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Benefits of salt: why put it in food?
Salt remains an essential part of our diet. In particular, this allows water to enter and exit the cells of the body. It also helps meet our body’s need for iodine and improves our blood pressure.
If salt is really essential for our body, it presents real risks to our health if used excessively. Our eating habits distort our consumption and make us lose our sense of reality. Why is salt always on the table? Why do we dirty the contents of our plates before even tasting them? These excesses, serious for us, are even more so for our children! And the question arises from the food diversification …
No adding salt to Baby’s plate, why avoid it?
Better known under the small name of “salt”, sodium chloride ensures the right balance between the cells of our organism and their external environment. The ideal for an adult would be to consume only a maximum of 3 to 5 g of salt per day, all intakes combined. In reality, we swallow daily between 8 and 12 g on average. Our mistakes? Systematically add salt to food and eat very salty foods such as cold meats, canned goods, soups in sachets or boxes, ready meals, puff pastry, fast food, biscuits, etc. the foods we eat (except oil and sugar) already contain it naturally, in the form of mineral salts, sodium and fluoride. For children, it is worse. In a baby weighing around 10 kg, it should not be more than 0,23 g per day. Remember, infants have twice as many taste buds as adults, so the flavors “explode” in their mouths. No need to add more! And there is a risk: our children’s kidneys are not able to remove excess salt. Eating too much of it also strains the arteries and can lead, in adulthood, tohypertension, cardiovascular disease, obesity, etc.
In video: We do not dirty children’s plates!
When to season for baby?
Besides salt, when can you start seasoning your child’s meals with sweet spices and pepper? You can start this addition from the sixth month. Be careful, however, it is best to first eat each food without seasoning so that your baby can get used to the natural flavor. As for pepper, it is recommended to limit it as much as possible like salt!
Think of herbs
How not to over-salt? Add a little salt from time to time in the cooking water (not always), but never on the food. Use and abuse aromates (Provence herbs, basil, chives, coriander and fresh parsley …) and spices (paprika, turmeric, cumin, curry, ginger, etc.) to spice up bland dishes. Choose cooking methods that enhance the flavor: steam, oven, papillote, grill… and not the pot of water, because it attenuates the taste and pushes us to salt more. Before using bacon in cooking, blanch them and degrease them: they will be less salty. Prefer fresh cheeses to hard cheeses, very salty. Another tip, among thousands, to limit unnecessary salt intake while giving your food flavor: use the unsalted cooking water of your broccoli or carrots to immerse rice or shells. Smart and tasty!