Healthy Debates
Healthy Debates
SALT NOT AS DAMAGING TO HEALTH AS PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT
This article is more than 7 years old
New research reignites a row with scientists who want to reduce salt intake to near zero
Sarah Boseleyย [THE Guardian Health Editor]
Thu 9 Aug 2018
Salt may not be as damaging to health as is usually claimed, according to a controversial new study which suggests campaigns to persuade people to cut down may only be worthwhile in countries with very high sodium consumption, such as China.
The Worldย Healthย Organization recommends cutting sodium intake to no more than 2 g a dayโthe equivalent of 5 g of saltโbecause of the link to increased blood pressure, which is in turn implicated in stroke.
But no country has ever managed to get population salt or sodium intake that low, the authors of theย study published in the Lancet medical journalย point out. Their research, the Canadian academics say, shows it may be pointless to try in countries like the UK and the US.
The study by Prof. Andrew Mente from the Population Health Research Institute of Hamilton Health Sciences and McMaster University and colleagues is large, involving more than 90,000 people in more than 300 communities in 18 countries. But it immediately reignited a simmering row with other scientists who are on a crusade to reduce our salt consumption to near zero.
Mente and colleagues found that the harmful effects of sodiumโraised blood pressure and strokeโonly occurred in countries like China, where the liberal use of soy sauce leads to sodium levels over 5g a day, the equivalent of 12g of salt. And they found that very low levels of salt actually led to more heart attacks and deaths, suggesting moderate salt intake may be protective.
โOur study adds to growing evidence to suggest that, at moderate intake, sodium may have a beneficial role in cardiovascular health but a potentially more harmful role when intake is very high or very low. This is the relationship we would expect for any essential nutrient and health. Our bodies need essential nutrients like sodium, but the question is how much,โ said Mente.
