Tips for low-salt diet, making it delicious and healthy

Author: Chen Zhou, attending physician at Shanghai Changhai Hospital, doctor of medicine

Reviewer: Mei Xiaobin, Chief Physician, Shanghai Changhai Hospital

Salt is an indispensable condiment in our daily diet. The right amount of salt can increase the flavor of food. However, consuming too much salt can cause many harms to the body. Today, we will share some tips on controlling salt intake in life to help everyone easily achieve a low-salt diet and protect kidney and cardiovascular health.

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1. What are the dangers of consuming too much salt?

1. The main component of salt is sodium chloride. Excessive salt intake will increase the sodium ion content in the human body, causing water and sodium retention, which in turn leads to high blood pressure and increases the burden on the heart and blood vessels.

2. The kidneys are important metabolic organs in the human body, responsible for excreting excess inorganic salts and water. Long-term intake of excessive salt will increase the burden on the kidneys, leading to edema and increased urine protein, and accelerating damage to kidney function.

3. Excessive salt intake will affect the body's absorption and utilization of calcium, leading to an increased risk of osteoporosis and fractures.

Therefore, controlling salt intake is very important for our health, especially for patients with high blood pressure, heart failure or kidney disease.

2. How much should salt intake be controlled?

So, how much salt should we consume every day? The World Health Organization recommends that each person's daily salt intake be controlled below 5 grams. If you already have high blood pressure, heart failure, or symptoms such as proteinuria, it is recommended to control your salt intake to about 3 grams per day (note: the lower the salt intake, the better).

In addition, we should know that the salt we usually consume is not just the salt sprinkled into the dishes, but also hidden in various foods. For example, chicken powder, monosodium glutamate, soy sauce, oyster sauce and other condiments have high salt (sodium) content; some pre-packaged foods are often high-salt (sodium) foods, such as various snacks. Therefore, to control salt intake, we should not only pay attention to the amount of salt added when cooking, but also pay attention to the salt (sodium) content of condiments and pre-packaged foods.

3. How to achieve a low-salt diet?

Achieving a low-salt diet doesn’t mean giving up delicious food altogether. Just follow these simple and practical tips to enjoy delicious food while easily controlling your daily salt intake.

1. Raise awareness of salt reduction

In daily life, we should establish awareness of salt reduction, realize the importance and necessity of salt control, and be responsible for our own health and future. We can enhance awareness of salt reduction through the following methods.

(1) Measure your blood pressure regularly and understand your blood pressure level.

(2) Check urine protein regularly to understand the health of your kidneys.

(3) Measure your weight and waist circumference regularly to understand your weight and fat distribution.

(4) Record your salt intake regularly to understand the gap between your actual salt intake and your target salt intake.

2. Learn to read food nutrition labels

Learn to read food nutrition labels and choose foods with low sodium content. Food nutrition labels are information on food packaging bags that tell us what nutrients the food contains and how much of it it contains. By reading food nutrition labels, you can compare the sodium content of different foods and make better choices.

Generally speaking, foods with a sodium content of less than 120 mg per 100 g are low-sodium foods; foods with a sodium content of more than 600 mg per 100 g are high-sodium foods. When buying food, you should choose low-sodium or sodium-free foods as much as possible, and avoid or reduce the consumption of high-sodium foods. In particular, some condiments and pickled foods often have a high sodium content and should be used with caution or not used at all.

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3. Choose fresh ingredients

Choose fresh ingredients and try to preserve the natural flavor of the food. Fresh ingredients are not only rich in vitamins, minerals and other beneficial substances, but also have a certain aroma and sweetness. If fresh ingredients are handled and cooked correctly, there is no need to add too much salt or other seasonings to enhance the taste of the food.

When buying fresh ingredients, you should pay attention to the following points.

(1) Choose seasonal, local, and organic vegetables, fruits, meat, etc.

(2) Choose vegetables and fruits that are bright in appearance, intact in shape, smooth in skin, free of insects, odors, and mold.

(3) Choose meat that is firm, shiny, bloodless, odorless, without wounds, or corruption.

When handling and cooking fresh ingredients, you should keep the following in mind.

(1) Clean thoroughly: When cleaning vegetables, fruits, etc., they should be rinsed repeatedly with running water to remove mud, pesticides and bacteria.

(2) Retain nutrients: When cutting vegetables, fruits, etc., try to keep their intact shapes and avoid cutting them too small or too finely to avoid loss of nutrients.

(3) Simple cooking: When cooking vegetables, you should try to use stir-frying, steaming, boiling, etc. to keep the original flavor of the food and avoid adding too much oil, salt or other seasonings. When cooking meat, you should try to use braising, stewing, stewing, etc. to fully release the aroma and flavor of the food and avoid using high-temperature frying or grilling.

4. Try using spicy or sour food to enhance the flavor

Spicy and sour foods can make food taste richer, thus stimulating our taste buds and helping us reduce our use of salt. In addition, spicy and sour foods have some other benefits.

(1) Moderate spiciness can improve appetite and digestive function.

(2) Moderate spiciness can enhance immunity.

(3) Moderate acid can neutralize alkaline substances in the body and help maintain acid-base balance.

(4) Moderate acid can provide vitamin C and other beneficial substances to help anti-oxidation.

Of course, the more spicy and sour food, the better. You should use it in moderation. Generally speaking, the daily intake of chili peppers should not exceed 10 grams; the daily intake of lemon juice or other acidic foods should not exceed 30 milliliters. In addition, if you have gastric ulcers, gastritis or oral ulcers, you should eat less or no spicy and sour food.