Food without salt is boring but too much salt is unhealthy. here are the signs that you are consuming salt more than you need and it is time you cut it down.
When someone talks about taking the element of food, people often refer to it as eating food without salt. The reason behind it is the fact that salt is an essential ingredient in food and is what adds flavor to it. Food without salt becomes bland and boring.
Even though salt is an essential ingredient, consuming too much of it is very harmful to your health. According to dietary guidelines, the human body must consume 2,300 milligrams of salt per day. Anything more than that will negatively impact your health.
Too much salt consumption raises blood pressure, and in result exerts strain on the heart, arteries, kidneys, and even your brain. Heart attack, dementia, kidney disease, and strokes are the common problems that are a result of consuming salt in excess.
If you want to stay healthy and keep your family members safe from heart and kidney problems, you must ensure that you are not consuming excess salt. Thinking of how you can determine whether you are consuming the right amount of salt or not? Here are the five signs that point directly towards high salt consumption.
Frequent Urination
When the sodium buildup in your body exceeds the limit, you will observe changes in your urination cycle. Consuming a lot of salt means your body begins to store an increased amount of water due to which your kidneys work overtime. An overworked kidney paves the way for kidney diseases which affect your urinary cycle.
Frequent urination becomes a major problem of consuming too much salt, and it appears to transparent or completely clear. Frequent urination causes your body to lose fluids rapidly leading to dehydration. When your body is dehydrated, the urine thickens, and the output drops considerably.
If you are observing any of these changes in your urine, it is an indication that your body is consuming salt in excess, and it is time you cut down on your salt intake.
Persistent Thirst
Another sign that is a clear indication that your consumption of salt is more than normal is persistent thirst. When you take too much salt in a day, it makes you feel thirsty almost all the time. The sodium content in the salt is responsible for balancing the fluid content in the human body.
When you start consuming too much salt, your body requires a greater amount of water to clear the system to ensure that the organs operate in their perfect state. The body requires more water to maintain the right sodium-water ratio to ensure the proper functioning of all organs. The increased requirement of water in your body becomes the reason why you feel thirsty persistently throughout the day.
The body keeps sending the signal to your brain that it requires water, which is what causes persistent thirst. Not addressing the body’s need for water, will affect the balance and your body will dehydrate as a result. If you have started feeling thirsty all the time, you need to rework the amount of salt your body is consuming.
Inflammation and Bloating
Consuming too much salt causes your body to store extra water. The reason behind it is the fact that the body works to retain the correct sodium-water ratio. If the ratio is disturbed, it causes severe heart and kidney diseases. The body must maintain the correct ratio to protect the body from the heart and kidney diseases.
When your body begins to store an excess amount of water, it causes bloating, inflammation, or swelling in strange places. Eyes, fingers, ankles are some of the places where you will observe inflammation.
Feeling like you have suddenly gained weight or have the rings started to feel tighter in the fingers? It is a sign that your body is storing excess water, causing swelling. It may be the reason behind your puffy morning eyes. Too much water in your body is a condition that happens when the salt in your body is more than the requirement.
Persistent Unexplained Headaches
When the salt content in your body exceeds its limit, it causes expansion of the blood vessels. The increased volume of the blood exerts pressure and takes up more space triggers headaches. The expansion of blood vessels increases blood pressure and causes hypertension. It damages the arteries to the brain, which causes persistent and unexplained headaches. Unable to determine the cause of your headaches, there is a chance that it is due to high salt consumption.
Along with headaches, the expanded and damaged arteries affect your cognitive abilities as well. It makes it harder for you to focus on work and negatively impacts your ability to think clearly and make thoughtful decisions. Poor memory and feeling tired all the time are the side effects of too much salt consumption.
Finding it harder to concentrate on your work and tired of the persistent headaches? It is time that you reduce the salt content in your food.
Achy Bones
To strengthen your bones and achieve a sturdy skeleton, you need a sufficient amount of calcium. When you start consuming excess salt, and the kidneys are unable to flush out the extra content, this causes calcium loss. Calcium deficiency results in weak bones, teeth, and may pave the way for the development of osteoporosis.
If you have begun to observe ache in your bones regularly, it is an indication that the calcium in your bones is not sufficient.
If you are observing any of these signs in your body, it is a clear indication that your salt consumption is not healthy. You must cut down on the salt content in your food immediately as it might pave the way for several serious kidney or heart diseases!