Unknown Sources Of Salt In Your Diet

Wellness

oi-Anwesha

By Anwesha Barari

Tuesday, August 28, 2012, 14:37

When you have hyper tension, water retention in the body or high blood pressure, the doctor will advise you to reduce the amount of salt in your diet. However, even without these ailments, high intake of sodium is not considered good for your body. Modern science dictates that you must not have too much less salt (that is sodium and potassium) even on a regular basis.

Most often we think that avoiding raw salt and adding less salt to the food will reduce the amount of salt in your diet. But it is not as simple as that. There many unknown sources of salt that add to our total consumption of sodium. Here are some of the most dangerous ones.

1. Pickles: The main ingredients in pickles is oil and salt. Sodium helps in preserving pickles for long periods of time. Moreover, pickles are usually sun-dried, so the salt is in concentrated form. It add substantial amounts of salt to your diet.

2. Butter: Most of the commercially available butter are salted for preservation and taste. Unless you consciously buy unsalted butter, you will consume extra sodium without your knowledge.

3. Chips: Potato chips are not only fried but also highly salted. They have zero nutrition and lots of unhealthy elements in them so just quit snacking on them. Any kind of packaged chips should be avoided because they do your body no good.

4. Cheese: There is no cheese without salt and most of packaged cheese that you pick from the shelves is rich in sodium. One slice of cheese can contribute to adding 3.5 per cent of your total sodium requirement. So the next time you order a burger with cheese, remember those figures.

5. Processed Meats: Cold cuts are unhealthy for more than one reason. Not only does it cause cancer but also increases the amount of salt in your diet. As you know, meat cannot be preserved without salt. That makes processed meat one of the worst sources of salt in your food.

6. Instant Noodles: The noodles will do you no harm other than making you fat. But the masala or packed mixture of spices you add to it has both salt and ajina-motto (Chinese salt) most of the time. It is highly concentrated in sodium that is certainly a no-no for anyone who has high blood pressure.

7. Canned Food: Having canned olives from the refrigerator is very easy and tempting. However, you must remember that salt is a preservative. Any kind of preserved food is bound to have a good percentage of salt in it. So, canned olives, onions or other fruits and vegetables should be avoided.

These are some of the most unexpected sources of salt in your diet. They may not be conventionally salty foods but you must still avoid them.