World Salt Awareness Week is celebrated this year from March 12 to 18 and is the perfect opportunity to recognize all the benefits of salt. Salt, or sodium chloride, is crucial for life. In fact, no mineral is more essential to human survival than sodium because it enables nerves to send and receive electrical impulses, helps your muscles stay strong and keeps your cells and brain functioning. However, sodium chloride (salt) is a nutrient that can’t be produced by the body, therefore it must be consumed.
Another component of salt, chloride, is also essential for survival and good health. It maintains the acid-base balance in the body, aids in the absorption of potassium, enhances the blood’s ability to move harmful carbon dioxide from the tissues to the lungs and most significantly, supplies the essential stomach acids needed to break down and digest the food we eat. .
Because salt consumption levels are so stable, salt is an ideal medium for fortification with other essential nutrients such as iodine. Iodized salt was first produced in the US in 1924 and is now used by 75 percent of the world’s population to protect against intellectual disability as a result of Iodine Deficiency Disorder (IDD). Iodine is a necessary element in a healthy human life, enabling the functioning of the thyroid gland to produce the hormones needed for suitable metabolism. When a child in the womb doesn’t get enough iodine from his mother, fetal brain development can be disrupted. Iodized salt remains one of the greatest public health success stories.
Salt is also important in hospital IV saline, which is standard therapy and the fastest way to deliver fluids and medicines throughout the body. These saline drops not only keep the patient hydrated, but also provide a 0.9 percent saline solution. Without this salt infusion, patients can end up with low sodium levels in the blood, leading to a condition known as hyponatremia. This serious condition can lead to seizures, coma, permanent brain damage, respiratory arrest, and death, which is why salt shortages in hospitals are so important.
Salt is also a crucial component of hydration. After exercise, it is essential to replace water and salts lost through sweat. That’s why all athletes ensure they consume enough salt during and after exercise.
The average American eats about 3,400 mg of sodium per day, according to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, and this is possibly on the low side of the safe range. A 2014 study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, tested sodium consumption in additional than 100,000 people in 18 countries. The study found that the healthy range for sodium consumption is between 3,000 and 5,000 mg per day.
Seniors can be particularly susceptible to the hazards of a low-salt diet. In 2013, a task force of 12 professional medical, nursing, and nutrition organizations formed by the Pioneer Network published the “New Eating Practice Standards”. Their report concluded that a low-salt diet contributes to malnutrition and weight loss amongst a significant percentage of seniors in assisted living amenities. A low-salt diet can even cause seniors to suffer from mild hyponatremia, an electrolyte imbalance in the blood that can cause gait disturbances, attention deficits, and a much higher frequency of falls.
Salt is the spice of life, and this year we should all recognize its many benefits as we celebrate World Salt Awareness Week. To learn more, visit www.worldsaltawarenessweek.org.
Article provided by (BPT)
