Recognising Benefits Of Salt On World Salt Awareness Week, This March

KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 (Bernama) -- Salt Institute, a North American-based non-profit trade association dedicated to advancing the many benefits of salt, announced the celebration of World Salt Awareness Week from this March 12 to 18.

The event is the perfect opportunity to recognise the many benefits of salt, or sodium chloride, which is essential for life.

"In fact, no mineral is more essential to human survival than sodium because it allows nerves to send and receive electrical impulses, helps our muscles stay strong, and keeps our cells and brain functioning.

"However, sodium chloride (salt) is a nutrient that the body cannot produce and therefore, it must be consumed, " said Salt Institute in a statement.

The other component of salt, chloride, is also essential to survival and good health. It preserves acid-base balance in the body, aids potassium absorption, and improves the ability of the blood to move harmful carbon dioxide from tissues out to the lungs.

Most importantly, it supplies the crucial stomach acids required to break down and digest all the foods we eat.

Because the level of salt consumption is so stable, it is an ideal medium to fortify with other essential nutrients such as iodine.

Iodized salt was first produced in the United States in 1924 and is now used by 75 per cent of the world´s population to protect against mental retardation due to iodine deficiency disorders.

In addition, salt is essential in hospital IV saline, which is standard therapy and the fastest way to deliver fluids and medications throughout the body.

Without the saline drip, patients can end up with low levels of sodium in the blood, resulting in a condition known as hyponatremia which can lead to seizures, coma, permanent brain damage, respiratory arrest and death.

Salt is also a vital component of hydration. That is why athletes make sure they are consuming sufficient salt during and after a workout, as it is critical to replace both water and salt lost through perspiration.

The seniors can be especially susceptible to the dangers of a low salt diet, as it can cause them to suffer from mild hyponatremia, an electrolyte imbalance in the blood which can lead directly to walking impairment, attention deficits and a much higher frequency of falls.

A World Salt Symposium will be held in Park City, Utah, on June 19 to 21, this year. It is the most important meeting on salt in a decade and will cover all aspects from salt and health, to production and mine safety, to water conditioning, and to winter maintenance.

-- BERNAMA