“Rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar and tea” is an indispensable part of our lives, and when it comes to salt, there is a saying used to describe it, “I would rather eat without meat than without salt.” Salt is the “king of all flavors” and its importance is beyond doubt. Salt is an essential condiment in our lives, and it has a wide range of uses, including a low-sodium salt is particularly popular recently, so whether cardiovascular patients can choose low-sodium salt for cooking, how to use it, to see today’s content! 1, concept interpretation: ordinary table salt, low sodium salt, salty taste produced (1) ordinary table salt: table salt refers to different sources of sea salt, well salt, mineral salt, lake salt, earth salt, etc.. Their main component is sodium chloride, and the sodium chloride content of common table salt is generally not less than 95%. (2) low sodium salt: it is iodized salt as raw material, and then added a certain amount of potassium chloride and magnesium sulfate, where the proportion of each component is about 60% to 70% of sodium chloride, 20% to 30% of potassium chloride and 8% to 12% of magnesium sulfate. Thus improving the balance of sodium, potassium and magnesium in the body. (3) how the salty taste is produced: salty taste is the taste shown by neutral salt, simply put, the salty taste is produced by cations such as sodium, potassium and magnesium. Among them, sodium Na+ ion has the least bitter taste, other cations become bitter with increasing molecular weight, so only NaCl (sodium chloride) can produce a purely salty taste. Others with potassium chloride and magnesium sulfate to replace sodium chloride will certainly be less salty and bitterness will increase. 2, what are the advantages and disadvantages of low sodium salt (1) advantages: low sodium salt because the sodium content is relatively low, for the body to improve the balance of sodium, potassium and magnesium is very good help, can reduce the risk of hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Common salt contains a high purity of sodium chloride, if long-term use will increase the tension of the body’s vascular surface, the body is prone to increased blood flow and blood pressure. Therefore, low-sodium salt is most suitable for long-term consumption by middle-aged and elderly people and people with hypertension. (2) Disadvantage: Residents with potential hyperkalemia risk and impaired potassium excretion are not suitable for low sodium salt. “For example, low sodium salt is not recommended for patients with chronic kidney disease. There are also rare cases of hyperaldosteronism and hyporeninogenic hypoaldosteronism where low sodium salt is not recommended.” It is also stated in our guidelines for the prevention and treatment of hypertension that low-sodium, potassium-rich alternative salts may be chosen for those with good renal function. However, you should not use low sodium salt in large quantities because of its benefits, otherwise you will lose the meaning of salt reduction (low sodium). 3, cardiovascular patients how to use low sodium salt will feel no ordinary salt salty, mainly because low sodium salt contains less sodium ions, so the taste will be lighter, but low sodium salt can not eat more when cooking, otherwise it will lose the role of low sodium, low sodium salt although the sodium content is low but if you eat too much is also the intake of more sodium. To achieve the same salinity may need to increase the total amount of low sodium salt, so the choice of low sodium salt will have certain advantages, but also pay attention to control the total amount of low sodium salt used. Normally we recommend using salt to control 3-6g/day. Then low sodium salt needs to be controlled at 5-8g/day. 4, for patients with cardiovascular disease, the focus is on the total amount of sodium ions, not the type of salt Salt is an ingredient that we add to three meals a day, essential, but not in excess, excessive reliance on salt can lead to many diseases. In short, low sodium salt is no matter how good the main ingredient is sodium chloride, and controlling the total sodium chloride intake is the key. No matter what kind of salt, you should pay attention to grasp the scale, not because of the low sodium chloride is used in large quantities, but the total intake of sodium chloride is not reduced. I hope that after reading today’s content you will be able to use low sodium salt in a clear manner.