Salt and health
Can you live without salt
Salt is a combination of the two elements sodium and chloride. They are both necessary for us to live and feel good. Chlorine is included for example in acidity in the stomach, which breaks down food. Sodium is needed for the body to break down carbohydrates in the diet. Salt is also needed to maintain the so-called balance of electrolysis in muscle cells. The balance of electrolysis function is a prerequisite for the muscles to be able to counter-Heras, that is clamped. And we can not tighten muscles, we can not move. Salt is also needed for the signals in the nerv synapses to work. But we need not be afraid to suddenly suffer fatal salt deficiency. We must in ourselves the salt we need - and more - through diet. It is only when exposed to the intense physical activity (such as hard work or training) or long periods in strong sunshine as you sometimes feel a need for some extra salt. It is because it is not only the water leaving the body when you sweat, but also salt. It helps the body to restore fluid balance if you eat a little salt in conjunction with the drink properly. The salt helps is to bind water in the body so it can not just pee it out again.
Why is there iodine in salt
Nowadays it is common to the salt in our buy in the store has iodine added. Jozo name is actually an abbreviation of jodiumhoudend zout which is Dutch for iodine salts. Iodine is an element that affect the thyroid hormones that control metabolism. Before it began adding iodine to salt goitre disease were much more widespread than it is today. Struma means that the thyroid gland become enlarged. It need not be dangerous, but in some cases, the excretion of the hormone affected. If you get too much thyroid hormone your body is booming. They suffer from anxiety, tremor, palpitations and insomnia. Too little thyroid hormone gives inconvenience fatigue, swelling of the face, wife drive, hair loss and rough, ridged skin. The only thing you can do to prevent goitre is to eat food with salt containing iodine. The choice of salt as carrier of iodine is ideal because our daily salt consumption is relatively constant. If for any reason not to get in the iodine, for example if you have iodine allergy, are also iodine free salt.
Is it safe to eat salt '
Whether it is dangerous to salt or not is a question that has been discussed a long time. Some researchers believe that salt causes high blood pressure, which in the worst case live to cardiovascular disease. Other researchers argue that the issue of blood pressure is far too complex for it to go to single out salt as more crucial to the blood pressure increases than any other factor.
divided
A TV documentary recently produced by German public broadcasters WDR shows that the results of research in which argue that salt is bad for the health as well be interpreted to mean that salt is harmless. There are two particular salt studies that have been influential in the salt debate. In one fed the American researcher Lewis Dahl rats with food with very high salinity. The poor, the rats were then high blood pressure and was a premature demise. This was 1972. Those who are critical of Dahl's conclusion - that salt causes high blood pressure - note that the high salinity found in the rats food would correspond to a man about 500 g of salt a day, a multitude of us would have on the mix in their food , much less able to eat.
Another lifestyle
The second study, conducted in the 1980s, examined the eating habits of 10 000 individuals from 52 different ethnic groups. Four of these populations to extremely low-salt diet and had no problems with high blood pressure. For the other 48 ethnic groups, it was not that distinguished a clear correlation between blood pressure and salt. Those who defend the theory that salt is dangerous believe it is sufficient to ensure that those at very little salt did not have high blood pressure. Critics to the conclusion does, however, believe that these four groups of people can do from problems with blood pressure because they have a lifestyle that can not be compared with the stress of our industrial society - these people live in the traditional way as hunter-gatherers. They are not overweight, they stress, and they drink no alcohol.
best way to cut down on salt
There are also studies showing that individuals with hypertension had lower blood pressure when they switched to a diet with low-salt diet. Even here, however, it is difficult to single out the salt as an individual villain of the piece. Most of the salt we have in us, namely the so-called fast food such as pizza, sausages and prepared meals. Other kind of food at lower salt content, generally contain less fat and more fibre. If you want to cut down on their intake, it has more to gain by eating less fast food, chips and prepared than to refrain from selling their own homemade food. Use a good salt of high quality and taste of frequently so that there is too much salt - it's not good. Don“t salt on the plate without having tasted if really needed. One option might be to use Jozo Mineral Salt which contains less than half as much sodium as usual salt.
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