, smoking, excessive salt intake, and lack of exercise.
The appearance of high blood pressure in children is more common today than in the past, and there is danger in that this figure might cause them to develop chronic diseases at a much younger age than what is the average today.
High salt intake causes high blood pressure which increases the rate of heart attacks and strokes. High blood pressure is responsible for 62% of strokes and 49% of heart attacks.
Let’s talk about this common thing found in every kitchen, the salt we add to our food without noticing.
Cooking salt is an ionic compound (sodium chloride) found in many salt mines around the world.
A small amount of salt is essential for the body, since it is a mineral, a non-organic substance that we must obtain from an external source.
Sodium helps conduct nerve signals for muscle contraction, as well as maintain a healthy heart rhythm and regulate fluid volume in our body.
The kidneys are responsible for balancing the level of sodium in our body, and excess sodium (in a quantity that the body knows how to handle) is excreted through the urine, the feces, and the sweat during exercise.
SA lack of sodium could lead to death, for example in cases of extreme dehydration, or water poisoning caused by sodium dilution in the body due to drinking excessive amounts of water.
Just like anything else in life, sodium intake must be controlled and balanced.
So how do we know the recommended amount of sodium?
75% of the sodium comes from processed foods we buy at the supermarket, and about 15% comes from our salt at home.
It is important to read food labels carefully in order to learn of the amount of sodium in each product that we buy.
The recommended amount of sodium is:
2300 mg of sodium daily for adults, the equivalent of just one teaspoon of salt.
For those with heart disease, diabetes, and kidney disease, the recommended amount is 1500 mg of sodium per day.
The breads and healthy breads that we buy contain a very high amount of sodium. It is recommended to read through the food label on the bread package, so we could learn about the amount of sodium in it before we decide to buy it.
Children are advised to consume 1000 mg of sodium per day, which is equivalent to half a teaspoon of salt per day.
This recommendation is almost never applied for children, since they consume very high amounts of sodium in snacks, breakfast cereals, ketchup and frozen foods (such as schnitzels, hamburgers, hot dogs and more).
It is very important to encourage children to consume larger quantities of vegetables and fruits and to prefer them over processed foods.
I used to suffer from high blood pressure. I thought it was hereditary until I started implementing a low-sodium diet and to my great surprise my blood pressure dropped dramatically and the weight began to drop more easily.
Today I start my morning with a short meditation (5 minutes), which refreshes the body and raises the serotonin and dopamine which are essential for our peace of mind. Then, I drink a glass of lukewarm water with a tablespoon of blessed olive oil (pure virgin olive oil that I bless, and in this way it absorbs the energy of the blessing and changes its molecules. For those interested in the blessed oil – I recommend watching the water study conducted by a Japanese scientist named Masaru Emoto) and I prepare a box of cut vegetables, mainly green vegetables (lettuce, Cucumber, steamed broccoli and fresh mushrooms) and put it in the refrigerator. I try to consume it during all the hours of the day.
Despite the feeling of the food being a bit bland, I completely removed the salt from my daily menu.
Vegetables and fruits have enough natural salt in them, so there is no need to add more salt.
So just before you start preparing your lovely meals, remember to reduce the amount of salt and try to keep your sodium intake in moderation for your good health.
Yours truly,
