In Nigeria, traditional diets are often high in salt due to the use of bouillon cubes, dried fish, and other salty condiments. In cooking, the amount of salt added is also not measured. It is based on taste buds estimates. Additionally, the increasing consumption of processed foods, typically high in sodium, exacerbates the level of daily salt intake in many people’s diet.
Ideally, a person should aim to eat no more than 1.5 g of sodium, or 3.75 g of salt per day. Unfortunately, the increasing consumption of processed foods, typically high in sodium, exacerbates the level of daily salt intake in many people’s diets. As such, many Nigerians consume far more than this recommended amount.
Researchers in many studies have shown that aiming to eat no more than 1.5 g of sodium, or 3.75 g of salt, per day is the best. Unfortunately, many Nigerians consume far more than this recommended amount, leading to numerous health complications. Importantly, studies give reasons why a high-salt diet is detrimental to health.
Lowers immunity
Too much salt in the diet weakens the immune system. A study by the University Hospital of Bonn showed that a diet rich in salt weakens the antibacterial immune defense. Mice fed a high-salt diet were found to suffer from much more severe bacterial infections.
Human volunteers who consumed an additional six grammes of salt per day also showed pronounced immune deficiencies. This amount corresponds to the salt content of two fast food meals. The results are published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
Lowers lifespan
A 1 gramme reduction in daily salt consumption might prevent over 9 million occurrences of heart disease and strokes and save 4 million lives by 2030, according to estimations published in the open-access journal BMJ Nutrition Prevention & Health. Too much salt increases people’s blood pressure, which is one of the biggest contributors to premature death from stroke or heart disease.
In China, high salt consumption raises blood pressure and increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, which accounts for 40% of all fatalities each year. The benefits of a reduction in dietary salt intake apply to men and women of all ages across China.
Endangers the health of unborn children
Mothers who consume a lot of salt develop hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. Pregnant women who consume a lot of salt endanger the health of their unborn children. A team of Chinese researchers in the journal Gynecology and Obstetrics Clinical Medicine reported that high-salt exposure increased the blood pressure of mothers-to-be and their offspring, resulting in heart damage.
In a rat model to investigate the effects of a pregnant woman’s high-salt diet on her kids, they found that the blood pressure of the offspring with high salt exposure during pregnancy was higher than that of the offspring with normal salt exposure in the uterine, even if they were both fed a normal diet after weaning. This suggests that an intrauterine high-salt environment already impacts the development of babies and continues to impact them as they transition into adulthood.
Puts at risk of stomach cancer
Frequent addition of salt to food can increase the risk of developing stomach cancer. A recent long-term study conducted by MedUni Vienna’s Centre for Public Health demonstrated for the first time that this risk is similarly evident in European cancer statistics.
According to research recently published in the journal Gastric Cancer, individuals who regularly add salt to their meals have about a 40 percent higher risk of developing stomach cancer compared to those who refrain from using additional salt at the table.
The fact that a very salty diet increases the risk of stomach cancer has previously been proven in studies with Asian population groups, who frequently eat food preserved in salt, heavily salted fish, or extremely salty marinades and sauces.
Boosts blood pressure
High blood pressure is a significant risk factor for early death, and cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality globally. As sodium accumulates in the bloodstream, the body retains more fluid to dilute the sodium, and the heart and blood vessels have to work harder to pump the extra volume of water. This can stiffen the blood vessels, potentially leading to high blood pressure, a heart attack, and stroke.
A pooled data analysis of the available evidence in the BMJ journal Heart declared also that dietary salt substitutes lower the risk of heart attack, stroke, and death from all causes, including cardiovascular disease.
Lowers quality of life
A randomised clinical study found that lowering salt intake did not reduce hospital visits or deaths in heart failure patients but did improve symptoms and overall quality of life.
The results of the biggest randomised clinical study on sodium reduction and heart failure were published in The Lancet and presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 71st Annual Scientific Session.
Increase stress
Too much salt can contribute to stress. Researchers from the University of Edinburgh, according to Cardiovascular Research, discovered that a high-salt diet led to a 75% increase in stress hormone levels. In experiments with mice, they found that not only did resting stress hormone levels increase, but the mice’s hormone response to environmental stress was double that of mice that had a normal diet.
Aggravates eczema
A high-sodium diet may increase the risk of eczema. Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) found that eating just one extra gramme of sodium per day—the amount in a Big Mac—increases the likelihood of flares by 22%.
The researchers analysed data from more than 215,000 people between 30 and 70 years old from the UK Biobank, which includes urine samples and electronic medical records. They found that each additional gramme of sodium excreted in urine over 24 hours was associated with 11% higher odds of an eczema diagnosis; 16% higher odds of having an active case; and 11% higher odds of increased severity.
ALSO READ: Japa: Trump promises US green card to foreign graduates
