Salt and health effects

Salt has been used as a preservative for thousands of years. By killing bacteria life in a food, salt is able to slow the natural decomposition of that food. However today, with refrigeration, freezer and canning technology, there really is no reason anymore for adding salt to food for preservation.

But large amount of salt are still commonly added.

Salt also draws water from the bloodstream, causing the body to experience excessive thirst.

Studies on human populations around the world showed evidence that eating too much salt is connected with high blood pressure. In countries where peop0le eat a lot of salt there is high blood pressure, and where they do not eat a lot of salt high blood pressure is not a problem.

According to the Committee on Diet and Health, diets containing more than 6 g of salt per day are associated with elevated blood pressure.

There is also evidence that salt is problematic in ‘salt sensitive’ people even in the absence of high blood pressure. They risk of dying from cardiovascular problems.

A high salt intake is associated with atrophic gastritis in epidemiologic and animal studies and there is also epidemiologic evidence that a high salt intake and frequent consumption of salt-cured and salt-pickled foods is associated with an elevated incidence of gastric cancer.
Salt and health effects