Salt

 

Boring – we have heard it all before, lower our salt intake blah blah blah.  Yes, the old salt reduction message has been around for a while but is probably due for a re-address again.  Did you know that decreasing salt intake has more potential to decrease the risk of death or disability than stopping smoking?  Now that’s quite a statement.  This is due to the majority of the population being exposed to salt everyday.

 

As we age we expect our blood pressure to rise and that we will probably just take a few pills to keep that under control.  Maybe looking at decreasing our salt intake now could be a better option than just relying on those pills later in life.  Populations that have low salt intake do not experience increased blood pressure with ageing, and have significantly lower risk of strokes and heart attacks.

 

The average salt intake for a Kiwi is around 9g per day.  We are advised to keep our intake to around 5-6g per day; however this is not the optimal intake.  The optimal intake would be only 1-2g per day.   Most of our salt intake (75-80%) comes from processed and brought meals.  This is where it becomes important to read labels and packets to select those products with the lowest salt contents.  For example, 2 slices of bread contain nearly half the salt we require in a day.  So start reading those packets.  By reducing the salt intake the positive effects are both immediate but also long lasting on blood pressure.  Try only adding a small pinch while cooking or none at all.  Don’t even put the salt shaker on the dinner table.  Sure it will taste different at first but with a bit of time you will enjoy the taste of the meal, not just the salt.