Salt: A Baby Step Towards Better Physical Health

This article is courtesy our guest writer, Priti Bhalgat!

My first ever article; inspiration can come from the most unexpected of places. I’ve learnt that there is always a silver lining to every situation. This Pandemic has given me a second chance to connect with my daughters, seeing as both had left home for their further studies at the age of 18. They have come back to me, all mature and with a great deal of zeal and zest for life. They keep telling me that nothing is impossible if I put my mind to it.

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One day as we were eating lunch as a family (something that had become a rarity), we were talking about what is good or bad for our health. We spoke about how older generations constantly feel that younger generations need to change their way of life; a constant critique of the way they live. But is it not the way of evolution, the constant change? The present learning from the past and improving on it? The best combination is to take whatever worldly knowledge and new learning to make the most of any situation. So my girls suggested that I write about salt. Salt doesn’t change from one generation to the next.

When you think of salt, the first thing that comes to mind is taste. It is a key ingredient in any cuisine, but as they say, too much of a good thing is bad for you. Salt intake happens in various forms. Table salt is one form, but due to sheer convenience, most of our intake comes from processed food, where salt acts as a preservative. Food items that have become an integral part of our lives, such as pickles, sauces, bread, poultry, papads and canned food are all packed to the gills with salt. Growing up, we were always taught that good food is the key to happiness, but as we learn and grow, we learn that if the food is healthy, it’s even better.

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So, why is salt important? I’m not talking about the flavour, let’s look into the science. As we know, salt is made up of sodium and chloride. Sodium is needed to maintain a healthy balance of water and minerals in the body and chloride is necessary to produce stomach acid, and together sodium chloride facilitates the absorption and transportation of nutrients in the intestines after they have been broken down during digestion. That definition sounds a little bookish, but in essence, consuming enough salt promotes optimal digestive health. Likewise, too much salt or sodium in the diet makes your body retain water, and can affect your kidneys and have undesirable effect such as edema i.e., puffiness caused by excess liquid trapped in your body’s tissues. More fluid means places a greater degree of stress on veins and arteries. Over time, that causes them to stiffen, which leads to high blood pressure. Salt can make you thirsty as well, as it is body’s way of maintaining the water ratio. Excess salt can also cause stomach ulcers. So really, nothing good can come of consuming too much salt.

The question of the hour is, ‘how do we maintain a healthy balance of salt?’ Well, we can take a few steps which will avoid the addition of extra salt; we can avoid adding salt to our fruits or salads. Don’t add salt to fresh juices or the rice or the dough we make for our chapattis. These are small, but easily applicable steps that can be taken, without compromising the flavor of the overall meal. Cutting down on the consumption of condiments with your food also can be easily done. Reducing the intake of pickles, papad or sauces is an easy way to reduce your salt consumption.

I don’t want to preach any wholesale or large lifestyle changes. Small steps lead the way to big change. So let’s pledge to take baby steps towards better health, because as they say, “Health Is Wealth”.

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