Salty Korean Food May Lead to High Blood Pressure and Heart Health Issues

[INews24, Soo-Jung Shin] The broths and salty foods that Koreans love could slowly ruin their health.

Sodium is an essential nutrient crucial for maintaining our health, as it plays a myriad of roles such as facilitating nerve transmission, regulating muscle contraction, and managing osmotic pressure. It is recommended to maintain an adequate sodium intake, typically around 500 mg, to support these vital bodily functions. A sodium deficiency can lead to severe conditions like hyponatremia.

However, excess sodium consumption can become problematic. Even a modest increase of approximately 6g in daily sodium intake has been linked to a significant rise in mortality rates. Specifically, the mortality rate for heart disease surges by 56%, while the mortality rate for cardiovascular disease increases by 36%, indicating that sodium overdose can pose a deadly threat to our health.

Excessive consumption of sodium leads to an increase in sodium in the blood, thereby making the body absorb water to reduce the concentration of sodium. When An elevation in the volume of water within the bloodstream, blood vessel pressure rises, leading to high blood pressure.

If blood pressure continues to rise or remains high, arteriosclerosis of the blood vessel walls accelerates, increasing the risk of stroke and myocardial infarction. Not only this but the heart is forced to work hard to continuously pump this water, increasing the risk of heart diseases like heart failure.

Despite these risks, sodium is addictive, making it difficult to quit salty tastes. The salty taste is transmitted to the brain center through the taste receptors of the tongue and small intestine, where it stimulates the secretion of serotonin and dopamine. As a result, the brain remembers the salty taste as pleasure, seeking a stronger pleasure, or a stronger salty taste, every time we eat.

Taste also becomes dull over time due to an adaptation in taste. When a certain taste component is tasted for a long time, the taste becomes gradually weaker, increasing the threshold of taste and reducing sensitivity. Especially if exposed to salty tastes at a very young age, the taste of saltiness becomes duller, leading to a propensity to seek salty tastes increasingly as one age.

The Korean beloved table often turns out to be a sodium-rich heaven. According to the Korean Food Hygiene Safety Society and the Korea Consumer Agency, the amount of sodium in popular dishes is 1962mg in 14.1 ounces of Kimchi stew and 2021mg in Doenjang stew.

The same goes for side dishes. Based on 3.5 ounces, Kimchi contains 643mg, anchovy stir-fry 1419mg, perilla leaf seasoning 1101mg, and bean sprout seasoning 620mg, all high in sodium.

To mitigate sodium intake, conscious efforts should be made in seasoning by opting for alternatives like soy sauce, Doenjang, or Gochujang rather than relying solely on salt. Also, it’s better to adjust the seasoning just before eating, especially in soup, and to have a meal focusing on solid ingredients rather than broth.

It is also a good idea to consume enough potassium, a nutrient that helps excrete sodium. When dining out, finding restaurants that practice reducing sodium can be a helpful strategy as well.

By. Su Jung Shin