This is the second part of the series of What am I eating that is making me sick. The first article was about health problems associated with sugar intake.

In this article, I am writing about an all-time inclusion in our foods, salt (Sodium chloride). Salt as such is not a problem, but high salt intake is associated with several health problems.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for Sodium intake per day is not more than 2.4g. The Food Standard Agency, UK (FSA) recommends 6g of salt per day.  The 6g of salt  sufficiently provide the required 2.4 of sodium. Putting this in context, it is equivalent to taking one teaspoonful of salt  (which weighs ~6g).

The above requirement sends strong signal that we possibly take excess salt than we need in our bodies.

For example chips, barbeque (nyama choma), sausages, popcorns and sauces generally have very high salt content.

Below are some of the health problems associated with high salt intake.

1. High blood pressure or hypertension

How does high salt increase blood pressure

High salt consumption causes an increase in salt content in blood. This causes blood vessels to retain water in order to regulate the salt concentration. This extra amount of water causes an increase in blood content in the vessels leading to high pressure.

Why is high blood pressure bad for our health?

High blood pressure can damage our hearts. The heart is damaged for working hard to pump the blood which at an elevated pressure. This damage can lead to heart failure and increase the risk of heart attack or stroke.

Over prolonged time, high blood pressure can damage or weaken the blood vessels. This may cause illness or eventual death if the arteries burst.

High blood pressure can also cause blood vessels to become narrow. This occurs because the walls of these vessels have to thicken and harden due to the hard work of handling blood at high pressure. If this happens, the blood flow is reduced affecting some organs.

A blood clot could block a narrow artery cutting off blood supply to vital organs.

High pressure is the leading risk factor for cardiovascular diseases including heart attack, heart failure and strokes.

It is also a contributing factor to kidney failures.

Low salt helps to reduce blood pressure

There is very strong evidence that reducing salt intake reduces blood pressure. Therefore, reducing salt intake will lower your risk of cardiovascular diseases and kidney failure.

Reducing salt content by 20-35% can lead to reduction in the risk of either heart attack or stroke by 20% or more.

2. Cancer

Cancer of stomach is highly attributed to high salt intake.

High salt intake found in many sauces is known to irritate the gastric system. High salt intake is thought to strip the stomach of the lining exposing it to infection by a bacteria called Helicobactor pylori. Long term infection by Helicobacter pylori is considered a major contributor to stomach cancer.

Reducing the salt intake may help reduce the risk of stomach cancer.

3. Kidney damage or failure

High salt intake damages blood vessels which in turn contribute to kidney damage. Therefore, once the kidney is damaged, high blood pressure accelerates its damage leading to kidney failure.

4. Kidney stones

A kidney stone is a hard mass formed in the kidney from crystals in the urine. Urinary crystals can be caused by high levels of certain salts in the urine, an uneven balance of acid in the urine, or, a lack of substances that inhibit crystal formation in the urine.

A high salt intake can lead to development of kidney stones due to the relationship between salt and the body’s ability to absorb calcium. High salt in the system reduces the body’s ability to absorb calcium, leading to its loss through urine and a greater risk of developing kidney stones.

5. Other health problems associated with high salt intake

-Osteoporosis

Salt intake has a direct relationship with the amount of calcium we excrete through urine. The more salt we eat, the more salt we excrete, causing our bodies to excrete more calcium together with salt.

When we excrete too much calcium, our intestinal absorption of calcium decreases and our bodies compensate by using calcium from our bones leading to weaker bones.

-Asthma

A high salt intake may not be a direct cause of asthma, but it may be an indirect factor since Bronchial reactivity is linked to sodium balance.

-Obesity

Eating of high salt foods lead to dehydration. Thirst is mainly relieved by high sugar or high calorie drinks such as soft drinks. These may contribute to weight gain.

High salt consumption observed in the USA is strongly associated with obesity. It is therefore thought that reduction in salt consumption could lead to reduction in obesity.

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