The ingredient you should pay attention to if it appears on the label of processed foods. Doctors' warning
When reading the label of a food product, look for the amount of sodium it contains. Products without added salt can still contain sodium.
Processed foods contain salt, but also sodium phosphate, which is still salt. We find this preservative in sweets as well. This can easily lead to excessive daily salt intake.
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Table salt consists of sodium and chlorine. Most processed products contain sodium phosphate as a preservative. Doctors recommend that we read labels and make comparisons. The same food product, for example, a juice, can vary greatly in sodium content depending on the manufacturer.
Cristina Căpușă, Doctor at Dr. Carol Davila Nephrology Hospital: "Depending on how it's prepared, a food can have different amounts of sodium. Choose foods with less sodium. Sodium phosphate is also found in industrially prepared juices. The amount of sodium that any preserved food brings due to sodium phosphate is very high".
Why do we fear excessive sodium? Because the body eliminates excess salt through the kidneys, along with potassium. The kidneys try to get rid of salt, but unfortunately, they also lose potassium.
And we need potassium. This mineral helps blood vessels relax. When relaxed, they maintain normal blood pressure, helping to avoid hypertension.
On the other hand, too much sodium in the body attracts water. This automatically increases blood pressure.
Cristina Căpușă, Doctor at Dr. Carol Davila Nephrology Hospital: "Of course, the kidneys adapt. If we give them more salt, they adapt for one, two or ten years. But then they might say: 'Enough, I can't handle it anymore'. Even if we're healthy, we shouldn't overdo it".
Gener Ismail, Nephrology Doctor, Fundeni Clinical Institute: "The organ that removes excess salt from the body is the kidney. If the kidney is dysfunctional or if salt intake is very high, hypertension appears and causes kidney damage. When you have hypertension, the doctor tells you to reduce salt intake to under 5 grams, meaning not adding salt over what's naturally in food".
That's why the World Health Organization tells us to consume, in total, no more than one teaspoon of salt per day and to limit all ultra-processed products.
