11 replies to this topic

[doug123]

News source

Global campaign against salt launched

[Posted: Wed 04/10/2006]

Medical experts from almost 50 countries around the world, including Ireland, have joined together to launch a new organisation, the aim of which is to reduce the amount of salt people are eating.

According to World Action on Salt and Health (WASH), scientific evidence shows that eating too much salt leads to raised blood pressure, which in turn can cause heart disease and stroke. If adults worldwide reduced their daily intake of salt to less than 5g, blood pressure levels would also be lowered globally.

"It is estimated that reducing salt intake by 6g a day could lead to a 24% reduction in deaths from stroke and an 18% reduction in deaths from coronary heart disease, thus preventing 2.6 million stroke and heart attack deaths each year worldwide", the organisation said.

Research carried out by WASH highlighted the fact that the same product can have very different salt levels depending on which country it is purchased in. An example of this is the fact that Burger King onion rings contain 150% more salt in Australia than they do in the UK, while McDonalds Chicken Nuggets contain 2.5 times more salt in Mexico than in Australia.

Apart from the heart health implications, high salt diets have also been linked to stomach cancer and osteoporosis.

"The huge variations in salt contents worldwide show that the excuses of the food industry - that it is technically too difficult to reduce salt and that customers will not accept the reductions - are rubbish. Research shows that food companies have reduced salt levels in some countries. We want them to reduce the salt in all the products in all their markets", said WASH member, Prof Caryl Nowson, from Australia.

The organisation pointed to the experience of Finland, which has had a salt reducing programme running since the late 1970s.

"The Finnish experience shows that population-wide reduction of dietary salt leads to population-wide reductions in blood pressure and parallel reductions in deaths from stroke and heart disease", explained WASH chairman, Prof Graham MacGregor.

The main aims of the organisation are to:

-Persuade international food companies to employ a global salt reduction plan, so that not only will the salt content of their processed food products be reduced, but it will be uniform in each country they market in.

-Ensure that the body of evidence from the scientific community about the dangers of excessive salt consumption, is translated into policy by individual governments around the world.

-Reduce salt added at home during cooking and at the table, through a combination of media publicity and public health campaigns.

Irish members of WASH include experts from the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, University College Cork and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.

[doug123]

BBC news: Excess salt 'claiming hundreds'

[Matt]

Men average more than twice that number, at 11g per day

Wow thats crazy! I only get around 500-700mg of sodium a day =/

[superpooper]

In organic chemistry the other day I had to weigh out 8 grams of salt. Visually it looked like a lot of salt. That's pretty amazing that we consume 11grams a day.

[Athanasios]

Salt raising blood pressure in significant amounts is indicative of problems other than excess salt intake. It seems silly to attack salt instead of getting to the heart of the problem.

[starr]

Salt raising blood pressure in significant amounts is indicative of problems other than excess salt intake. It seems silly to attack salt instead of getting to the heart of the problem.

I always think that salt is over vilified. Of course excessive intake of anything is bad but when you're talking about 11 grams, doesn't a healthy body work it out by making you thirstier? Of course a person who knows they are prone to high blood pressure should do whatever they can to keep it under control but ultra low sodium diets aren't so great because salt is what helps you hold on to water. If you cut out the salt and drink a lot of water your electrolyte balance could be in huge trouble -- definitely worse than going a little heavy on the salt.

[Matt]

Don't we only need a 500mg of sodium a day?

[bgwowk]

Of course excessive intake of anything is bad but when you're talking about 11 grams, doesn't a healthy body work it out by making you thirstier?

Yes, and that is the exact mechanism by which excess salt raises blood pressure. To maintain a physiologic salt concentration, more salt makes you thirsty for more water which produces a greater circulating volume of plasma, which raises blood pressure. The magnitude of the effect depends on how flexible your blood vessels are (vascular capacitance), so the healthier your blood vessels are, the more plasma expansion you can take without raising blood pressure.

Of course a person who knows they are prone to high blood pressure should do whatever they can to keep it under control but ultra low sodium diets aren't so great because salt is what helps you hold on to water.

It is the water that goes along with the salt that raises blood pressure. That's why diuretics are an effective treatment for high blood pressure.

If you cut out the salt and drink a lot of water your electrolyte balance could be in huge trouble -- definitely worse than going a little heavy on the salt.

Don't drink when you are not thirsty, and you will not get into trouble. A helluva lot more people die from hypertension than hyponatremia.

If salt raises your blood pressure, don't eat it. If you can eat it and still have great blood pressure (systolic below 110), then go for it IMHO.

[Athanasios]

Yes, and that is the exact mechanism by which excess salt raises blood pressure. To maintain a physiologic salt concentration, more salt makes you thirsty for more water which produces a greater circulating volume of plasma, which raises blood pressure. The magnitude of the effect depends on how flexible your blood vessels are (vascular capacitance), so the healthier your blood vessels are, the more plasma expansion you can take without raising blood pressure.

In a healthy kidney, sodium is regulated in a manner that does not affect blood pressure. When kidney function is compromised, improper excretion of salt creates the effect above. I just wanted to note that kidney dysfunction leads to this effect.

[zoolander]

VIVA LA REVOLUTION! I did hear someone mention though that the war is really about the salt. It's about the oil.

[Centurion]

I avoid processed food not to avoid the salt, but more the other rubbish that tends to come along for the ride.

[xanadu]

I avoid processed food not to avoid the salt, but more the other rubbish that tends to come along for the ride.

centurion, I have to agree. There is so much garbage in processed food these days that I avoid it as much as I can. When it seems unavoidable, I make sure I read the label carefully. They still sneak MSG and other things in a lot of stuff without telling you. Salt I avoid whenever I can. I do not eat processed food snacks or add salt to my food. Those are the two main sources of hidden salt in people's diets.

I say drink all the water you feel like drinking. To have a toxic effect from drinking pure water, you'd have to drink over 3 gallons a day. I think anything around a gallon a day should be safe and good for you. Having not enough hydration has been proven to be harmful to the health. If you are working out in the heat all day, you may need a couple gallons. A hell of a lot more people have died from heatstroke caused by underhydration than have died from over hydration. About 10,000 to 1 at least.