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Too much salt in your diet

Don't eat too much salt, don't eat too little of it, it seems like everyday the experts have a new opinion on the matter. Our bodies need a certain percentage of sodium chloride to maintain it's daily functions.

However, too much salt in your diet is a recognized health risk and can lead to high blood pressure, heart attack or stroke. So how do you know how much is too much salt? Too much salt is anything over the recommended daily amount of 6 grams.

The average daily consumption of salt used to be 9 grams, but the Department of Health has recently recommended that we reduce it to 6 grams, following tests that showed that this reduced blood pressure for the elderly and people who suffer from high blood pressure.

The 6 grams we need is roughly the amount found in large bag of crisps, a sandwich with non-processed chicken or tuna in it, and two biscuits. Most adults normally consume the equivalent of 4 bacon rashers, a large sausage, a large bag of crisps, a cheese sandwich and a half, and two biscuits.

Some ways to reduce your sodium intake are:

• Don't put it on your food. The amount used in cooking should be adequate for flavour.
• Avoid foods like fast food, processed meats, canned food and butter spreads that are high in sodium.
• Replace it with spices to add flavour in cooking.
• Buy low sodium condiments available on the market.

It's important to reduce your sodium intake even if you do not currently suffer from high blood pressure. This way you can protect yourself against future related problems.