{"id":95,"date":"2020-12-09T06:52:26","date_gmt":"2020-12-09T06:52:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/truetarian.com\/blog\/?page_id=95"},"modified":"2021-06-29T06:38:01","modified_gmt":"2021-06-29T06:38:01","slug":"what-is-salt","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.truetarian.com\/blog\/what-is-salt\/","title":{"rendered":"All about salt"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Salt (also known as common salt or table salt) is a mineral composed of sodium chloride (NaCl). It is present in seawater (approx. 35g per one litre) from which it\u2019s extracted through evaporation. It can also be processed from salt mines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Salt is essential for animal and human life and its amount affects health. Too low level of sodium in blood may cause weakness, fatigue and muscle cramps or even spasms. Too high blood sodium can raise blood pressure and increase the risk of heart attack or stroke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Salt has been known for thousands of years both as food seasoning and a method of food preservation. Nowadays, it is heavily added to most processed foods such as canned, pickled and snack foods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The difference between salt and sodium<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There are two common names present in the topic of salt \u2013 salt that we sprinkle over our food and sodium that is listed in the ingredients list of most products. If we want to control the intake amount, it’s essential to understand the relation between salt and sodium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As mentioned before. common or table salt is a sodium chloride. It is a chemical compound present in nature. Its molecule consists of one atom of sodium and one atom of chlorine. Since chlorine atom is bigger and heavier it constitutes of 60% of sodium chloride mass. Sodium is just 40% by weight of salt. Therefore, when we refer to salt we mean the whole compound. Bear in mind that it is only sodium that affects our health and it is sodium that is listed in food ingredients list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you use a pinch of salt (approx. 1 gram) for your fried eggs, it will be just 400 mg of sodium (40% by weight of the mass of salt).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How much salt do we need?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to WHO 2013 recommendation, adults should consume less than 2000 mg of sodium or 5 grams of salt per day. However, majority of people who eat a lot of processed or ready made food would consume even two times more than WHO recommendation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to know how much we eat? The table below helps to convert the amount of salt we add to our meals into the amount of sodium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
Amount of salt<\/th>Grams of salt<\/th>Grams of sodium<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
a pinch<\/td>1<\/td>0.4 (400 mg)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00bc of a teaspoon<\/td>1.25<\/td>0.5 (500 mg)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1\/3 of a teaspoon<\/td>2.3<\/td>0.92 (920 mg)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Half a teaspoon<\/td>2.5<\/td>1 (1000 mg)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00be of a teaspoon<\/td>4<\/td>1.6 (1600 mg)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1 teaspoon<\/td>5<\/td>2 (2000 mg)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1 \u00bc teaspoon<\/td>6<\/td>2.4 (2400 mg)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2 teaspoons<\/td>10<\/td>4 (4000 mg)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2 \u00bd teaspoons<\/td>12<\/td>4.8 (4800 mg)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n

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Apart from table salt that we use in our cooking we also eat salt added to processed and canned, smoked or baked products, which most of us love to indulge in. It\u2019s so-called \u201chidden\u201d salt and it\u2019s present even in sweet products such as biscuits, cookies and cereals. The ingredients list should always include salt if it\u2019s added. While nutrition facts will usually give back the mass of sodium present in food without distinguishing whether it originates from added salt or if it naturally occurs in food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below you will find an easy way to calculate it into mass of salt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to convert sodium to salt or salt to sodium<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sodium to salt<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The amount of sodium in ingredients list has to be multiplied by 2.5 to indicate the amount of salt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Salt to sodium<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The amount of salt you use has to be divided by 2.5 to indicate the amount of sodium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture below you can see the ingredients list of tomato paste. In this case the ingredients list shows that only tomatoes were used to manufacture the paste. Nutrition facts reveal that two tablespoons (which is approx. 30 grams) will have 18 mg of sodium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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According to the calculation above it will be 45 mg of salt (the amount of sodium multiplied by 2.5, so 18 mg x 2.5 equals 45 mg).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is it much?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One pinch of salt weighs 400 mg so the amount of salt in this case will be just a tenth of a pinch. It\u2019s not much as for processed food but we need to bear in mind that the salt from all products we consume adds up to our daily intake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does \u201clow sodium\u201d mean?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sodium content may originate from added salt or can be present in a product naturally. The products that will have \u201cno added salt\u201d or low sodium level can be considered suitable for low sodium diet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below you will find different quantities of sodium\/salt that correspond to levels of sodium\/salt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n