May 12 to 18, 2024 is the 10th National Nutrition Week in mainland China, and May 20 is the 35th "May 20" Chinese Student Nutrition Day in mainland China. The theme of this year's event is: Milk Beans Add Nutrition, Less Oil is Healthier. It aims to advocate reducing oil, increasing beans and adding milk, and jointly practice the concept of "Healthy China, Nutrition First".
As the saying goes, no salt is not tasteless, no rice is not cooked, salt is one of the most commonly used condiments in life, and it has long occupied the "C position" of people's taste buds. The sodium contained in salt can maintain body fluid balance, regulate blood pressure, have a relationship with muscle exercise, cardiovascular function, energy metabolism, and enhance neuromuscular excitability, but excessive intake of high salt (sodium) can increase blood pressure and increase the risk of gastric disease, osteoporosis, obesity and other diseases. According to the "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2022)", it is recommended that adults consume no more than 5g of salt per day. So how can we implement salt reduction in our lives?
1. Use a salt-limiting spoon
One scoop is 2 grams, with a maximum of 2.5 scoops per day, which can be divided into three meals. In this way, the daily salt intake can be effectively and precisely controlled.
2. Try substituting other condiments for salt
Choose natural ingredients and spices to enhance flavor and freshness, try to enhance the flavor of your food with chilli, garlic, vinegar and pepper, or mix seasonings without salt to reduce the focus on saltiness, which can increase the diversity of the food and reduce the use of salt. For example, you can use green onions, ginger, garlic, chili, peppercorns, lemon, and vinegar to enhance the flavor.
3. Eat less pickles and pickles, and use low-sodium seasonings
Pay attention to eating less mustard, pickles and sauces in your life, or choose low-salt mustard. Condiments such as soy sauce, oyster sauce, bean paste, monosodium glutamate, chicken bouillon, salad dressings and seasoning packets are high in sodium. Choose low-sodium salt and low-salt soy sauce, and reduce the amount of chicken essence and seasoning packets.
4. Eat less high-salt packaged foods
Deli meats, sausages and canned foods are high in sodium, so choose fresh meats, seafood and eggs, and avoid or reduce processed and canned foods with added salt.
5. Cut the vegetables into small pieces and stir-fry quickly
For the same ingredient, you need to add more salt when cutting it into large pieces to absorb the flavor. And it needs to be heated for a longer time to cook, and salt will penetrate into the ingredients in the process. It's best to cut the dish into thin strips or thin slices, and a quick stir-fry of a minute or two will make it cooked. It also retains the nutrients in the food to the greatest extent.
6. Be optimistic about nutrition labels and buy low-sodium foods
Scientific salt reduction needs to start from the "source" and try to buy low-sodium foods. Reducing salt is not the same as low sodium, and reducing sodium is really beneficial to the body.
Identifying which foods are low in sodium comes down to the sodium content itself. Nutrition labels on pre-packaged food bags help consumers understand the sodium content of foods.
Consumers should pay attention to the sodium content in the nutrition facts list on the outer packaging of food to see whether its unit is "per 100 grams" or "per serving"; If the unit is "per serving", you should also look at how many grams each serving is, so as to calculate the sodium content of the food.
Author: Chen Hao
Source: Shenyang Center for Disease Control and Prevention
Editor: Bai Bing, Sun Kaifeng
Proofreading: Qiu Wei, Chen Zeming
Preliminary review: Sun Baijun
Review: Xu Jiang