Sugar and salt: which is more risky for health?

You may have often heard that most foods that are sweet or salty are harmful to health. Both sugar and salt each have their own risks to your body. However, which of the two was actually worse? Is it mostly sugar or mostly salt? Relax, here are considerations from experts that should be noted carefully.

Why do our bodies need sugar and salt?

Sugar is needed by humans as a source of simple carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are needed to produce calories (energy). The energy itself is used to carry out various tasks. For example, cognitive function of the brain, function of the digestive system, and function of body movement.

Meanwhile, a mineral substance called sodium contained in salt is needed to maintain body fluid balance.

Which is more dangerous, mostly sugar or salt?

Basically, any excess intake is bad for your health. However, it never hurts to find out the comparison of the dangers between a diet of mostly sugar and mostly salt.

The dangers of too much salt

The biggest concern of nutritionists and health workers about the dangers of most salt is the risk of high blood pressure (hypertension). This is because in your body the sodium in salt is responsible for retaining fluids in the body. If you use too much salt, more fluid will build up or get stuck in your blood vessels, kidneys, heart and brain. As a result, you can develop hypertension.

Hypertension can increase the risk of fatal complications such as heart attack, heart failure and stroke.

Most of the sugar turns out to be more dangerous

The dangers of consuming most sugar are much more complicated than salt. If too much salt increases your risk of heart disease, most of the sugar can have its effect on everywhere.

Excess sugar will be stored by the body as a fat reserve. So, in the short term consuming mostly sugar makes you fat fast. However, eating mostly sugar can also increase the risk of hypertension, obesity, diabetes, stroke, heart disease, and cancer. This is because excess sugar levels can cause inflammation and aging of cells in the body.

As explained by a nutritionist from Pennsylvania State University, Dr. Mike Roussell, most sugar is more dangerous than most salt because it turns out that the two are related.

If you have too much sugar, your body will produce the hormone insulin to digest sugar. In fact, the insulin hormone will increase the function of sodium to retain fluid in the kidneys. This of course leads to the same result as eating too much salt, namely the risk of hypertension.

The key is a balanced diet

Even though most sugar turns out to be more dangerous than excess salt, that doesn't mean you shouldn't eat both of them at all. The reason is, as previously explained, your body still needs sugar and salt within reasonable limits.

According to a recommendation from the Ministry of Health, it is advisable for teenagers and adults to limit their consumption of sugar to 5-9 teaspoons a day. For salt intake, limit it to one teaspoon a day.

You should also avoid consuming packaged foods or snacks. The reason is, packaged foods have a higher sugar and salt content than food that you process yourself.

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