Healthy Eating for Kids: Top 5 Ways to Reduce Their Salt Intake.

There are many people out there who are somewhat addicted to salt, just as others love sugar. These people would insist on eating only salty foods all the time. If you think that salt is better than sugar because it doesn’t cause weight gain, you are plain wrong.

I would suggest that you not only decrease your own salt intake but also that of your kids. It would help in more than one way. In this article I will tell you how harmful salt can be for your health as well as that of your kids’.

a) Salt causes weight gain and stomach bloating: Ever wondered why so many people fail to lose real fat with the help of fad diets, even though their manufactures make tall promises? These fad diets are unable to help you burn fat, and the weight you lose with their help is nothing but water weight.

Now guess what caused this water weight in the first place? Some of it is caused by water (which is okay since it is a temporary situation), but the rest is caused by salt. Salt increases your body weight by making it bloated. Consequently you would often suffer from IBS and acidity. If you simply reduce your intake of sodium, I believe it would be easier for you to maintain a healthy digestive system.

b) Too much of salt intake can also cause heart attack and high blood pressure. You know how harmful these diseases could be for your kids, don’t you?

So by how much should you reduce your kids’ salt intake?

You shouldn’t necessarily follow the government’s recommendations; not only do they vary from country to country, they are also prepared in a way that it doesn’t make a negative impact on the country’s economy. For example, the UK government recommends a maximum daily intake of 1.6 gram of salt for an adult, whereas in US it is much higher: 2.4 grams.

While there is no recommendation for daily salt intake limit of kids, I think it is very important for them to form the habit of avoiding salty foods; if they get accustomed to excessive salt intake right from their childhood, they would find it difficult to kick off this habit later in life. I think you are better off doing your own maths. Basically, you should try to restrict your kids’ salt intake to as low level as possible.

So how would you know which foods are high on salt?

1. Well, if you buy packaged foods, you would notice that almost all food packages come with decent information about the food ingredients; this is where you would find stats about the sodium content of those foods.

2. You should also keep the salt jar away from your reach as well as that of your kids. It is equally tempting for you and your kids to add several pints of salt in the food dishes when the salt jar is right on the dinner table. However, if you keep it at a safe distance, you or your kids would be less motivated to use it.

3. Very often we habitually pour extra salt not only on our plates but also those of our kids. As an adult, it is your responsibility to get rid of this habit. Once you get rid of your ’salt’ addiction, your kids would too.

4. Reduce the amount of salt you use when cooking foods at home; try to make up for the deficit with other spices.

5. Try to avoid eating at fast food restaurants. This applies both to you and your kids. Apart from being high on oil and other spices, fast foods often tend to be rich in salt as well.

Looking to make a change and lose some weight? I have reviewed the top diet on the internet and you can go and read over 200 comments people have made about why this diet has worked well for them, as well as some of the problems.

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