Is it good to eat more salt in summer?

Salt not only adds flavor to dishes, but also participates in the body's metabolism after ingesting it. In summer, people should eat more foods that help clear away heat and relieve summer heat, so as to effectively avoid heatstroke. If a person consumes too much salt, it is easy to cause hypertension. What harm does consuming too much salt in summer have on the body?

For healthy people, the balance between salt intake and excretion is critical for controlling the volume of extracellular fluid. If the daily salt intake is reduced from the current average of 10 grams to the recommended 5 grams, the extracellular fluid volume will decrease by 1.0-1.5 grams, and the corresponding body weight will decrease by 1.0-1.5 kilograms. The chemical structure of salt is sodium chloride. If you consume too much salt, the sodium ion level in the body will be high. Sodium has the function of retaining water, so the extracellular fluid including blood volume increases, which may result in high blood pressure. According to statistics, in countries with high salt intake, the blood pressure of the population tends to rise significantly as they age. If hypertensive patients can control their salt intake while taking antihypertensive drugs and diuretics, they can often achieve twice the result with half the effort.

With the popularization of health knowledge, many hypertensive patients have sufficient understanding of the harm of excessive salt intake, and will consciously limit their salt intake in normal times. But in the summer, many patients relax their vigilance about salt restrictions. First, the weather is hot in summer, and people sweat more. A certain amount of salt will be taken away in the sweat. At this time, it is very necessary to supplement it in moderation to maintain the balance of sodium in the body. However, consuming too much salt is undoubtedly harmful to the body. Second, people's sense of taste declines in summer, and food often tastes bland. In addition, the summer heat is unbearable and the appetite decreases. People always like to eat things with strong flavors to enhance their appetite. They inadvertently eat more foods containing high sodium content such as soy sauce, fermented black beans, bean paste, pickles, salted eggs, etc., which increases their salt intake. Third, many people believe that all salty foods have high salt content, so they just need to avoid eating too salty foods. In fact, the main thing in table salt that affects health is "sodium". In addition to being the main component of table salt, it is also rich in some non-salty foods or condiments. For example, MSG contains sodium glutamate, and baking soda is sodium bicarbonate, which can increase the sodium content in the human body. In summer, people usually use too much MSG for seasoning, and drinking soda-containing soft drinks frequently will undoubtedly increase the sodium in the body.

In short, patients with hypertension should develop the habit of a low-salt diet at all times, which is very beneficial for stabilizing their condition. Here is a low-salt diet cooking method that is popular in the world and can also increase appetite:

① When eating two or more dishes in one meal, put the salt in one dish.

② Sprinkle salt directly on the food. The taste buds on the tongue will be strongly stimulated, which can arouse appetite.

③ Make full use of sour condiments to increase appetite, such as cold dishes mixed with vinegar. Other fruits with natural sour taste such as lemon, grapefruit, orange, tomato, etc. can be used.

④Fish and meat are best smoked by grilling, as their taste, color and aroma can stimulate appetite. The effect will be better if you add aromatic vegetables such as celery, peppers, and leeks.

⑤ Soups with mushrooms, black fungus and kelp as the main ingredients are fresh, colorful and have tonic functions. You can add a little salt or no salt.

⑥ Make full use of the remaining broth, which is rich in nutrients and low in salt.

⑦ Flexibly use cane sugar to cook sweet and sour dishes.

⑧Try not to eat various salted snacks, such as salt and pepper peanuts, pickles, and salted fish.