Salt a major killer - researchers
Wednesday November 25th, 2009
The high level of salt eaten in the food of many countries is directly linked to stroke and heart disease, researchers claimed today.
It has long been known that salt causes high blood pressure - but the new findings suggest most people consume too much salt, regardless of blood pressure.
Levels of salt in the food of people in countries such as Britain, the USA and Japan need to be halved, according to researchers.
This would reduce stroke numbers by 23 per cent and heart disease rates by 17 per cent - preventing more than a million strokes worldwide each year, according to the research published by the British Medical Journal.
The World Health Organisation already recommends that 5g is the safe level of salt consumption - but the average daily consumption is 10g in many developed countries
Researchers at Warwick University, Coventry, UK, worked with a team in Naples, Italy, to analyse 13 major pieces of research involving more than 170,000 people from Britain, Japan, USA, Holland, Finland and China.
Professor Francesco Cappuccio, head of the WHO collaboration centre at Warwick Medical School, said progress in reducing salt levels had been "slow" and called for governments to introduce laws to restrict salt content.
He said: "We have seen reductions in the salt content of several food items, due to the collaboration between governments, public health bodies and sectors of the industry on a voluntary basis.
"For population salt intake to approach the WHO targets within a reasonable time, a regulatory approach is necessary, in addition to health promotion campaigns, to reduce the burden of avoidable death, disability and associated costs to individuals and society caused by unacceptable high levels of salt in our diet."
Strazzullo P, D'Elia L, Kandala N-B & Cappuccio FP. Salt intake, stroke and cardiovascular disease: a meta-analysis of prospective studies. Br Med J 2009; 339: b4567 (on-line)
Tags: Asia | Diet & Food | Europe | Heart Health | North America | UK News | World Health
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