Why you should watch your salt intake
By Chioma Umeha Many people love salt. It adds flavour to meals, preserves perishable foods, and balances water and electrolyte levels in the body. Unfortunately, most people eat too much salt from processed foods. By doing so, they compromise their health in more ways than one. Indeed recent studies have linked a high-sodium diet to increased hunger, potentially leading to weight gain, among other health risks. Worried by the rising cases of hypertension, heart diseases, stroke, kidney failure and resultant sudden deaths, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has called on countries to take action on the overuse of salt by implementing its sodium reduction recommendations to cut the number of people experiencing the disease conditions and, in turn, save lives. In America, both health professionals and food industry leaders realise the necessity of lowering salt intake. On average, Americans consume around 3,300 milligrams of salt every day, and about 75 per ce