Health Blog

A healthy body and a sound mind

Stress Increases Risk of Salt Retention

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Salt is good for the body but only when taken in the right amount. Too much of it is harmful to human health and can lead to cardiovascular disease.

Today’s health conscious people make it a point to have a low-salt diet. But other than your diet, medical and nutrition experts also strongly recommend avoiding stress in your daily life.

A new study has found that stress can cause sodium retention in one’s body. Head author, Dr. Gregory Harshfield of the Georgia Health Sciences University, revealed that among the African Americans covered in their research, 30 percent retained a great amount of sodium in their body. And what’s worth noting is that this amount of salt is already equivalent the sodium you get from eating a small order of french fries?
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Is Salt Really Bad For You?

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I love watching cooking shows and I make it a point to watch the shows of celebrity chefs when I have the time. I was reading about some celebrity chefs earlier when I ran across a blog post on how Jamie Oliver, one of the most popular celebrity chefs today, has launched a line of pasta sauces that contain too much salt. Apparently, parents and other concerned citizens in the UK are all in an uproar about this. But is salt really bad?

I did some reading on salt and its effects on our health and this is what I found. An entry in the Guardian blog states:

We’re used to the flavour, but our bodies only need about a single gram of salt a day. The UK’s average consumption is nearly ten times that, prompting a government health campaign – though its rather arbitrary 6g limit would bring relatively few benefits to the nation’s blood pressure.

I am assuming that high salt intake increases our blood pressure. I have heard this from lots of people before. Oh, don’t put too much salt in your food. You don’t want to increase your risk of high blood pressure. Then again, I have always liked to use salt liberally and I have not had a single episode of high blood pressure. I would like to think that it is a matter of more than our salt intake. Perhaps we should take a look at the overall picture – having a balanced diet and taking salt in moderation.

Photo courtesy of parl