How Many Would Be Saved By Eating Less Salt?
Salt, a pinch here, a "bam" there, and food tastes better. It brings out the flavor, or so says my muumuu wearing grandmother.
But it also raises blood pressure, which explains why she would go into a blind rage, and throw rocks at crows for eating her figs.
And now, a new study confirms the heart risks of salt, and claims a reduction of just 5 grams of salt a day could save 3 million lives.
Writing in the British Medical Journal, researchers found consuming an extra 5 grams of salt each day means a 23% higher rate of stroke, and 17% more risk for cardiovascular disease.
For perspective, a McDonald's Big Mac has 1.04 grams of sodium, 1.02 grams for a Burger King Whopper has, and a Wendy's Baconater has 1.36 grams.
People in the U.S. eat about 10 grams a day, and Europe eats even more. That's a lot of burgers! And we all know everyone's eating them.
So experts recommend a quick fix, with major benefits. Dropping daily intake down to 5 grams a day could prevent 1 million stroke deaths, and 3 millions deaths from cardiovascular disease.
Admittedly, salt tastes good, but if you start cutting back, you stop missing it. And then really salty foods start to taste like garbage.
Via HealthDay News.
I think this is a very bad thing that happens to a lot of people this day and time. High Blood pressure is caused from eating to much salt. My husband loves to salt his food and I always tell him one day he will wish he would have not eat salt like he does. I think a lot of people eat way to much salt and if they would just cut down on salting their food for like a month I bet they would see a big difference in Blood Pressure.
ReplyExcept when one doesn't have a problem - my BP is always 110/70 and I love my salt....no worries here (and I don't eat crap burgers as Pug implied everyone does).
ReplyThere is so much salt added to our foods - take a peek at labels, you'll be alarmed to see that some processed meats have up to 38% salt. Saddest of all is that 4- year old kids are now getting kidney stones allegedly from too much salt in food.
ReplyI cook almost everything I eat from scratch, so processed foods are not an issue; when I do eat out, I tend toward the better establishments that use fresh and/or local ingredients. As I said, salt isn't an issue it's made out to be for everyone.
ReplyFrom what I understand, adding salt to foods that you make from scratch actually doesn't cause as many problems as eating processed foods. When you add a dash of salt to your steamed veggies, you're talking a few milligrams but if you eat canned soup or frozen dinners, you can easily get 2-3000 milligrams of sodium all at one sitting.
I myself don't watch my sodium intake very closely. I have excellent blood pressure (107/65), eat a diet of mostly unprocessed foods, and exercise daily. I probably eat about 3000 mg of sodium a day, which is higher than the "recommended" 2000 mg. But it's a far cry from the 10000 mg that most people apparently eat.
ReplySimilar here: I don't mind adding a little salt at the table; we tend to cook from scratch and don't eat too much processed food. I've always had good blood pressure (had to have it checked a few times at the doctor's and gym), so it's not a big worry for me.
I've been quite shocked though, on reading food labels, to find out just how much salt is packed into some -- even foods which you wouldn't expect much in, like breakfast cereals.
ReplyThe idea that salt causes hypertension is outdated. For most hypertensive, restricting salt (even to very low levels) doesn't lower blood pressure nearly enough to be of any clinical significance. All it accomplishes is making you hyponatremic.
Also, table salt is one of our only source of iodine. Encouraging people to restrict salt without providing another source of iodine could bring back goiter and cretinism problems.
ReplyActually, that's not true anymore (re: salt being one of our only sources of iodine). Iodine was originally added to table salt when food wasn't imported or shipped anywhere, so areas with iodine-poor soil only ate food that was grown there. Obviously, these days our food is hardly local anymore, so this is no longer an issue. Lots of people only use sea salt (which is not iodized), and they don't have goiter.
ReplyActually, with the exception of strawberries, iodine isn't present in any valuable level in plant-based foods grown in soil. Kelp, a sea vegetable, is rich with iodine, but few consume it. Dairy is a good source if you eat enough of that food group, but if you don't, iodized salt is a good option if you're not consuming a ton of processed foods.
ReplyI use a lot of salt free seasoning but I don't get caught up in measuring since I eat a lot of whole foods. Actually, too salty foods turn me off... I like a bit of taste but not that overwhelming salty taste you get with so many processed foods!
ReplyI think this is interesting, because I don't like salt. I'm not a fan of too much salt, and for a really long time I never added it to anything. I have also had low blood pressure and blood sugar since I was a kid. My doctor told me to start adding a little bit of salt to ONE thing I ate every day, and when I did that it put my blood pressure to a healthy point. Even to this day, If I don't eat anything with salt for a day or two, my blood pressure goes wacko. If adding just a tiny bit of salt to my diet makes so much difference, I can only imagine the difference cutting down on salt would make for someone with high blood pressure.
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