On the average, a healthy person needs salt in the diet; but many people don’t know what too much of it can do to their body.
Researchers warn that salt (or sodium) can be harmful to health; and that, as Africans, we are genetically prone to salt retention, which predisposes people to developing high blood pressure (hypertension).
Hypertension is a killer. According to the World Health Organisation, about 7.5 million people globally die of hypertension-related diseases, representing 12.8 per cent of all the deaths that occur annually.
In Nigeria, it is estimated that at least one in every four Nigerians has high blood pressure, while about 57 million citizens are estimated to be hypertensive, with many undiagnosed.
The statistics should appeal to those who do not know their status.
Executive Director, Nigerian Heart Foundation, Dr. Kingsley Akinroye, notes that hypertension is the number one killer of the adult population due to its link to heart diseases.
Akinroye says Africans are more susceptible to this condition because of their intolerance for sodium, a major component of salt.
He adds that it is not that Africans eat too much of salt; rather, our genetic make-up is not compatible with salt use, as it increases our risk for hypertension.
Akinroye explains that hypertension causes damage to the blood vessels and vital organs in the body when it is not controlled, leading to heart disease, diabetes and other organ failure.
The physician says the high prevalence of hypertension globally is a major reason why many die suddenly of this rather manageable disease.
Corroborating Akinroye’s assertions, the medical consultant to Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals Plc, Dr. Jude Duru-Onweni, says sodium retention is, more often than not, the precursor of high blood pressure.
According to him, local studies by Nigerian scientists have found that most Africans who have hypertension usually have sodium retention.
Duru-Onweni explains that a major way in which salt creeps into the body system is through our diets, especially through the fast foods and snacks which contain much salt.
He says, “Salt is not just the physical salt we see. All packaged foods are preserved with a high concentration of salt. All fizzy drinks are also preserved with salt. In reality, all those fast foods slowly lead you to death because they are laden with salt.
“We are so scared about the coming generation because they eat a lot of fast foods. They don’t eat much healthy food,” Duru-Onweni laments.
Reduce your salt
The ideal way to reduce your risk for high blood pressure, therefore, is to reduce your salt intake through your diet.
However, it is not only salt that spikes blood pressure levels. Some habits such as tobacco use can also predispose anyone to this condition that is responsible for two million cases of disabilities from stroke and paralysis each year.
Physicians say that not only does smoking or chewing tobacco immediately raise your blood pressure temporarily, but the chemicals in tobacco can damage the lining of the artery walls by causing them to narrow, increasing one’s blood pressure thereby.
Lower your blood pressure
Eat healthy: Eating a diet that is rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products and skips saturated fat and cholesterol can lower your blood pressure by up to 14mm/Hg. This eating plan is known as the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension diet.
Also, track how much salt is in your diet. Keep a food diary to estimate how much salt is in what you eat or drink each day; and avoid eating processed foods as much as you can, because they are preserved with salt.
Also, do not add raw salt to your food. Potato chips, frozen dinners, bacon and processed lunch meats are high in sodium. You can ease into this change by cutting back gradually till your taste buds have adjusted to it.
Cut down on alcohol: Alcohol can be both good and bad for your health. In small amounts, it can potentially lower your blood pressure by two to four mm Hg. But that protective effect is lost if you drink too much of it – generally more than one drink a day for women and men older than age 65, or more than two a day for men age 65 and younger.
Also, if you don’t normally drink alcohol, you shouldn’t start drinking it as a way to lower your blood pressure. There’s more potential harm than benefit to drinking alcohol. If you drink more than moderate amounts of it, alcohol can actually raise blood pressure by several points. It can also reduce the effectiveness of high blood pressure medications.
The bottom line: Reduce your salt intake; eat more fruits; drink more water. And if you don’t know your blood pressure level, please go for screening.
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Very educative.even if u want 2 eat salt let it bbe sea salt.which is more healthier