Be Smart with mineral salts

摘要

When essential minerals are missing, deficient or unbal-anced in our diets, our bodies fail to perform optimally and this can result in the development of many non-communicable diseases (NCDs). NCD's are the main contributor to mortality and morbidity globally, High sodium, low potassium and low magnesium dietary intakes have been associated with a number of NCDs. For example , the evidence linking dietary salt to blood pressure has been exhaustively reviewed in the scientific literature. Overwhelmingly the evidence supports the fact that despite sodium being an essential mineral, our current high intakes are not necessary and for some, may increase the risk of hypertension. We also know that low nutritional magnesium status is associated with each NCD's now targeted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) including: dyslipidemia, hypertension, glucose intolerance, insulin resistance, abdominal obesity and pro-inflammatory factors. Couple this with the decreasing minerals such as magnesium being supplied by food crops and a known mineral loss in food processing, it is possible to see how inadequate mineral balance could impact our health.