Dr. Brett Hill - Eat Think Move Chiropractic

Most people by now have a fair idea that too much salt is bad for you. What they often do not realise though is what contains salt and how bad it is.

The average diet contains around 10 grams of salt per day. That is 4 grams of sodium and 6 grams of chlorine.

Eating too much sodium has long been linked to high blood pressure and heart disease but there are other adverse effects that are often not considered. However one of the biggest factors is not the sodium, but the chloride. Chloride, as with many other elements of our western diets raises the bodies acidity. Acidity causes many adverse effects in your body including osteoporosis, muscle spasms, increased blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, kidney stones, asthma, stomach cancer and insomnia. In fact too much acidity in your diet affects virtually every aspect of your health and vitality.

Most people also don't realise that most of the salt you eat comes not from the shaker on the table but from the processed foods that you are eating. Foods like canned soups, cheeses, bacon, hot dogs and processed meats, sauce and gravy mixes, stuffing, soy sauce, bread and many other processed foods contain much more salt than we are designed to eat.

So when it comes to lowering your salt intake it really pays to keep it simple. Simple unprocessed foods are the key, fruits and vegetables, water, healthy unsalted nuts and healthy unsalted meats. Remember that is takes 21 days to break a habit and it will take that long to get used to the real taste of your food without the salt, so be sure to give it a little time, you will be glad you did.