Cut Your Salt Intake For A Healthy Heart, Here’s Why

Sodium is an essential part of everyone’s diet. It helps maintain the right balance of fluid levels in your body and contributes to the healthy functioning of your muscles and nerves. However, this balance of fluid is tricky. Fluid retention from excessive salt intake can raise blood pressure. Additionally, high blood pressure is a major health risk for heart attack, stroke and heart failure.

It should come as no surprise that high intake of salt, also known as sodium, is linked to a number of health complications. Some of these health complications are directly related to the heart. Keep reading to understand how excessive salt intake affects the heart and how you can reduce your salt intake.

How does salt affect your heart health?

Excess salt in your bloodstream attracts water, which increases the total volume (volume) of blood in the blood vessels. Blood pressure rises as more blood rushes through the blood vessels. This is similar to pumping a water supply into a water hose because as more water is pumped through the hose, the pressure inside it increases.

Over time high blood pressure can stress or damage the walls of blood vessels and accelerate the accumulation of sticky plaque, which can obstruct blood flow. The heart has to work harder to pump blood throughout the body, which wears it out. In addition, having too much water in your body can lead to bloating and obesity.

Because high blood pressure sometimes has hidden symptoms, it is called the “silent killer.” It is one of the main causes of heart disease, which is the leading cause of death worldwide.

High blood pressure is also known as silent killer
photo credit: iStock

Recent research suggests that specific ingredients may affect fluctuations in your blood pressure when you eat salt. Some of these factors are age, ethnicity, race, weight and presence of other chronic diseases like kidney disease, diabetes etc.

Eating less sodium may help slow the rise in blood pressure that comes with aging, even if you don’t already have high blood pressure. In addition, it may lower your chances of kidney disease, osteoporosis, colon cancer, migraine, heart attack, heart failure, and stroke.

In addition, diets high in salt are often also high in calories and total fat, increasing the risk of obesity and all of its associated health problems. Long-term exposure to salty foods can also cause your taste buds to adapt to the taste, increasing your tendency to choose salty foods. So be mindful of your sodium intake, especially if you have heart disease, high blood pressure, or are at risk for either condition.

how to reduce salt intake

Foods that are produced, packaged or eaten in restaurants account for more than 70% of the salt we consume. About 15% of the salt in our diet comes naturally from food, while the remaining 80% is either added to food we cook or eat. As a result, you’re probably consuming too much sodium, even if you don’t use a salt shaker.

Keeping your sodium intake under control can be challenging because most of it is already in your food when you buy it.

Here are some ways by which you can reduce your sodium intake:

• Consume fresh fruits and vegetables as opposed to canned products because they are often high in sodium due to their preserving properties.
• Opt for fresh meats instead of packaged or frozen meats that have added sodium, especially meats like bacon and ham.
• Always read food labels. Many foods that you may not be aware of can contain high levels of sodium.
• Avoid junk food as most of them are abundant in sodium and other components which further worsen your heart health. Junk food is high in components like healthy fats, sugar etc.

Be sure to keep your sodium intake in check and be mindful of the foods you eat even if you don’t have a heart condition.

Disclaimer: This content provides general information only including advice. It is in no way a substitute for qualified medical opinion. Always consult an expert or your own physician for more details. NDTV does not take responsibility for this information.