Salt, or precisely sodium, is well-known to be the cause of hypertension. Hypertension precedes vascular diseases including heart disease, stroke, and kidney failure, putting it as one of the most leading causes of premature morbidity and mortality globally. Despite that, many find it difficult to give up on sodium due to its role in enhancing the taste of food. A study by the Ministry of Health Malaysia in 2019 found that four out of five Malaysian adults consume more sodium than the recommended sodium intake by the World Health Organisation.

盐，或者确切地说是钠，是导致高血压的原因。高血压先于心脏病、中风和肾衰竭等血管疾病发生，使其成为全球过早发病和死亡的最主要原因之一。尽管如此，许多人发现很难放弃钠，因为它可以增强食物的味道。马来西亚卫生部2019年的一项研究发现，五分之四的马来西亚成年人摄入的钠超过世界卫生组织建议的钠摄入量。

With the growing number of food products in the market, it is even trickier to cut down on the consumption as sodium is widely used as flavouring, preservative, rising agent and so on.   Aside that, sodium is also majorly used in cooking in the form of sauces (such as soy sauce, chilli sauce), salt (like bamboo salt, Himalayan salt), flavourings (for instance, cube stock, anchovies), canned food (canned vegetables, canned fish etcetera), processed food (such as fish ball, ham) and so much more. To prevent the dire consequences of sodium overconsumption, it is important for us to make effort in reducing our daily sodium intake. So, how can we reduce the intake of sodium? Are there alternatives to salt and sodium-containing products?

随着市场上食品种类的不断增加，钠被广泛用作调味剂、防腐剂、膨松剂等，减少摄入量变得更加困难。除此之外，钠也主要以酱料（如酱油、辣椒酱）、盐（如竹盐、喜马拉雅盐）、调味品（如高汤、鳀鱼）、罐头食品（蔬菜罐头、鱼罐头）的形式用于烹饪、加工食品（如鱼丸、火腿）等等。为了防止钠摄入过多造成可怕的后果，我们必须努力减少每日钠的摄入量。那么，怎样才能减少钠的摄入量呢？是否有盐和含钠产品的替代品？

In products advertised as low sodium or no sodium food, the sodium content is typically replaced with its potassium substitute. For example, sodium chloride (table salt) is alternated with potassium chloride and sodium nitrate (preservative) can be exchanged with potassium nitrate. Potassium chloride salt is also sold in the market as low sodium salt that can be used in cooking. Potassium is a great substitute to sodium as it has almost similar flavour profile and function to sodium in food. A few research also demonstrated that replacing regular salt with a reduced-sodium, added-potassium salt reduced the incident of hypertension, risks of stroke, major adverse cardiovascular events, and premature death.

在宣传为低钠或无钠食品的产品中，钠含量通常用钾为品代替。例如，氯化钠（食盐）可以与氯化钾互换，硝酸钠（防腐剂）可以与硝酸钾互换。氯化钾盐在市场上也有作为低钠盐出售，可用于烹饪。钾是钠的绝佳替代品，因为它的风味特征和功能与食品中的钠几乎相似。一些研究还表明，用低钠、添加钾的盐代替普通盐可以减少高血压的发生、中风、主要不良心血管事件和过早死亡的风险。

However, there is a downside to potassium as a substitute of sodium. In terms of flavour, potassium salt can give bitter taste to food if too much is used in cooking. Potassium salt can also be pricier than sodium salt (although in long term, it may help in reducing healthcare cost). Besides that, for those on medication, potassium may cause adverse effects as they can interfere with how the medicine works. One example is hypertension medication – ACE inhibitors – can increase potassium and consuming potassium chloride can increase the blood’s potassium to an unsafe level. People with impaired urinary potassium clearance such as those with chronic kidney disease are also not advised to consume potassium chloride as the potassium cannot be removed and can accumulate in the body. In these cases, healthcare professionals’ advice is needed. So far, there is no strong evidence on the event of hyperkalaemia (excessive serum potassium) in healthy populations, therefore potassium salt is safe to consume.

然而，钾作为钠的替代品也有一个缺点。就风味而言，烹调时钾盐用量过多会给食物带来苦味。钾盐也可能比钠盐更贵（尽管从长远来看，它可能有助于降低医疗成本）。除此之外，对于那些正在服药的人来说，钾可能会产生不良影响，因为它们会干扰药物的作用。一个例子是高血压药物-ACE抑制剂-可以增加钾的含量，而摄入氯化钾可以将血液中的钾含量增加到不安全的水平。尿钾清除率受损的人（例如患有慢性肾病的人）也不建议食用氯化钾，因为钾无法被清除并且会在体内积聚。在这些情况下，需要医疗保健专业人士的建议。到目前为止，还没有强有力的证据表明健康人群会发生高钾血症（血清钾过多），因此钾盐可以安全食用。

There are other products that can substitute salt and enhance the flavour of food, although they do not exactly mimic the taste of salt. These include:

还有其他产品可以替代盐并增强食物的风味，尽管它们并不完全像盐的味道。这些包括：

• Herbs / 草药
  • g. Black pepper, white pepper, balsamic leaf, rosemary.

例如：黑胡椒、白胡椒、香脂叶、迷迭香

• Spices / 香料
  • g. Chilli, saffron, cinnamon, ginger, turmeric.

例如：辣椒、藏红花、肉桂、生姜、姜黄

• Fruits / 水果
  • g. Lemon, lime, orange.

例如：柠檬、酸橙、橙子

• Seeds / 种子
  • g. Sesame seed, flax seed, pumpkin seed.

例如：芝麻、亚麻籽、南瓜籽

• Unsalted nuts / 无盐坚果
  • g. Peanut, pecan, hazelnut.

例如：花生、山核桃、榛子

• Vegetables / 蔬菜
  • g. Tomato, capsicum, bitter melon.

例如：番茄、灯笼椒、苦瓜

• Vinegar / 醋
  • g. Balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar, white vinegar.

例如：香醋、苹果醋、白醋

• Unsalted healthy fat / 无盐健康油
  • g. Truffle oil, sesame oil, avocado, olive oil, olive spread.

例如：松露油、芝麻油、鳄梨、橄榄油、橄榄酱

• Seaweed / 海藻
• Nutritional yeast / 营养酵母

In summary, just by reducing sodium intake can help in decreasing risk of hypertension, stroke, cardiovascular disease, and other related vascular diseases. Nowadays, there are many products that can be used to replace salt and to enrich the food flavour, so it is even easier for us to practice salt reduction in our daily life. Remember, prevention is always better than cure.

总之，仅仅通过减少钠的摄入量就可以帮助降低患高血压、中风、心血管疾病和其他相关血管疾病的风险。现在有很多产品可以用来代替盐，丰富食物的风味，所以我们在日常生活中实践减盐就更容易了。切记，预防永远胜于治疗。