Your children need salt in their diet in order to have healthy nerves and for their muscles. But too much salt can have a severe effect on your children’s health.
Salt is made out of sodium and chloride, hence the name NaCl, both of them are important for functioning cells but just in small amounts. Most people do eat too much salt.
But what effects can too much salt have on the health. An excessive salt intake can cause respiratory problems including asthma. It can also increase the chances to get osteoporosis and high blood pressure later in life. As you might have noticed with a high intake of salt you also have more thirst and if you then grab sodas instead of plain water in can cause a weight increase. Studies also found out that reducing the salt intake by half has the same effects as medication to reduce blood pressure. But eating no salt at all is also quite harmful as it would dry out the body from the inside. In order to prevent that an adult should consume at least 3grams of salt a day.
The salt that you consume does come mostly from processed foods and just around 20% get added while cooking or directly at the table. But all the salt that you need for healthy nerves and muscles you normally get from milk, yogurt, eggs, meat, fish and poultry.
So how can we reduce our salt intake and most importantly the one of the children.
As always, the first thing to do is to check the nutrition labels. If the salt amount is higher than 120mg sodium per 100g you should search for an alternative this does not count for foods where salt is unavoidable here the sodium amount should not be higher than 400mg per 100g.
The next Tip would be to rather use fresh meats rather than processed meats like bacon, ham and sausages as they get salt added in the production.
Of course, avoiding salty snacks like chips, fries and salted crackers or licorice. Instead of those rather use fruits or homemade popcorn.
Take the time to make your own broths, and salad dressings as most store-bought ones have salt as one of their main ingredients.
If you use canned products such as chickpeas, corn, fish and other check that they have no added salts or at least are low on salt.
Rely on herbs, lemon, ginger, garlic and vinegars as a source of extra flavor instead of on salt.
Try to cook your food yourself and reduce the consummation of fast food as also here salt is the main source for flavor.
What is also important is to have in mind that we build up a tolerance and taste for salt in food. So, if you keep the amount of salt low from the moment on that you introduce your children to solids there is a high chance that they will not crave salt in their food when they are growing older.
Sources:
https://healthy-kids.com.au/food-nutrition/nutrients-in-food/sodiumsalt/
