Sweet and Salty Make You Happy and…  Unhealthy

Benefits of Less salt and less sugar
Benefits of Less Sugar and Less Salt

There is nothing more satisfying than experiencing and enjoying the tastiest, the most delicious, and the most sumptuous meal.  We crave for the saltiest, the sweetest, and the fattiest dish and snack.  We never settle for less salt and less sugar when it comes to our appetite. It is always an emotional and rousing experience to munch our favorite medium-rare filet mignon and indulge on the moistest red velvet cake.  And of course, with an ice-cold Coke!

Cravings satisfied! 

Hunger cleared!

Thirst quenched!

And we are happy.  Very, very, very happy.  The feeling after a hearty meal is incomparable.  And we want more for lunch, for dinner, for midnight snack, and for breakfast tomorrow.  We can’t stop the sense of anticipation for the next big and amazing feast. This has become a habit, a very bad habit. And to make it worse, it has become a way of life for most of us, to eat what we want to eat, to drink what we want to drink, despite the incessant and constant reminder of our doctors, families, and friends to stop. They want us to stop killing ourselves.

We are not ignorant.  We are simply indifferent. 

We don’t care.  We don’t value our health.  We simply don’t care about our bodies.

We are what we eat.  We are what we drink. 

It’s time, and it is not too late. It’s never too late. Not yet.

Too much sugar is dangerous for us. It is one of the biggest threats to our health. The funny thing is that we have always been fully aware of this, especially those who have a family history of diabetes.  And yet, we stubbornly continue to satisfy our sweet tooth, non-stop. And we shamefully justify that with our need for a burst of energy.   

All sugars are part of the carbohydrate family and provide 4 Calories of energy per gram.  Sugar has no other nutrients. When we eat or drink too much sugar, the extra insulin in our bloodstream can affect our arteries all over our body.  It causes their walls to get inflamed, grow thicker than normal and stiffer. This stresses our hearts and damages them over time. And this can lead to heart diseases like heart failure, heart attack, and stroke.

How much Sugar and Salt we should take
How much Sugar and Salt we should take

Too much salt is equally dangerous for our health.  We have this intrinsic love affair with salty dishes, which are mostly oily as well.  We have the habit of adding more “salt” to our food, more gravy, more soy sauce, more fish sauce, more barbecue powder, more cheese powder, more garlic powder, aka more danger to our lives.  This puts us at risk for high blood pressure, kidney diseases, and heart diseases, and again, we don’t care.  We just want our food to be tastier, thus, add a pinch, a dash, or a sprinkle of salt. Salt is life, that’s why even with our rich, smooth, and velvety ice cream, we now want a salted caramel one. Can’t get enough of it!

Salt, also known as sodium chloride, is about 40% sodium and 60% chloride. Sodium is a nutrient that is essential to human life. Our human body requires a small amount of sodium to conduct nerve impulses, contract and relax muscles, and maintain the proper balance of water and minerals. We only need a good amount of sodium, maybe around 500 mg of sodium daily, for these vital functions. Thus, our experts and doctors recommend limiting our sodium intake per day.
 

Reducing sodium intakes lowers the risk of chronic diseases. And we should never forget that.  Who doesn’t want to live a longer life anyways? Let’s start preserving our lives without a grain of salt.

Now, we come to the fun and exciting part, our journey to a longer and sweeter life. Let’s start reducing our sugar and salt intake and embracing a healthier life. This should be easy. We can’t be salty with this.

Lowering Our Blood Sugar

Eat less than 6 teaspoons of sugar per day (24 grams).  5 teaspoons should be good enough!  Make it 4!

Avoid drinks that contain more than 5% sugar.  Just drink water, period! Bland but a life saver!   

Eat lower sugar fruits such as guava, green apple, papaya. The greener, the better!  Go for tomatoes but the red ones! Yes, it is a fruit!   

It’s ok to eat dessert.  Try choosing one with low sugar.  Or go for sugarless! Time to try Cake Zero!

 

Reducing Our Sodium Consumption

Eat less than 1 teaspoon of sodium per day (2,000 milligrams). Make it half a teaspoon! Or why not, no salt at all! Saltless!

Avoid processed food, fermented food, and crunchy snacks. Go for fresh fish, fresh meat, fresh veggies! But no salt! A tiny pinch could do the trick and won’t make you sick!

Avoid having too much sauce as part of your meal. Goodbye silky and yummy gravy! Say no to more sizzling plates! Just request for unsalted veggies to compliment your juicy rib eye steak! 

Add spices or lemon to your food instead of salt. There is always an alternative! Go for pepper! From now on, pepper is life!

Again, it is never too late to make the change now. Old habits may die hard, but it is worth the try! Unless we want to die hard!

Always remember that having regular check-ups is important to evaluate the risks. And for those with genetic risk factors or family history of certain diseases, it is best to have a regular consultation with a cardiologist and other specialists. Call your most trusted telehealth Platform right now!

TelevisitMD provides telehealth appointments for primary care, non-emergency care, therapy and nutrition. You will get affordable, convenient care by phone or video.

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