JustCare

Tag: Salt

  • Adding salt to your diet could be bad for your health. . . unless you also eat fruits and vegetables

    Adding salt to your diet could be bad for your health. . . unless you also eat fruits and vegetables

    A new study published in the European Heart Journal finds that adding salt to your food, as distinct from using salt in a recipe, could be bad for your health, leading to a greater risk of a lower life expectancy and premature death. However, people who eat lots of fruits and vegetables rich in potassium, along with added salt, should have no greater risk to their life expectancy.

    Nicole Lou writes in MedPageToday that this study, over nine years, found that people who add salt to their diet often ended up more likely to die of cardiovascular disease, stroke and cancer. People eating more salt did not see a heightened risk of death from dementia.

    In the US, the salt that people add to their meals, before digging in, represents between six and 20 percent of the total amount of sodium chloride they consume. So, if you are healthy, and you eat fruits and vegetables rich in potassium, you likely do not need to give another thought to the salt you add to your meals. Focus more on the fruits and vegetables!

    No one knows how much salt is the “right amount” to use. But, if you are not healthy, there is every reason for you to reduce the amount of salt you add to your meals at the table. It should help to lower your blood pressure and your risk of premature death.

    Here’s more from Just Care:

  • Could you be eating too little salt?

    Could you be eating too little salt?

    The latest research on salt intake leaves unclear whether we should all be eating more salt, at least more than the teaspoon a day—2.3 grams—that has been recommended by the American Heart Association, the American Medical Association and many doctors.

    The common view is that low salt intake controls blood pressure and reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke.  But the Institute of Medicine (IOM) reports that there is not enough evidence to support this view.  If your salt intake is less than a teaspoon a day, there is little data on the benefit and some data to suggest it can be harmful to some subpopulations.

    The researchers at the Institute of Medicine do not specify what the appropriate level of salt intake should be, only that two new studies show some adverse health effects from too little salt intake—below the teaspoon a day.   But, the studies are limited in scope.  And, the IOM researchers see a need for more research on this topic.Read more about this from the National Library of Medicine here and in the New York Times here.