Excess salt puts pressure on the kidneys
During holidays, consuming processed foods and savory foods becomes common, leading to an increase in salt intake into the body. Not only affecting the cardiovascular system, the habit of eating salty food also directly harms the kidneys, the organs responsible for blood filtration and fluid balance.
According to the World Health Organization, each adult should consume less than 5g of salt per day. However, the actual number often exceeds the threshold due to eating habits and the popularity of packaged foods.
Dr. Navinath M - senior consultant in Nephrology and Kidney Transplantation at the Asian Institute of Nephrology and Urology (India) - said: "When consuming too much salt, sodium will retain water in the blood, increasing circulatory volume and causing high blood pressure. This will damage small blood vessels in the kidneys in the long term.
Blood filtration units in the kidneys (nephrons) can become fibrotic over time, causing filtration function to decline. Worryingly, this process takes place silently, with few clear manifestations until the disease becomes severe.
Reduce salt, a simple step to protect health
The relationship between salt and kidney is mainly through blood pressure. Prolonged eating salty foods not only increases the risk of high blood pressure but also promotes kidney function decline, even kidney stones.
Notably, most of the salt does not come from seasoning but is hidden in processed foods such as bread, fast food, sausages, sauces or canned foods. Therefore, salt control needs to start from changing daily eating habits.
Dr. Navinath recommends: "Small changes in diet such as reducing processed foods, reading nutrition labels, and cooking at home can significantly reduce kidney burden.
In addition, people should prioritize fresh food, use natural herbs and spices instead of salt, and maintain a sodium level below 2,300 mg per day. Regular health check-ups also help detect kidney problems early.
In the context of holidays often being long and diets easily unbalanced, proactively reducing salt is a simple but effective solution to protect long-term health.
