7 Reasons Why You should Eat Less Salt
5. It leads to bloating
Bloating is often due to water retention in the body. A high salt intake diet can leave your body to retain at least 50 ounces of water. And women that experience bloating can observe distinct and immediate results when they bring down their salt intake.
6. It can cause loss of bone density
Women are highly susceptible to bone density loss and weakened bone structure, thanks to their raging hormones. Risk of osteoporosis is extremely high in women when compared to men. A high salt diet leads to calcium loss. High salt is directly proportional to high sodium and high sodium means weak bones. And when a lot of calcium is excreted, the intestines will absorb more calcium and this is taken from your bones. Now, that is yet another reason for weakened bones.
7. It can aggravate asthma
Nearly 1 in 11 children and 1 in 12 adults suffer from asthma. While salt is not directly responsible for causing asthma in children, it has the potential to increase symptoms dramatically. When you reduce salt intake in asthmatic patients, you will begin to observe visible changes.
Adults should eat not more than 6g of salt a day and children much less. Babies less than a year old require no more than 1g of salt a day and this level is obtained from both breast and formula milk itself. Adding salt to baby foods is better not done. Maintaining optimum levels of salt intake reduces risks associated with several health disorders. Remember, salt is just to taste. Eat wisely; live peacefully.