Dietary salt can increase anxiety and stress levels. Check yourself for symptoms

This applies even to those who do not add salt to the food.

Svetlana Peres

is a clinical geneticist, nutritionist and expert of the UniProf Academy of Physicians

Table salt is 40% sodium and 60% chlorine. Both substances are responsible for the regulation of fluid in the body. In addition, chlorine is part of the gastric juice, and sodium is necessary to maintain the work of the muscles and nervous system. But, despite the beneficial properties, if overused, the product can be dangerous to health.

The salt is sodium chloride (NaCl). The substance has the property of lingering in the vessels. The trace element is always followed by water, which eventually accumulates in excess in the vessels, and an increased volume of fluid provokes increased blood pressure.

This, in turn, increases the load on the heart, thereby forcing the body to spend more energy and stay in a state of stress. Over time, this can increase the risk of developing heart disease, kidney disease and stroke.

Sodium chloride is found in almost all industrial food products. Remember how many sausage or cheese sandwiches you can eat in a day, how often you use mayonnaise, ketchup, canned food, whether you add seasonings to dishes.

If these foods are systematically present in your diet, most likely you are consuming more salt than your body needs. Therefore, it is worth listening carefully to the signals that the body sends you.

The norm of salt in the diet for an adult is 5 g (about one teaspoon) per day.

It is worth paying attention to such symptoms as:

• high blood pressure;
• frequent headaches;
• rapid heartbeat;
• redness of the face;
• nausea;
• excessive sweating.

If these signs appear, you need to consult a doctor.

There is also a downside to the coin — a lack of sodium, which also depletes the body's resources and can lead to chronic stress. The substance is a carrier of micro- and macronutrients into cells that starve with its lack.

The trace element is necessary for the implementation of many vital processes. Both excess and lack of sodium prevents the cell from absorbing potassium into it.

This negatively affects the work of the heart and provokes hyperactivity of neurons, which is accompanied by a state of constant excitement, severe headaches, stress.

Sodium, as a "taxi", is a carrier of molecules through cell membranes into the cell, and is also able to take out "garbage" from it. Without it, the cell loses vitamins, amino acids, and glucose. At the same time, the decay products of processed substances accumulate in it, increasing the risks of developing diseases.

Conclusion: everything should be in moderation. You can add salt to the food, but preferably in the morning. The fact is that the kidneys begin to work hard in the late afternoon (18:00-19:00). It is important at this time not to load them with extra "portions" of sodium from food. But in the morning and in the afternoon, salt in the diet will just be very useful and activates the work of the body, the nutrition of cells.

But it is worth noting that sodium is different from sodium and industrial food products are not the best source of it. Sea, pink and Himalayan salt are much more useful, which, unlike table salt, do not contain a lot of chlorine and are often enriched with magnesium, potassium, iodine and other important substances.