Excess salt intake in the daily diet can be a health problem, as among other serious problems can cause high blood pressure. Studies carried out by the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN) indicate that Spaniards take twice as much salt (10 g) as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) (5g) for the population in general. These studies also reveal that 75% of the salt we drink daily comes from processed foods.
According to a study that the OCU has just published there is an excess of salt in prepared foods that in the opinion of OCU is avoidable. If you want to control the daily amount of salt consumed, it is necessary to reduce the consumption of foods processed by homemade foods, healthier from this point of view. It is known that one of the factors related to high rates of overweight and obesity in children and adults, is the increase in the intake of hypercaloric foods that are rich in fat, salt and sugars but poor in vitamins, minerals and other micronutrients.
After analyzing 209 products made from among the most common in our diet, such as meat, fish, bread, chips, pizza, tuna, rice dishes and pasta among others, to study their salt content; it is found that the salt content of food has grown on average by 6 percent.
But it has not been similar in all food groups. In 10 of them the percentage of salt (croquettes and dumplings, frozen and canned vegetables, rice and pasta dishes, cream and soup broths, fried tomato, tuna and mussels, pizza, fresh cheese, bread and mold bread has dropped) french fries) in 4 of them the salt has increased: prepared dishes of meat and fish, substitutes for eels, cooked fuet and ham, and especially buns and cookies where salt has increased 118%
Recommendations to restrict salt intake in our family:
Limit processed foods with a high salt content such as broths, creams and soups, sausages, surimi etc.
In the nutritional information that appears on the packaging, compare the amount of salt between the different brands, choosing those that have less. If the amount is expressed in sodium, you have to multiply by 2.5 and you will have the salt content.
In homemade meals OCU recommends replacing salt with garlic, lemon, herbs or spices to enhance the flavor.
The bread deserves a special mention, a product that for its daily consumption accounts for almost half of the recommended daily intake of salt (2.2 g)
This information It is applicable to adults and children, remember that Julio Basulto warned in this interview of the strong presence in our diet, of "ultraprocessed" food products and rich in energy, sugars, fats and salt. That is why we must strive to follow the above mentioned advice.
