By Henrylito D. Tacio
Filipinos are among the highest consumers of salt.
“Salt consumption in the Philippines is high, estimated to be more than twice as high as the WHO recommendation,” deplores Dr. Anthony Leachon, a Fellow of the American College of Physicians. The Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO) recommends only one teaspoon of salt per day. “Adults should consume less than 5 grams of salt each day,” the United Nations health agency said.
An internist and cardiologist, Dr. Leachon is a leader, preventive health education and health reform advocate. He has been campaigning against tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption. “Both are absolute risk factors,” he said. “Tobacco and alcohol cause the top four killers in our country. Regardless of the amount or content, they’re absolutely bad for our health.”
Dr. Leachon labeled sugar and salt as “relative risks.” “If consumed at a lower amount, then we lessen the harm,” he explained. “Thus, education is the key.”
Filipinos love salty food
The human body requires some sodium. The sodium that people consume usually comes from table salt – a combination of two chemicals, sodium and chloride – or those that are in other condiments, like sodium glutamate.
Only a little salt is needed. Without salt, health experts claim, a person could feel weak or nauseous. Medical studies show that an entirely saltless life will make a person withers and finally goes.
But most Filipinos are overindulging in it, taking almost six to ten times of the required amount. Most Pinoy dishes use generous amounts of salt, soy sauce, fish sauce, or bagoong to achieve full flavor. In addition to this, Filipinos also love salty dipping sauces or sawsawan.
Thus, the findings of the WHO study are hardly surprising. It said that the country’s estimated dietary sodium intake is 4,113 milligrams or between 3,898 milligrams and 4,344 milligrams. This is equivalent to 10.4 grams of salt per day.
Ubiquitous salt
Excessive sodium intake has been linked to several health problems, including kidney diseases, high blood pressure, heart diseases, stroke, and unexplained itches and allergies, or body rashes.
Salt these days is a highly processed commodity. Most salt is extracted from the ground by complex machinery, then refined and packaged in plastic, bottle, or carton containers. Manufacturers add magnesium bicarbonate and silicate in small proportions to keep the salt from clumping in humid weather.
Some department stores have health avenues that carry a “sea salt” line, which is supposedly “safer and healthier.” Experts say that this type of salt hardly differs in effect from the “ordinary salt.” “Sea salts may have a better flavor but they still produce the same biochemical effects on our body,” one doctor explains.
The issue really lies in how much salt we consume each day. The United Nations health agency said about 70% of the salt humans consume is contained in processed foods.
Most of the ingredients included in a recipe already contain sodium, and yet people still add salt as they cook. Potato chips, soy sauce, ketchup, pickles and sauerkraut are loaded with salt.
Most Filipinos don’t think of cheese, cereals, bread, meat, pudding, pancakes, soups, tuna fish, and tomato juice as salty foods. Yet, they are heavily laced with salt and additives, such as sodium nitrate, sodium phosphate, sodium ascorbate, monosodium glutamate, and even saccharin, as well as other sources of sodium, including leavening agents, baking powder, and baking soda.
Even foods that have a non-salty taste apparently may have high amounts of sodium – milk, mayonnaise, celery, and baby preparations, to mention a few.
Dr. Jean Mayer, president of Tufts University, points out: “Infants on bottle milk and formula are clearly consuming generous amounts of salt.”
Mother’s milk, by itself, contains about seven milligrams of salt per liter; processed cow’s milk, more than 25 milligrams.
Sodium and the human body
Medical literature has consistently linked the “king of seasonings” to high blood pressure – hypertension, in medical parlance – and its potentially fatal consequences: heart and kidney diseases and stroke.
According to nutritionist-writer Jane Brody, the trouble with salt is in the mineral called sodium, which is 40 percent of the salt molecule by weight. “Of course, sodium is a vital constituent of the human body,” writes Brody in her bestseller, Jane Brody’s Nutrition Book. “Our tissues swim in a salty sea… The more salt in that sea, the more water is needed to dilute it, to maintain the proper concentration of sodium.”
Brody further writes: “Sodium and its equally essential companion chloride are the principal regulators of the balance of water and dissolved substances outside cells. Virtually all vital functions, including nerve impulses and heart action, depend on that balance.”
When disturbed, normal metabolism may grind to a near halt.
How to reduce dietary sodium
If you are one of those who are almost addicted to salt, shake off the habit gradually. Addiction means more salt or salty sauces to food which had been already cooked or prepared with the substance.
In her book, Brody shares some tips on how to reduce harmful amounts of sodium in your diet:
* Start by not adding any salt at the table.
* Reduce the salt you use in cooking by cutting in half the salt in a recipe. Then as you get used to less and less salt, cut it in half again and again, until you need to add only a tiny fraction of the original amount, if any.
* Experiment with condiments, herbs, spices, and other seasonings, using them in place of salt. Onions and garlic are favorites. Dry mustard and lemon juice are also possibilities. But do not use soy sauce, MSG, hydrolyzed vegetable protein or bouillon cubes, since they all contain lots of sodium.
* Reduce your dependence on processed foods, especially canned soups and vegetables (unless they are labeled low-sodium), factory-prepared meals, processed meats and cheeses. Substitute fresh meats and fresh or frozen vegetables.
* Try to avoid using salt substitutes in which all or part of the sodium has been replaced by potassium, unless advised by a physician. There’s a danger of overloading on potassium.
* If you have high blood pressure, check with your doctor before taking antacids, cough preparations, laxatives, and vitamin C sold as sodium ascorbate (ascorbic acid is acceptable). Many of these items are high in sodium.
* In general, avoid fast-food restaurants. Nearly all their foods are heavily laden with sodium. On airplanes, order a low sodium meal when you make your reservation. If you travel, you may want to stock up on your own salt-free foods in your hotel room.
“The main drawback to kicking the salt habit is that the generously salted foods you may encounter when dining out will taste too salty,” says Brody. “You may even find some inedible. But for most people, this is a small price to pay for a more healthful diet.” – ###
