Salt is the main source of sodium, a vital ingredient for health. Our bodies need it to help maintain body fluid balance, helps transmit nerve impulses and muscle contraction and relaxation process. However, consumption of excessive amounts of salt can be detrimental to health.
Your kidneys are naturally maintain the balance of the amount of sodium in the body. When your sodium levels are low, the kidneys will keep spending. When sodium levels are high, the kidneys will remove the excess in the urine. If for a specific problem your kidneys can not adequately remove the sodium, sodium will accumulate in the blood. Because sodium is interesting and hold water, your blood volume will increase. Increased blood volume makes your heart work harder to drain more blood to the blood vessels and increases blood pressure. This in turn can cause hypertension, heart disease, stroke, ginja diseasel and many other health problems.
Therefore, you should consume no more than 2.4 grams of sodium per day. The amount is equivalent to 6 grams of salt (about 1 teaspoon). Studies show that in countries that follow the Western diet, the amount of salt intake on average two times more than the recommended. Salt consumption patterns in Indonesia did not seem much different than in Western countries. Except, perhaps, in Yogyakarta the cuisine tends not salty but sweet.
Tips to limit consumption of salt / sodium
■Be careful not to add too much salt to your cooking. Instead of sprinkling salt directly to the cuisine, try menakarnya first so do not overdo it.
■When cooking, add salt at the end of the process for the number needed a little more.
■Check the labels of processed foods to determine sodium content. Choose foods that lower sodium levels.