Friday 20th April 2007
??You can cut your risk of cardiovascular diseases by a quarter and of fatal heart disease by a fifth simply by reducing the amount of salt you consume;? these are the findings of a new study by US researchers. According to the researchers, the ideal daily intake of salt should be no more than six grams.
It is already known that excessive salt can raise blood pressure and through it, increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. However the exact increase in risk in quantifiable terms was not known. The new research sheds light on the same by giving figures.
The team of researchers from Brigham and Women??s Hospital in Boston studied 3,126 people, all of whom had high-normal blood pressure or ??pre-hypertension.? The participants were all asked to cut down their salt intake from around 10g to around 7g; this meant a reduction of around 25% to 35%.
The researchers found that people who reduced their salt consumption also stuck to it over the long term. Following extended follow-up, the researchers observed that people who cut back strongly on their salt intake also reduced their risk of developing cardiovascular disease over the long term. There was a 25% reduction in their risk over the following 10 to 15 years. These people also faced a 20% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease.
Commenting of the study findings, which are published in the British Medical Journal, Professor Graham MacGregor, a consultant in cardiovascular medicine at London??s St. George??s hospital and chairman of the Consensus Action Group on Salt said, ??This is a very important study.?
??It shows that if people reduce their salt intake it will reduce the number of people suffering from heart attacks, strokes and heart failure. We did not have that type of evidence before. And we are only talking about quite small reductions in salt intake to have a big effect on risk,? he said.
UK citizens consume 9g of salt on an average daily and three-quarters of this comes from the food they buy. Health authorities have recommended bringing down this salt consumption to 6g a day by 2010 and Professor MacGregor believes the target is definitely achievable for most people. In his opinion, all they need to do is be careful about the food they chose to eat.
Ellen Mason, cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation advised, ??By simply checking the labels and switching to a lower salt option, you??ll be doing your heart a favour.? According to Professor MacGregor, the responsibility for limiting the amount of salt in food products now lies with the manufacturers.
Undermining the findings, The Salt Manufacturers Association felt there was not enough evidence to prove that salt reduction would give significant health benefits to everyone. At the same time, it accepted that people with high blood pressure might benefit from reducing their salt intake.
According to health guidelines and the recommendations of the Food Standards Agency, the daily salt limits according to age should be as under:
1 to 3 years - 2 g salt a day (0.8g sodium)
4 to 6 years - 3g salt a day (1.2g sodium)
7 to 10 years - 5g salt a day (2g sodium)
11 and over - 6g salt a day (2.5g sodium)
