Health：Salt consumption
【明報專訊】Pat: There are some guests coming over to my house tonight. I am planning to cook instead of ordering food . Bill, do you have any suggestions on dishes?
Bill: You can try fusion cooking! Combining different culinary delights is fun and innovative.
Pat: Good. Hmm... I think I will try making bacon, hams, cheese, and Chinese BBQ pork into one single dish.
Bill: I am not sure whether these ingredients would match, but you should probably consider reducing the amount of sodium(鈉) in food. Processed foods(加工食品) are rich in sodium. The World Health Organization(WHO) recommends a maximum sodium intake of 2 grams daily, meaning that we should only take less than 5 grams of salt per day.
Pat: 5 grams? That means we should take less than 1 level teaspoon of salt daily!
Bill: Yes. Taking excessive salt will increase the odds of having cardiovascular (心血管的) disease, strokes and coronary heart attacks.
Pat: Roger that! I will not add any salt into the cuisines, for the sake of my guests' health! I have changed my idea. I will make steamed rice noodle roll with bacon inside.
Bill: It sounds tasty!
◆Tips
WHO estimated that 2.5 million deaths could be prevented each year if the global salt consumption were reduced to the recommended level.
■Myth busters
''I should consume more salt after doing intense exercises.'' This statement is not entirely correct because there is little salt lost through sweat. There is no need for extra salt. It is more important to drink a lot of water.
■Game
Bill's grandparents were diagnosed with cardiovascular disease. He is taking care of them. He wants to fold a paper heart to share his blessings with them. Try to follow the steps and help him!
(see picture)
■Glossary
culinary (adj) 烹飪的
ingredient (n) 材料
stroke (n) 中風
estimate (v) 估計
[Smarties' Power English 第300期]
