Processed foods are always filled with preservatives and sodium. One of the preservatives is a chemical that makes the food taste “stronger”. It enhances the taste of the food so it tastes richer and “better”. Many people who eat processed foods and processed meats on a daily basis soon realize that regular meat tastes bland because they get used to the richer taste of the processed meat.
This leads to increased salt intake, because it makes “normal” food tastier. Your body needs salt but not in excessive amounts. It has been researched that around 2 teaspoons of salt is more than enough. Your body needs a certain mixture of salt and water in order to have a healthy and well balanced metabolism. If there is a malfunction in your metabolism, your body weight can increase because it cannot use all the calories that are consumed during a meal or dinner.
Many processed foods contain excessive amounts of salt in the form of sodium. That’s why your salt absorption rate is not the fault of the chef in a restaurant or even yourself (unless you’re used to salty foods and your dosage for a day is quite high). If your daily menu consists of processed foods, TV dinners and boxed meals, then excessive salt usage will occur.
Excess amounts of salt leads to weight gain. That is one good reason to reduce the intake. High blood pressure is also one of the negative effects when salt is used in large quantities.
It’s very easy to get use to eating much more salt than needed. Once you’ve cultivated such habits, it’s not that easy to get rid of them. Nonetheless, little known fact is that you can easily get rid of bad habits within 21 days.
Hence, if you try to get rid of excess use of salt in 21 days, you should very well achieve it. Food might taste bland when you first start but you will get used to the wonderful tastes and flavors of the fresh foods quite quickly. You could try to replace the salt with something else, such as seasonings and herbs that do not contain sodium. However, salt should not be left out entirely because your body uses salt and water to create a healthy balanced metabolism.
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