why is salt bad 4 u?

Answer 1

When it comes to salt, the National Institute of Health and the American Heart Association recommend no more than 2,300 milligrams daily (that's one teaspoon of salt). However, most Americans consume between 4,000 to 6,000 milligrams on a daily basis! Read my next two blog entries to find out why you should start cutting back... and which foods you should limit.



What Is Salt?


Salt is comprised of two minerals, sodium and chloride, but sodium is the specific mineral of concern (and sodium is what you'll find on your food labels). Some sodium is essential. In fact, sodium helps to maintain proper fluid balance in and out of cells, regulate blood pressure, and transmit nerve impulses. Sodium occurs naturally in some foods, but most of the sodium we consume is from processed and packaged products. That's because, sodium not only affects flavor, but can change texture, control the speed of fermentation, stabilize volume, and promote color enhancement.


Health Consequences From Too Much Salt


There is a strong link between sodium and high blood pressure in people who are salt sensitive. Salt attracts water -- salt pulls water into the blood vessels and this extra volume creates added pressure.


High salt intake may be associated with increased risk of gastroesophageal reflux (GERD). A recent study of lifestyle related risk factors in the development of gastroesophageal reflux suggested a potential relationship between salt intake and reflux. More research is needed.


Increased dietary sodium is known to trigger urinary calcium loss. With high levels of sodium intake, the body compensates by increasing urinary excretion. Because sodium and calcium excretion occur together, higher levels of urinary sodium result in increased calcium excretion with possible adverse effects on bone health.

Answer 2

salt as such is not bad for you, you actually need three to five grams of salt a day to survive. how important salt actually is for the body is shown clearly by the fact that mother nature has given us tastebuds for salty flavours, she wouldn't have done that if a certain amount of salt wasn't necessary. too much salt is bad for you because it leads to fluid retention which means your heart has to pump harder to get the blood around your body, which is of course not good for it. also, too much salt can in the long run damage your kidneys. in some people salt can also cause high blood pressure, but there is now very strong evidence that that is not the case in as many people as previously thought. i you get too little salt, on the other hand, you'll eventually end up dehydrated because your body won't keep the water it needs in as effectively and you won't get thirsty either. eating more than ten table spoons of salt at a time will kill you, but i don't think anyone is really likely to do that.

Answer 3

It's not "bad" for everyone! And don't let people tell you that! I probably use 5 times more salt than anyone you know and my last physical showed I'm still a little sodium deficient. Every body is different. I happen to perspire a LOT due to where I live (the desert) and my own personal metabolism. However, not all salts are created equal as far as I'm concerned. Some are healthier than others. Yet, still, people think salt is bad for us.

Answer 4

Like everything else we consume, salt is not bad for you in and of itself. It is all about balance. Too much salt can cause a few pounds of near-immediate weight gain through water retention, as well as problems with high blood pressure. On the other hand, a salt deficiency (which is of little concern in developed countries) can interfer with a variety of bodily processes that involve the sodium ions. Balance is the key.

Answer 5

Salt is NOT bad for you - it contains sodium, which is a required body mineral. Your sweat contains a lot of sodium, so that if you sweat a lot, you need to replace the sodium (salt) in your body.

Salt also contains iodine, another mineral that is required for your thyroid (which governs your metabolism) to work.

There is a lot of salt in foods, especially processed foods. When you add that all together you may have too much salt.

The problem comes when our potassium-magnesium-sodium minerals are out of balance. Potassium is in a lot of foods, but it is used up when we eat a lot of sweets and carbs. Magnesium is not in so many foods (our soils are depleted). The balance of these minerals keeps our system in balance.

Too much sodium leads to edema - water retention. That leads to more pressure in your body, possibly (only for some people) a rise in blood pressure, and other heart-related bad effects.

Answer 6

Salt is necessary for life. But too much salt can cause high blood pressure which can be deadly

Answer 7

Salt is bad for you, because it raises your blood pressure. And a high blood pressure can lead to cardiac issues, strokes, etc.

Answer 8

It in't per se. But when we eat too much, we retain water and wind up with high blood pressure. Long-term, we lose calcium as well-when our bodies adjust to the sodium, both substnces go out.

Answer 9

well, i don't know WHY, but i know what it does. it raises blood preasure. mine was getting a bit high.. i made no drastic dietary changes. still ate the same general things except i would pick whatever brand of the product had the lowest sodium and within just a couple weeks my blood preasure was back to well within normal levels.

Answer 10

raises blood pressure and i think it could make u fat because when you have a lot of sodium in your body it soaks up the water or somethin