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Every Monday, we find the nutrition chronicle of Dr. Binetou Cheikh Seck, dietician-nutritionist at the Cabinet dietetic nutridéal in Dakar, Senegal.
Why should we eat low salt?
Excess salt is a risk factor for high blood pressure (therefore heart disease and stroke), it is a risk factor for stomach cancer and even osteoporosis.
How much salt should you not exceed per day?
Five grams of salt per day according to the WHO, that is to say a teaspoon! Our salt consumption in Africa is 3 to 4 times higher than that, hence the importance of learning to eat less salt.
What are your practical tips for eating less salt?
- Eat as fresh as possible, avoid industrial or processed foods as much as possible, because they are the biggest providers of salt (give examples: deli meats, biscuits, salad dressings)
- Dose the salt instead of adding it randomly: the recommended dose is one gram per person. Concretely, for an average family of eight people, the recommended dose of salt is one tablespoon. Salt is a flavor enhancer (improves the taste of food) – you shouldn’t smell the salt, just the taste of the food. I advise our listeners to reduce the salt gradually.
- Avoid adding salt or adding salty condiments when eating.
- Eliminate stock cubes and salty condiments like soy sauce. They unfortunately appeared in Africa in the 1970s. We should go back to our natural spices such as soumbala, ginger, herbs such as parsley – and even prepare our own natural broth.
