Hot, sour, sweet, aromatic, fresh, salty ... Asian cuisine is alive with a mix of heady flavours. However, many of us are overdoing the salt as a flavour-enhancer and, sadly, those white flakes could be causing us more harm than we think.
According to World Action on Salt & Health (WASH), we should eat 6g of salt per day as an upper limit. This equates to roughly one teaspoon. However, most of us consume about 10g to 15g on average, which is well above the healthy recommendations.
This is scary because eating too much salt is associated with an increased risk of high blood pressure, which can lead to stroke and heart disease. That is bad enough, but it is also linked to stomach cancer, osteoporosis kidney stones – and obesity.
Research headed up by Professor Francesco Cappuccio and published in the British Medical Journal found that reducing daily salt consumption by 5g reduces the incidence of stroke by 23% and heart disease by 17%. Clearly it’s a matter of good health that we maintain our intake within a healthy range and adapt our taste to enjoy the full spectrum of delicious, vibrant flavours in food naturally low in salt. Here’s the lowdown on giving salt the shake.
How does excess salt cause disease?
The salt (or sodium, to be technical) in our body is principally found in the fluid around the cells. It plays an important part in assisting the transport of nutrients and other chemicals across the cell wall. Among its other important functions are maintaining muscle contraction and nerve impulse transmission. The body only requires a small and precise amount and the kidneys work hard to remove any excess and sustain a healthy fluid balance in and around our cells and blood vessels.
If the salt content in the blood increases, the blood vessels retain water to keep the salt concentration balanced. It is the extra water that leads to high blood pressure (hypertension). This puts an added strain on the blood vessels and can damage the heart as it has to pump harder to keep the blood circulating at such high pressure. High blood pressure also damages and weakens our arteries. What’s more, it is a major cause of chronic kidney failure.
Think you’re safe? WASH claims that since the early 1980s cardiovascular disease has been the single greatest cause of early death and disability in Malaysia, Singapore and elsewhere in Asia. A survey conducted in 1996 showed that 30% of Malaysians have high blood pressure and since then this number has more than likely increased.
Hidden salt
Most of us know too much salt can result in hypertension and only add small amounts to food, if any. Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as avoiding the pinches and sprinkles. Most of our extra salt is hidden in processed or packaged foods, which makes it difficult to know how much we’re eating. Manufacturers ladle it in to enhance the flavour, add colour and texture and avoid spoilage, meaning we blindly consume much more than we realise. In many Asian countries there is no legal obligation to label the salt content of processed foods, so it is impossible for consumers to know how much salt they are unwittingly piling into their shopping baskets.
A few of the worst offenders in the salt stakes:
- Sauces and condiments like soy sauce, fish sauce and oyster sauce (up to 2.5g of salt per tablespoon)
- Potato chips and corn chips
- Instant noodles
- Canned and packet soup
- Crackers and biscuits
- Breakfast cereal
Bread, cheese and processed meats are all high in salt, so combining them in one meal – as in pizza, say – can be deadly. A study in Australia found that 94% of the pizzas sold in the popular chains are overloaded with salt. There is no reason to suppose the pizzas sold in Asia have less salt than those in Australia.
Pizza is a fairly obvious culprit. What is less well known is that eating at hawker centres can have a substantial effect on salt intake. A single serving of some popular dishes may contribute more than the recommended daily salt allowance. It is especially worrying that so many adolescents enjoy hawker food as this simple habit could damage their arteries at an early age, leading to serious health complications later.
Salt and obesity
Salt, like sugar, is a heightened taste that we all respond to. It’s easy and pleasurable – even addictive – to overeat without satisfying the appetite and many dieters say that salty foods are their downfall. Since so many salty treats, like fried chicken meals or burgers or noodles, are also high in fats and refined carbs, over-indulgence quickly results in weight gain.
Another unwanted side-effect of too much salt is that the more we eat, the more we crave the taste. Foods that are low in salt then taste bland and unpalatable. This is because too much salt dulls our tastebuds. The more subtle flavours in the natural, traditional foods that can help put our diet back on an even keel are not as appealing in comparison. Fortunately, our palates can adapt. If you make a focused effort to cut back on salt you will soon begin to relish cleaner tastes and your cravings will lose their intrusive intensity.
Avoiding salt
There are many practical steps you can take to reduce the salt in your diet and protect your health and waistline.
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Check the company websites of the major takeaway brands and food outlets for the nutritional information on your favourite meals and treats. You may be surprised at what you discover. Heads up: a healthy quantity of salt is 120mg per 100g.
- It goes without saying – keep Western-style takeaways to a minimum. Pizza, fried chicken, double-burgers-with-double-cheese are all occasional treats. Very occasional.
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Go easy on hawker foods. Once a week is plenty.
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Enjoy loads of fresh vegetables with each meal and add lemongrass, ginger, chilli, lemon juice, spring onion, pepper, spices and herbs for flavour and zing. Fresh spices and herbs are healthy ingredients in their own right and can boost the nutrition of your favourite meals as well as the yum-factor.
- Use light soy sauce as a condiment.
- Remember, there is no salt in fruit. If you crave a salty soup or another hawker-style delight, neutralise your palate by having some mango instead.
For more information on this urgent health issue and tips on reducing your intake, visit www.worldactiononsalt.com.