Salt is composed of sodium and chlorine and is essential for nutrient absorption and maintaining water balance in the body. However, excessive salt intake can lead to high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease, so it’s important to consume it in moderation.
They say, “Food tastes good when it’s seasoned right.” In other words, the flavor of the food we find delicious comes from the right amount of salt. People don’t add salt because they like the salty taste of salt, but because it makes food taste better. Especially in cooking, salt is more than just seasoning. Not only does it balance the flavors of food, but it can also act as a catalyst to bring out the inherent flavors of ingredients. That’s why many chefs say that “salt is the key to unlocking all flavors,” so using the right amount of salt can make or break a dish.
Salt isn“t just a flavor enhancer, it”s a mineral that the body needs for physiological activities. This is because, while humans can go without food for long periods of time, we can’t survive without salt and water for long periods of time. The fact that humans can survive without food for long periods of time, but not without salt and water for long periods of time is a reminder of the importance of salt.
So, let’s take a look at why our bodies need salt. The chemical name for the table salt we eat is sodium chloride (NaCl), which is composed of 40% sodium and 60% chlorine. The sodium in table salt is essential for the absorption of simple sugars (the building blocks of carbohydrates) and amino acids (the building blocks of proteins) into the blood. Therefore, without salt added to food, these important nutrients would be poorly absorbed into the blood and eventually excreted. This means that salt isn’t just a seasoning, it plays an important role in the body’s metabolism.
Most of the sodium we consume is absorbed through active transport in the small and large intestine. The nutrients carbohydrates, proteins, and fats are broken down into glucose, amino acids, and fatty acids, respectively, and then absorbed in the small intestine by the difference in sodium concentration between the intracellular and extracellular fluids. In the case of glucose, sodium plays a particularly important role. Intestinal epithelial cells absorb sodium by utilizing the difference in sodium ion concentration between the lumen and the small intestine. Nutrients such as glucose and amino acids bind to one part of a protein transporter with two binding sites, and sodium to the other, and they move together across the cell membrane into the cell. This complex process demonstrates how important sodium absorption is to the normal functioning of the body.
Without sodium in the gut, important nutrients, such as glucose and amino acids, would not be absorbed into the blood and would eventually be excreted from the body. The opposite is also true: if there is enough sodium in the gut but not enough nutrients, such as glucose or amino acids, sodium absorption is impaired. Poor sodium absorption can lead to a number of diseases. For example, diseases such as cholera and dysentery cause vomiting and diarrhea, which leads to a rapid loss of water in the body, which causes a decrease in plasma volume and a drop in blood pressure. In this case, the body is in crisis due to poor circulation.
Especially in children, diarrhea during the summer months can cause circulatory shock, which can be fatal if not treated within a short period of time. To prevent water loss due to diarrhea, it’s important to maintain a constant water content in the body, which requires adequate sodium absorption. When enough sodium is absorbed in the intestines, the osmotic pressure in the blood increases, causing water to move from the small intestine to the plasma by osmosis, increasing the water content in the plasma. As you can see, sodium is not just a nutrient; it plays an important role in maintaining the body’s physiological balance.
However, salt is beneficial in moderation, and excessive consumption can lead to a number of health problems. The most common disease we know of that is caused by too much sodium is high blood pressure. In addition, too much sodium can contribute to cardiovascular disease, obesity, and more. For this reason, experts recommend consuming between 200 mg and 1,000 mg of sodium per day. This translates to about 0.5 to 2.5 grams of salt. This means that you can usually get enough from a variety of foods, and you should be careful not to overdo it.
In Korean food culture, many foods are high in sodium, such as soups, stews, noodles, and side dishes, so eating a low-sodium diet is an important way to stay healthy. Fermented foods, such as kimchi and miso, are especially high in sodium, so it’s important to eat them in moderation to stay healthy. Recently, more and more households are using low-sodium kimchi or low-sodium soy sauce to reduce sodium, and the restaurant industry is also working to develop low-sodium menus. It’s important to consciously reduce sodium intake to stay healthy, and the best way to do this is to minimize salt and focus on whole foods.
