Salt

Salt is made up of sodium and chloride and it is the main source of it in the diet. It helps in food preservation, sharpening the taste bud as well as making food tastier and more appetizing. Excessive consumption of salt triggers high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke

Most people consume more salt than is required in the diet. The recommended amount of salt to be consumed by an adult is 6g a day which is equivalent to a level teaspoon. Most salt in the diet is not from cooked food; about 75% of the salt in the diet is from everyday food such as processed foods, bread, biscuit, breakfast cereals crisp, bacon, and cheese.  The following foods are always high in salt: prawn, dry fish, anchovies, soy sauce, salted fish, stock cube, pizza, ready meals, tomato ketchup, mayonnaise and other sauces, pickles, gravy granules e.t.c.   In order to be able to reduce the amount of salt we consume we should try to reduce the consumption of foods high in salt, snack with fruits rather than biscuit, reduce the salt added to food and use black pepper to season foods such as scrambled egg, pasta, pizza, fish rather than salt, add fresh herbs and spices such as ginger, lime, garlic and chilli to food to taste. A squeeze of lemon makes food taste saltier without adding salt. We should choose foods with lower salt content by checking and comparing labels before buying ; this can be done by checking the nutritional figure for salt and sodium per 100g, the ones high in salt is more than 1.5g salt per 100g (or 0.6g sodium) while low is 0.3g salt or less per 100g (0.1g sodium).

Remember Snack with Fruits instead of Biscuits for a healthier diet