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By Wainaina Ndung’u
Meshack Ndirangu wonders why no one ever gets his salt measurements right.
Whenever his 45-year-old wife Janet Wachuka serves him food, she has to bring along a salt shaker so he can top up to his taste.
Ndirangu’s habit is not unique. Infact, many Kenyans usually add extra salt to your food after it’s cooked.
Unknowingly, medics caution that such practices could be, in the long term, detrimental to their health.
Dr Macharia Kiruhi, a medic at the Outspan Hospital in Nyeri, cautions that although salt is essential for the body, when taken raw and in excess it poses numerous dangers to one’s health.
He contends that salt plays a crucial role of regulating fluid balance in the body.
This, Dr Kiruhi says, is because it contains chloride and sodium ions — the two major components of salt — which are needed by all living creatures but in small quantities.
So when consumed in large quantities, it predisposes one to the risk of high blood pressure, which is a root cause of other diseases like hypertension, heart disease and stroke.
Risks
Studies have shown that even in someone who is not suffering from hypertension, excessive intake of sodium heightens the risk of congestive heart failure (inadequate pumping action of the heart) kidney ailments and arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries).
"High salt concentration leads to high blood pressure, which could lead to heart diseases, trigger kidney complications and cause brain conditions like stroke and even eye problems,"cautions Dr Kiruhi.
Cooking salt
A report presented at the 2007 American Society for Microbiology meeting in Toronto, Canada showed that salt increased the virulence of the Helicobacter pylori bacterium, which causes the vast majority of ulcers and greatly increases a person’s risk of gastric cancer and a certain form of lymphoma.
Dr Kirubi also advises that cooking salt helps to reduce the concentration of the ions in the food and ultimately in the human body.
Unfortunately, Kenyans have adopted the habit of adding salt after food is cooked.
He recommends that it is best for one to identify their own salt intake levels and apply it while cooking as opposed to topping up once food is ready.
He advises that when salt is taken in ideal amounts, it is beneficial in maintaining fluid balance, but in excess it can trigger blood pressure.
He points out that topping up salt on ready food is also not advisable as this tends to add more salt than is necessary.
Although salt sold in shops is usually packaged as cooking salt — for kitchen use or table salt — experts advise that it is important to avoid such practices.
Fast foods
David Maina, a nutritionist at Karen Hospital, says the quantifiable recommended salt intake is difficult to work out because individuals’ bodies are different and, therefore, the standard refrain should be to stick to only adding to taste.
"Whenever one subjects salt to heat, there is some corresponding benefit in that cooking leads to integration of the right amount of ions into the food," says Maina.
Maina further observes that when one is taking fast foods such as chips, sausage and grilled chicken, they must ensure they take large amounts of vegetables and fruits salad to counteract the effects of salt.
Recent research has shown that urbanites who regularly take fast foods are contracting diseases more than those in the rural areas.
Maina reckons that if salt was discovered today, international health organisations would probably not recommend it as a food additive because of its harmful effects.
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