Signs You're Eating Too Much Salt

Signs of people eating too much salt are water retention, swelling, frequent headaches, constant thirst, frequent urination and cravings for salty foods.

The National Institute of Nutrition recorded that the average Vietnamese adult consumes 9.4 grams of salt per day, twice the amount recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). Eating too much salt can cause blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases, affect kidney function, cause osteoporosis, dehydration and swelling.

Knowing if you're eating too much salt can be difficult. Experts recommend keeping track of daily signs that you're consuming too much sodium.

Water retention, swelling

According to Maggie Michalczyk, PhD, a nutritionist at the University of Michigan, eating salty foods causes your body to retain water. Excess fluid stays in your muscle tissue, leading to swelling, bloating, and puffiness. This can make you feel uncomfortable and lifeless.

Swelling also affects physical performance. Excess salt does not directly affect training, some athletes report feeling heavy and bloated after eating too much salt, leading to decreased performance.

Experts recommend consuming moderate amounts of salt and electrolytes after each workout, but limit salt intake before exercise.

Frequent headaches

Excess salt disrupts fluid balance, causing sodium to leak out of the body's water supply, leading to electrolyte-loss headaches, says Dr. Michalczyk. When the body is too dehydrated, the brain shrinks.

Eating salty foods can also lead to nausea, dizziness and vomiting (in severe cases), making headaches much more severe. If you have a headache, experts recommend drinking plenty of water to flush out the sodium.

WHO recommends moderate salt intake. Photo: Pexel

Constant thirst

Thirst and dry mouth are often caused by too much sodium. Too much salt causes fluid loss. The body is constantly thirsty to signal that it needs to regain balance.

To overcome this condition, experts recommend drinking plenty of water and adjusting your daily diet. Excessive thirst can also be a sign of diabetes.

Frequent urination

Excess sodium in the body makes you go to the bathroom more often. Dr. Michalczyk explains that salt affects the body's fluid levels, causing extreme thirst. Salt also significantly affects the kidneys, causing them to function less efficiently. Eating salty foods over a long period of time can lead to kidney failure. The thing to do is to reduce the pressure on the kidneys by reducing your daily salt intake.

Craving salty food

Eating salty foods over a long period of time can create unhealthy habits and behaviors. When your body gets used to the taste of salty foods, it will adjust to it. From there, you tend to add more and more salt to your daily dishes to satisfy your taste buds. This becomes a vicious cycle that is difficult to break.

To break this unhealthy cycle, Dr. Michalczyk recommends cutting back on salt and adding herbs to your meals. When dining out, ask your server to make your food bland and with less salt.

Thuc Linh (According to Eating Well )

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