Kathleen Kinder 07/04
Salt in its pure state is Sodium Chloride (NaCl) and provides one of the 5 identified basic tastes, which are salt, sweet, sour, bitter and umami (a recently recognised detector of "savoury" or "meaty" sensations, which is stimulated by condiments like soy sauce). A principle of Oriental cooking which is becoming widely accepted, is that there must be a Yin and a Yang balance of contrasting tastes for a satisfying meal. In traditional British cuisine, we have examples of that principle in roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, roast lamb and mint sauce and roast pork and apple sauce. Salt however, is more than just a "taste". In small quantities, it is an essential element for a healthy diet. In excess, as we have discovered recently, it can cause serious health problems.
It was not until the later prehistoric period that salt began to be mined in the Alps. Until that time, the largely cereal diet, supplemented occasionally by meat and fish, must have been tasteless and unappetising. Moreover, until salt was discovered, there was no efficient way, apart from smoking and drying, of preserving meat and fish. The Iron Age Celts in Britain at around 600 BC, were the first to extract salt from salt water. The two methods of salt mining and salt extraction from brine, continue to be the main means by which salt is acquired.
Salt has a fascinating history and there are many stories, superstitions and traditions from various cultures associated with salt. The word "salary", for example, is derived from salt and dates from the time when Roman soldiers were given money to buy salt. To many ancient peoples, and also to Muslims and Arabs today, salt is a sign of hospitality. In Leonardo's painting of the Last Supper, Judas's elbow is by an overturned salt cellar, a sign that his treachery had violated the rule of hospitality. During the Middle Ages, people sat above or below the salt at table to denote their social status. At various periods, attempts have been made to tax salt. The most notorious example occurred in India when under British Rule, salt was controlled by state monopoly and heavily taxed. In 1930, at a beach in Dandi, Mahatma Gandhi, symbolically broke the law by picking up a handful of sea-salt to illustrate that salt was a natural commodity, free for all to gather and use. This simple act initiated a huge public protest and the Viceroy was forced into negotiations.
Having sufficient salt is a very different matter from an excessive amount.
The Blood Pressure Association has this to say on its web-site www.bpassoc.org.uk:
"The amount of salt that we eat has a direct effect on our blood pressure.
The more salt we eat the higher our blood pressure. This is true, not only in
people with high blood pressure, but also in people with normal blood pressure.
A high salt intake also causes other health damage such as greater retention
of water in your body, which leads to swelling of the ankles. Too much salt
also worsens thinning of the bones (osteoporosis), asthma and kidney disease
and is closely related to cancer of the stomach…….The
Dept. of Health and Food Standards Agency recommend that everyone should cut
their salt intake from the current amount of 10-12 g. of salt a day (2 tsps)
to 5-6 g. a day (1 tsp). or less."
Recently, when I was in the doctor's surgery, waiting for my own blood pressure to be checked (the reading was "borderline"), I read more about the dangers of salt in Issue 1, Jan. 2004, of the magazine You and your Health. It is a fact that there are now over 16 million people in the UK with high blood pressure (also called hypertension), which as well as the illnesses listed above, can also cause heart disease, strokes, kidney failure, some eye conditions and may contribute to the occurrence of dementia. Readers were advised to go to their doctor for regular checks on their blood pressure, the reading for which should not be higher than 140/90mmHg. My own doctor advised cutting out salt in my diet, more exercise, more fruit and vegetables (of which I already eat plenty) and because I am overweight, eating less generally. He also hinted at the huge cost to the Health Service when a large percentage of patients, most of them retired, are on free prescriptions for "blood pressure" pills. There are already plenty of warnings about too much fat and sugar in our diet, but the situation regarding high blood pressure, with salt intake as the main cause, is more serious in the sense that we will not know we have high blood pressure until we go down one of the complaints associated with it. A sudden heart attack is one of the most common.
With regard to salt, the general public have been slow to accept the proven evidence of recent medical science and indeed, until very recently, the Government slow to act with legislation to curb the amount of salt amongst other preservatives, which are found in pre-packed meals and processed foods. Very few cookery and recipe books warn against excessive salt in the diet and cookery experts in both books and popular magazines seem to make little or no attempt to produce acceptable recipes with little or no salt content. Celebrity chefs on TV programmes tend to be very liberal with the salt they gaily scatter on to food preparations. The general public has every encouragement to use salt unthinkingly in the preparation of food. Moreover, because our palates have been long accustomed to salt, it will (1) take our taste buds a little time to adjust to an altered situation. This is where, I am convinced, U3A Cookery/Food groups could have an important part to play in influencing members country-wide. After all, it is our age-group which is most at risk. Too many of us, catering just for ourselves, find ready-made and over-salted meals an easy option. The task of creating (for 1-2 people) recipes which provide for tasty, nutritious and easy to make meals with little or no salt content, promises to be both fascinating and challenging. Let us hope that it will prove to be a worthwhile service to the community generally.
References - Books
Cadogan, Mary - Low Salt Cookery Granada 1985
Larousse Gastronomique Mandarin 1988 *
Schott's Food & Drink Miscellany - Bloomsbury 2003
Simon & Howe - Dictionary of Gastronomy André Deutsch 1978
Wilson C.A. - Food & Drink in Britain - Cookery Book Club 1973
* See the entry on Salt for an early, prophetic warning concerning the dangers of too much salt in the diet. Larousse Gastronomique is probably my most consulted book/encyclopaedia on cookery and food. As Prue Leith writes on the cover, the book is "endlessly fascinating".
Web Sites
http://www-surgery.ucsd.edu/ent/PatientInfo/instructions_salt.htm
http://www.dietsite.com/dt/diets/hearthealthy/lowsalt.asp also http://www.foodstandards.gov.uk
http://www.actionsalt.org.uk (Consensus Action Against Salt. CASH is a pressure group)
http://www.bpassoc.org.uk (Blood Pressure
Association produce a free booklet Healthy Eating and Blood Pressure. To acquire
this, send a first class, stamped A4 envelope, plus an extra 2 first class stamps
to:
Blood Pressure Association,
60. Cranmer Terrace,
London SW17 0QS
Mrs Kathleen Kinder,
Valley View,
Station Road, Giggleswick,
Settle, North Yorkshire BD24 0AB
Kathleen Kinder July 2004 (2)