Kitchen Tip: Is Salt Really Bad for You?

I harp to my honey about not adding salt to his dinner plate of food. But is salt really bad for you? He says no because he doesn't have a problem with cholesterol or high blood pressure. Is he right?

Since completing my cooking course and preparing many recipes during my cooking lessons, I did notice that a spoonful, dash or pinch of salt seemed to be a common thread in every single recipe.

The reason to add salt to food is typically explained as adding "flavor" meaning that salt, as well as fat, help determine "taste" in food. Hmmmm I had to know more. After a few days of research on the subject of salt, I made a few startling discoveries.

First, salt is a food seasoning and an important method in food preservation. Salt is a mineral made up of sodium chloride. It is essential for life but in small quantities. There are different types of salt. We use iodized table salt, kosher salt and sea salt for various cooking recipes and also for use on the table.

12g = 1 tablespoon

It's the amount of salt that my honey and I often disagree about. In an independent study, findings showed that as long as salt intake was moderate - no more than 16g a day - there was an insignificant effect on blood pressure. So my honey may be right, except that food already has a natural amount of salt, and he sometimes "adds" more salt to food. This may cause him to exceed the "tablespoon" of salt limit.

The study went on to say that "adding" salt or an excessive consumption of salt -- between 21g and 27g a day -- did increase the risk of a stroke in perfectly healthy individuals who never before showed any signs of a problem.

Remember that the "at most 16g of salt per day" does NOT mean that you can add 16g of salt to your food. You must consider that food already includes a natural amount of salt... and the 16g is a DAILY allotment, not a per meal measurement.

What this means is that eating too much salt in your diet can increase the risk of getting a stroke, but reducing the amount of salt you eat, does not reduce the risk of heart disease or premature death. In other words, you can't really avoid the risk of stroke or heart disease, but you don't have to add to the risk.

Eating a moderate amount of salt is best, and a moderate amount is typically found naturally in most foods.

Also, keep in mind that salt is a preservative. Artificial food preservatives, food colors and flavor enhancers are known to be linked to Hyperactivity, Attention-Deficit Disorder (ADD), Asthma, Cancer and other medical conditions.

You want to avoid foods that contain preservatives and food high in salt such as fast food, including McDonald's fries, burgers, chicken nuggets, chips, and all the bad junk food because these food processes use extra sodium to preserve it. The same for processed and packaged foods and sodas.

No problem for me and my honey. We rarely eat fast food and have stopped buying processed and packaged foods. Our beverage of choice is water or ice tea (not soda).

Having diabetes puts me at greater risk for high blood pressure, especially since I already have an issue and take blood pressure medicine. I do not add salt to my plate of food at the table, because salt is bad for my health [as it stands right now] and can increase the risk of [higher] high blood pressure, a major cause of both heart disease and stroke. Yikes!

As far as cholesterol is concerned, salt does not contain fat, the culprit producing LDL the bad cholesterol, but most foods that are salty and bad for you are high in fat and do increase levels of LDL. Click here for more about nutrition and cholesterol.

But is salt really bad for you? It's common sense that the good or bad of it depends on how much salt you consume, what junk food you eat, and what your personal plan for good health is.

Your body needs salt, but not too much of it.