Salt is only partly to blame

By Rhonda Neblett
| Thu, May 03, 2012 - 12:00 AM

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A lot is being said today about the problems arising from the consumption of too much salt.

True, salt has its place when it comes to bringing out the taste in food; it used to be sprinkled onto a cut to staunch the bleeding; some people even brush their teeth with salt to whiten them. Also there is nothing better after a tooth extraction to disinfect and heal the gum.

Adversely, too much salt elevates the blood pressure and hardens the arteries, which eventually leads to stroke and heart attack. So the bad outweighs the good; and it is now on everybody’s hit list: “Avoid it altogether.”

But are we placing too much emphasis on salt and overlooking the other factors that also contribute to strokes and heart attacks? The one I wish to deal with here is stress in the workplace.

Offices are like minefields – tread carefully or there will be an explosion. These days, employers are demanding the impossible of their employees – they want more for less.

Gone are the days when a receptionist only answered the telephone! One person now has the work of three to save the company money and with this comes the arduous task of not sacrificing quality or defaulting on deadlines.

Employees, male and female alike, are under enormous pressure and the stress is manifesting itself in more migraines, hypertension, diabetes, and yes, even cancer.

The body was not built to handle this much stress for such prolong periods! The Bible says: “Man goes to his labour until the evenings.”

Today, workers put in so much overtime that both lunch and dinner are eaten at the workplace! And in the midst of all that there are the different egos and tempers of supervisors, managers and partners to try to cope with.

And a bad economy only fuels and already intolerable situation.

Employers need a mind change. They need to admit they need the employee, and as much as the employee needs them. So, my panacea for healthy, productive employees is encouragement.

Those of us who have worked in comfortable environments for kind bosses are in the minority today. But all employers should endeavour to do their part to change the statistics – by reducing the pressure in the workplace.