Signs You're Eating Way Too Much Salt

If you are unsure how much sodium you consume in your daily diet, you might eat way too much of it. Contrary to what you might think, it is best to understand the amount of sodium in your food. To know the amount of sodium in your food, you can read the Nutrition Facts label and understand how much salt is in the food you buy.

The first thing you need to know is that the table salt you use is not the highest sodium contributor, but the bulk of the sodium is within processed food and restaurant meals. The dietary guidelines for salt intake per day comprise lesser than 2,300mg. It is wise to limit the table salt while cooking and at the table. Salt is an essential element in the human diet; only some food you eat will make the sodium add up quickly. A perfect example is a bowl of cereal with milk.

Maybe you not too familiar with foods that are very high in sodium. High sodium is in foods like canned vegetables, fast processed foods, instant oatmeal, veggie burgers, and cottage cheese. And sweets like cookies are high in salt, which is something most people probably don’t know.

Too much sodium intake can make you feel a way you shouldn’t, and if not corrected. It can contribute to you suffering from mild, chronic hyponatremia. Who would ever guess that salt could impact your brain function?

• Extreme thirst: when you eat foods with a high amount of sodium, you feel thirsty and sometimes your thirst is stronger than usual. You might experience being thirstier than ever because too much salt is messing with the stability of fluid in your body. At times, the thirst continues even after you drink water or another drink to kill it. You will need to drink a lot of water to flush and restore your blood cells.
• You will experience hypertension: High blood pressure is often associated with eating too much salt. When you add too much sodium in your diet, it can lead to high blood pressure. This causes the heart to hold extra fluid in the body that will make the heart pump harder. To correct the issue and avoid high blood pressure, you will need to put together a low sodium diet that can assist in lowering your blood pressure.

• Excessive swelling in the body: Consuming too much salt contributes to your body looking and feeling more bloated. It's a swelling of extra fluid in your body called edema. Edema is an underlying disease, a symptom with an easy solution which is to cut back on salt and cook your food with a substitute; a flavorful herb or spice.
• You experience a stomach ulcer: Eating too much salt can damage the stomach lining causing a stomach ulcer. Most might not know it, but a person who's a big potato chip eater is taking in too much salt. Most chips are high in sodium and eating them regularly destroys the inside of the stomach. Sodium is connected to a stomach ulcer.
• Frequent headaches: When you eat food that is high in sodium, it will most likely give you headaches. If you do not drink a lot of water, your body is probably dehydrated. You will need to monitor the amount of salt that you intake and drink a lot of water.

Most of the food we eat is loaded with sodium, therefore it is best to substitute another seasoning for salt. Although, it won't come easy as there isn't a spice that accurately imitates the way salt tastes. But as you age, you should try to watch your salt intake, and pay careful attention to the amount of sodium in the food you eat. If you see, your body is consuming too much salt make the necessary changes.

There are several different seasonings that people can use to put a taste in their food, except salt is the overall favorite. Although, it is necessary to control how much you consume.

Some of us, when we cook, automatically reaches for the salt to add it when we should try different herbs and spices that can add flavor to our food without taking in too much sodium. There are fresh herbs and garlic that you can learn to love that are flavorful while you wean yourself off the excess salt. These spices have anti-inflammatory benefits.

1. Use Parley: If you are looking to get the best taste and revive a dish like soup or stew without salt, Parsley is a great option. Maybe you don't know it but when you add salt to stew or soup you are bogging it down with a lot of sodium but with Parsley, you are giving it a nice lift with more blend and herb.
2. Try Ginger: Perhaps, you love cooking and eating meat or seafood, a portion of food that needs spice to complement the flavors. You don't want to load it down with seasoning that is high in sodium, give your meat the flavor that is essential when you’re watching your diet and don't want to take in too much salt, try Ginger.
3. Try Basil instead of using salt: Perhaps, you like ripe, juicy tomatoes, sliced thick, salted and eaten cold. Salt is not the best of choice; you should base it with Basil instead. It will give the tomatoes a similar flavor or taste of salt.
4. Consuming too much salt why not Try Oregano? If you are a person who uses the seasoning on a variety of different foods like hamburgers, beans, pizza and spaghetti sauce, you should use Oregano instead of salt. It has an influential flavor that can be a great substitute for salt.
5. Need another seasoning for salt when cooking French and Italian. Use Thyme. Maybe you are someone who loves cooking French and Italian and needs to cut back on salt, if you need a substitute that can have a powerful flavor and can become popular in seasoning French and Italian cooking, I say use Thyme instead. It's a seasoning that is lightly sweet and persuasive in flavor.

I talked about the body, consuming too much salt, now the question is, can you take in too little sodium?
Though most of us are monitoring and worried about the body getting too much sodium, the question up for an answer is, can the body be subject to correction if it gets too little sodium? The answer is "Yes", the body needs the mineral in the blood that salt provides. If the body is low in sodium it’s at risk of having a condition called hyponatremia. If it's not correct, it can be life-threatening to the body. There is a risk of complication like liver failure, kidney disease, and heart failure.

Most of us use salt to add flavor to the food. It's not the best of seasonings to use, but it's what most people use to cook. While it may add a nice taste to the food, it's not the best of choice and it is good to be cautious about how much sodium enters your body. Have you ever imagined the amount of sodium a half of a teaspoon of table salt contains? Just in case you have, it’s high in sodium that includes 1,150 milligrams of salt!

If you find yourself eating food rich in sodium, you need to prepare and begin eating food low in sodium. Better yet, take my advice and use the five herbs and spices that can be used as a substitute for salt. Don't wait until your body tells you it is too late to know the signs that you are eating way too much salt, know before it is too late and changes your high salt intake.