Hidden Salt

Monitoring the amount of salt (NaCl) in the diet is one of the basic nutritional skills that everyone should master. This is mainly due to its significant daily excess typical of modern eating habits, which significantly affects metabolic processes and thus health. Sodium chloride contains 40% sodium, the excess of which retains fluids in the body. This is most commonly manifested by:

- an increase in blood pressure,
- the occurrence of migraines,
- dizziness,
- edema of the lower extremities,
- overloading the kidneys.

A rather serious finding is the fact that higher salt intake contributes to the development of a pro-inflammatory environment in the body.

The salt content in the diet is addressed on two levels:

1. Monitoring the amount of salt used for direct needs in recipe preparation.
This is practically not a problem - the recommended salt intake for an adult is 5 grams, and the amount of a pinch of salt ranges between 0.3 and 0.5 grams. It is thus easy to monitor the total salt intake.

2. Controlling the amount and frequency of foods in the menu that contain hidden salt:

- Bread.
Contains at least 1% salt (i.e., two slices of bread weighing a total of 100 g provide at least 1 gram of salt). However, the salt content in bread is highly variable. Salt increases the elasticity of dough and reduces its stickiness, while also having the capability to increase the height and volume of baked goods. For these reasons, bakers use a significantly higher amount of salt (the average in the Czech Republic is around 1.4 g/100 g). Therefore, it is important to check the information on the product label and to monitor whether the manufacturer has also used salt for surface treatment. It is not uncommon, then, to see salt proportions in baked goods around 3% - considering the total amount of bread consumed per day, this represents significant, and thus problematic, values. In fact, legislation in western countries has tended in recent years to systematically reduce the recommended salt content in bread, with a long-term goal of getting below 1 g / 100 g of bread.

- Cheeses.
Applies only to those containing salt, then the salt content is 2% or more depending on the type of product.

- Processed meats.
For meat products, the salt content generally ranges from 2 - 2.5%.

- Pre-prepared foods.
Meat, vegetables, legumes in canned form - here too the salt content is around 2%.

- Seasonings.
Soy sauces and miso pastes contain the most salt (salt content over 10%).

- Salty sticks, chips.
Over 2.5% salt.

- Instant soups.
Over 10% salt (in dry form).

When attempting to monitor the salt content in foods, it is important to know that manufacturers are legally required to state the salt content on the food label, making information availability quite good.

As a partial replacement for salt in meal preparation, a range of different kinds of spices can be used - onion, garlic, celery, dried vegetables, etc. An interesting alternative currently quite readily available is products containing potassium salt (KCl), or black salt (unrefined volcanic salt high in iron and other minerals).