Why are packaged foods high in sodium? & bull; hello healthy

Reducing eating packaged and preservative foods is one of the principles of healthy living. This step is especially important if you have hypertension or kidney disease. The reason is, excessive sodium intake can be dangerous for health.

Packaged foods are processed with sodium so that the taste and appearance remain durable and long lasting

Sodium is actually a natural salt that is widely contained in plant and animal food products. Natural salt or table salt (sodium chloride) has been used for centuries to preserve food. You or your mother might have done this back home too; salt raw meat and braise it until it is time to cook it later.

This is because salt is water absorbent, which can cause microorganisms in meat or other foodstuffs to die from dehydration. This property is what makes food spoilage bacteria die, so that your food can last longer. Salt is also useful for protecting food from mold growth.

The above salting principle is then followed by packaged food manufacturers to preserve their products. Even so, the sodium "dose" used is greater than the amount of natural sodium found in natural food products. The portion of excess sodium that is included during the processing of packaged food also aims to strengthen the taste so that it remains the same even though it has been stored in the store for a long time.

Apart from table salt, other types of sodium used to preserve food include baking soda, sodium bicabornate, monosodium glutamate (MSG), sodium benzoate, sodium saccharin, and sodium nitrate. You will find these chemicals in foods like salad dressings, canned foods, baked goods, cured meats, canned meats, cheeses, jams, and so on.

The dangers of foods high in sodium for health

The body needs salt to function properly. However, excessive salt intake will actually have a negative impact on body health.

When the body is excess salt, the kidneys will find it difficult to drain the excess so that salt will accumulate in the blood. As mentioned above, salt is water absorbent. When there is too much salt in the blood, the amount of fluid surrounding the blood cells will increase and cause the blood volume to increase. High blood volume causes blood pressure to rise because the heart will work harder to pump blood around the body.

Long-term increases in blood pressure can increase the risk of heart attack, heart failure and stroke. Therefore, one way to prevent excess salt consumption is a low-salt diet.

List of foods high in sodium and low in sodium

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition notes that a food product is said to have a high sodium content if it contains more than 500 mg of sodium. This means more than 500 mg for every 100 grams of food.

Some food products with a high sodium content include: instant noodles (at least 1500 mg to 2300 mg), sauces (chili sauce / tomato sauce / oyster sauce / mayonnaise sauce / etc.) which is about 1,200 mg per 100 g, processed meat (more than 800 mg per 100 mg), and bottled drinks (about 700 mg per 200 ml).

If you find that the sodium content is less than 120 mg after reading the nutritional value information label, the food is considered low in sodium. Fresh vegetables and cereals are low-sodium foods because they only contain about 200 mg of sodium per 100 grams of product weight.

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