10 Salty Food Culprits

We hear it all the time: cut your salt-intake! But do you actually know why too much salt is detrimental to your health and, do you have any idea how much salt you are consuming each day?

Salt is an integral part of our lives. It's that one ingredient that can make all the difference to a meal. Though our bodies do need some salt to help maintain the body's fluid balance, we consume far more than we need.

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Also known as sodium chloride, salt is a chemical compound made up of the minerals sodium (Na) and chlorine (Cl); 1g ordinary table salt contains 394mg sodium. In other words, table salt is approximately 40% sodium. (You can calculate a food's total salt content by multiplying the sodium value by 2.5.)

The World Health Organisation recommends no more than 5g (about one teaspoon) per day, but most adults who follow a typical Western diet get about 9 to 12g a day.

So, why is too much sodium in our diets so dangerous? Well, it's quite simple. A high salt intake raises your blood pressure; and blood pressure can trigger cardiovascular disease, including strokes, heart attacks and heart failure. High blood pressure (hypertension) is also linked to the obesity epidemic in the Western world. Too much salt may even affect your bone health as it may decrease the amount of calcium taken up by the bones.

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Alarming new research has shown that it takes just half and hour for one salty meal to significantly impair the arteries' ability to pump blood around the body. Blood flow becomes temporarily more restricted for between 30 minutes and an hour after the food has been consumed. According to the research team, this kind of damage to the blood flow is a very early sign of heart disease.

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Cutting your daily salt intake can add years to your life. Take a good look at what you're eating and be aware of the foods with hidden salt. Here are the top 8 culprits.