Salt looks like an optional product. However, without it, most dishes lose their familiar taste. Among other things, the human body can react negatively to a lack of mineral. Let's find out what is the norm of salt per day for a person?
Why does the human body need salt?
Salt acts as an indispensable catalyst, which ensures the preservation of a sufficient amount of fluid in the body. The substance helps to maintain the vital activity of cells in muscle tissue. A person’s nervous system can suffer from an element deficiency. Imbalance of sodium in the body causes disruptions in metabolic processes.
How much salt does a person need per day?
The daily amount of the consumed substance, according to the recommendations of specialists of the World Health Organization, should not exceed a teaspoon. Due to the rejection of home-made food and the widespread availability of public catering establishments, in most developed countries this indicator is currently overstated by about 1.5-2 times.
In general, there is an age norm of salt per day for a person:
- newborns - salt should not be contained in food;
- babies aged from one and a half years to 3 years - no more than 2 g per day;
- children under 10 years old - about 3-4 g per day;
- adults - no more than 5 g.
Based on the recommendations of doctors, the rate of salt intake per day for a person should not exceed the above indicators. To avoid harming the body, experts advise not to forget about the use of fresh products in their raw form. At the same time, do not abuse the visit to restaurants and cafes. Indeed, in such establishments, the bulk of the food contains not only an excessive amount of salt, but also other potential health hazardous components, in particular sugar and fats.
The maximum allowable salt per day for a person
How much salt can a person consume during the day without causing critical harm to health? According to the results of special studies, this indicator should not exceed 25 g. In this case, excess substances that were not absorbed by the cells of the body will later be excreted from the body along with waste products. In this case, a certain percentage of the mineral will concentrate in muscle and nerve tissue.
In the case of salt in the above amounts, the skin, internal organs, muscles are enriched with an excess of sodium chloride. The body will experience an acute deficit in other essential minerals: potassium, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus and iron. Regular excess of the norm will necessarily cause violations that will soon develop into a number of quite serious diseases.
How to reduce the amount of salt consumed?
To reduce the intake of excessive amounts of salt, it is worth resorting to the following recommendations:
- Enrich the diet with fresh vegetables and fruits. It is quite possible to eat such foods without salt. In addition, they contain an abundance of potassium, which helps to stabilize blood pressure.
- Refuse salty snacks: snacks, dried fish, french fries, chips, crackers.
- Do not cook the components of vegetable dishes until fully cooked. In this condition, much less salt is required to obtain the expected taste.
- If possible, replace salt with spices based on herbs.
- Base the diet on dishes whose cooking recipes do not involve the use of salt or require its use in minimal quantities.
What is the danger of excess salt?
If the norm of salt per day for a person is exceeded, this is fraught with the development of a syndrome in which the fluid is retained in the tissues and excreted in insufficient quantities from the body. Thus, the volume of circulating body fluids increases, which is especially dangerous for people who suffer from diseases of the cardiovascular system.
In cases where the norm of salt per day for a person is exceeded, sodium accumulates in the body. A high concentration of a substance in the blood will certainly cause spasms of blood vessels. In turn, this is reflected in an increase in blood pressure. The worst outcome when exceeding the required amount of sodium in the blood is cardiac arrest.
Pay attention to how much salt a person needs per day, it is recommended to people who have problems with obesity, suffer from skin ailments, diseases that affect the kidneys.
Finally
Is salt good for the body? Without a doubt. However, a positive effect is observed only if the rules are followed. Despite numerous points of view on this subject, it is safer to adhere to the framework established by the World Health Organization.