Cut Down On Foods High On Sodium

The World Health Organization has recommended a daily intake of 5 gm of salt per day per person or 2400 mg of sodium per day per person. But Indians consume a total average of 10 gm of salt per day per person, which is twice the recommended WHO guideline on salt/sodium consumption.

- P. Rajan Mathews and Mini Thomas

Salt, or sodium chloride, provides one of the five basic tastes, and one that consumers love — saltiness and salt contributes both flavor and functionality in a wide range of applications. Not only does salt make foods taste salty, it also aids in food preservation and food safety, offers a variety of functionalities in a range of applications, and contributes other taste properties that are not easily replicated by other available ingredients. Sodium itself, is a very potent inhibitor of off-tastes, particularly the bitter tastes, and so, one of the reasons salt is added to so many different foods is because it helps reduce the off-tastes, the bitter tastes, and thereby enhances other tastes. Researchers suspect there is at least one other mechanism that accounts for the sensory properties contributed by salt. Salt also improves mouth feel in foods by increasing the thickness and body of foods, and makes them taste richer. In meat products, it solubilises protein and enhances hydration. In cheese, it helps regulate enzyme activity and also enhances texture. Salt/ sodium is a vital part of the cheese making process, as it controls moisture, texture, taste, functionality and food safety. It controls the yeast activity in yeast-leavened breads and also strengthens gluten so as to make doughs more machinable. Salt exerts a preservative effect in foods because it lowers water activity. Although few foods today are preserved by salt alone, in some products, salt is one of the multiple ingredients used to reduce microbial activity in foods.

Sources of dietary sodium