Just when you'd stopped drowning your fish and chips in salt along comes the newspaper headline: "Salt is GOOD for you: eating more could even lower the chances of heart disease." The debate arouses strong emotion because food without salt can seem bland. So is it better for us than we thought or should we still use sparingly?
Has anything changed then? Probably not. The news story in question came from a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association that found people who had the lowest concentrations of salt in their urine (out of 3,700 people) had an increased risk of dying from heart disease. But how much salt you have in your urine is not a measurement of how much you have eaten. It may depend on how well your kidneys are working and how well hydrated you are. More studies would be needed to match low salt intake with heart problems.
Is too much salt still bad for you?
The evidence is strongly yes. The British Medical Journal published the Intersalt study of more than 10,000 people 15 years ago that showed a link between the amount of salt a person ate and their risk of blood pressure rising as they got older. In 2009 the BMJ published a paper into the results of studies over 40 years. It found that high salt intake increases the risk of stroke and heart disease. It showed that a reduction of 5g a day can cut the risk of stroke by nearly a quarter. The salt industry contests the evidence. Nice's recommendations for reducing heart disease say that reducing salt intake is the most important intervention.
How much salt should we eat?
We need salt for fluid balance (if you lose a lot through sweating, it can be life threatening), but we eat about 10 to 12g a day. We should eat no more than 6g a day (children less and babies under six months less than 1g a day). Nice now says that by 2025 we should only be eating 3g a day. So you don't need to worry about not getting enough salt. About 80% of what you eat comes in processed foods, bread, biscuits and other hidden sources. Start looking at labels and you will be surprised. Salt is used not just for taste but for preserving food, so food manufacturers love it.
How does salt increase blood pressure?
If we take in too much salt our kidneys have to retain more water to maintain fluid balance. This extra fluid being pushed round the arteries raises blood pressure. This can lead to heart attacks and strokes. Too much salt is also, the charity Cash (Consensus Action on Salt) says, linked to cancer of the stomach, kidney disease and obesity. Unless you measure how much you eat, you may not feel the adverse effects until you have high-blood pressure.
How can I reduce the amount of salt I eat?
First, remove it from the dinner table because half a teaspoon is 3g. Don't slosh it into pans when you're boiling vegetables. Try other seasonings, and check the amount of salt in foods you buy. Breakfast cereals, biscuits, bread and even some salads have a surprisingly high amount.
