Your kidneys play an important role in balancing fluids and sodium in the body. Sodium is essential for normal cell function, maintaining acid-base balance, plasma and blood volume, controlling blood pressure and fluid balance in the body. It also plays a key role in the proper functioning of nerves and muscles.
Sodium, Essential for Taste & Health, But Never Too Much
The daily intake of sodium for an average adult is less than 2000 mg per day according to WHO guidelines. That is nearly less than 1 teaspoon. One teaspoon of table salt is equal to 2400 milligrams of sodium. But most people eat much more than that. Hence the kidneys have a very vital role to play in flushing out the excess sodium. This excess sodium can cause water retention, high BP kidney stone formation and eventually increasing risk of heart disease, stroke and CKD.
Reducing sodium intake to less than 2000 mg is the most cost effective way to improve health. For those who have a medical condition such as heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure or kidney issues, the ideal limit is nearly 1500 mg per day.
Hidden Sodium Bombs, Foods you didn’t know were packed with Excessive Salt
The main source of sodium in food is meat, dairy and fish apart from the added salt in cooked food or packaged food.
High sodium content food items include:
●Canned soups
●Rice and noodle mixes
●Sauces, dressings, and condiments (such as ketchup and mustard)
●Pre-made frozen meals
●Cheese/ butter
●Papad, pickled foods
●Salted snack foods and nuts, namkeens
●Restaurant meals
A Salt for Every Taste, The Diverse Salt options in Indian Kitchens
In India, several kinds of salts are available and people use them in addition or as alternatives to table salt since most of them are low in sodium and rich in minerals. These various salts include:
- Sea salt rich in minerals such as iron, zinc, calcium, potassium, magnesium, iodine is used mostly before or after the cooking.
- Himalayan Pink salt also rich in minerals helps to improve circulation, regulating blood pressure and detoxifying the body. Also has high potassium content.
- Black salt also rich in iron and other minerals aids in digestion, constipation and controlling high cholesterol.
- Sendha Namak offering several minerals including zinc, iron, copper, nickel. It is known to help in improving muscle cramps, treat sore throat and aid in digestion. This salt also has high potassium content.
- Low sodium salts help in lowering blood pressure and reducing risk of heart disease.
Let’s Ask the Experts, Is Low Sodium Salt truly a Healthy Choice or just Hype!
With these known benefits of low sodium content of salts, people often adapt these salts as part of their daily intake to combat risk of heart and kidney disease. But are these salts truly beneficial, we decided to ask the experts.
According to Dr. Rajesh Goel, Senior Nephrologist and Consultant at PSRI, Delhi, specializing in CKD and Kidney Transplant, one of the major complications of CKD is potassium levels. “Many patients with CKD often have high potassium levels. And during my practice of more than a decade, I have observed that the most common cause of this increase in potassium is use of low sodium salts. In order to decrease their sodium intake, patients often switch to sendha namak or Lite salts that are mostly marketed and promoted by Brands without any proven medical evidence. These salts are high in potassium. Since their kidneys are already not working properly, the excess potassium is not removed efficiently. As a result, potassium builds up in the body leading to several complications such as shortness of breath, stomach pain, squeezing feeling in chest and may even lead to sudden heart attack and death.
In my opinion patients of CKD or any other kidney issues should refrain from using such salts and instead use less salt altogether. Healthy people can use these salts in moderation occasionally but switching to these salts completely is not recommended for anyone.
I would say Salt is not only the essence of any food but of our life too, we should choose it very wisely.”