Tip worth its salt… …only use a pinch or two, even if your diet is healthy

AHEALTHY diet will not protect you from heart attacks and stroke if you still eat too much salt, a study has found.

Consuming too much salt will raise your blood pressure even if you eat plenty of fruit and vegetables, researchers say.

High blood pressure increases the risk of a number of conditions, including heart attacks and stroke.

And very little sodium comes from the salt shaker on the table.

Previously, experts believed that eating lots of fruit and vegetables might help to counteract the effect of high salt on blood pressure. But the latest findings, which looked at the diets of more than 4 500 people, suggest the only way to lower the risk is not to exceed the recommended daily amount of 6g – equivalent to one teaspoon.

The international study tracked participants from the UK, US, Japan and China, aged from 40 to 59, over four days.

Using urine samples, the scientists assessed concentrations of sodium – the main component of salt – and potassium, found in leafy green vegetables and linked to lower blood pressure.

They also assessed their intake of 80 nutrients that may be linked to low blood pressure, including vitamin C, fibre and omega-3 fatty acids, often found in fruit, vegetables and whole grains.

Although salt intake has dropped in recent years, the average British adult still consumes 8.5g a day, according to the study.

Researchers found a correlation between high blood pressure and higher salt intake, even in people who were eating a high amount of potassium and other nutrients.

Blood pressure is measured in two numbers – the first, systolic pressure, measures the force with which the heart pumps blood around the body. The second, diastolic pressure, is the resistance to blood flow in the arteries.

People should have a blood pressure below 120 over 80 (120/80). An increase of an additional 7g of salt above the average intake, across the study, of 10.7g a day was associated with an increase in systolic blood pressure of 3.7mmHg, according to the results published in the journal Hypertension.

Experts estimate that 80% of salt intake comes from processed food, suggesting more needs to be done by manufacturers to reduce salt levels.

Dr Queenie Chan, joint lead author of the research from the School of Public Health at Imperial, said the research shows the importance of cutting salt intake.

Co-author Jeremiah Stamler, of Northwestern University in the US, said: “The salt content in the food supply must be reduced significantly.”

And since most dietary sodium comes from processed and prepared foods, the study authors said the only solution is to regulate salt at the manufacturing level.

“As salt is almost everywhere in the food supply, the food industry needs to reduce its addition of salt in food processing,” said Chan, a senior research officer at Imperial College London’s School of Public Health in England.

The association recommends adults consume no more than one teaspoon of salt – about 2 300 milligrams (mg) of sodium – a day in total. And most adults would do better with 1 500mg daily, the group advises.

But one can of soup alone can have as much as 1 800mg of sodium, experts have warned. Commercially made breads and rolls, cold cuts, cheese and savoury snacks like chips, crackers and pretzels are other high-sodium foods.

Water won’t help either, one nutritionist said.

“I have patients who say that since they drink extra water while eating high-sodium foods, such as take-out Chinese food, it lowers the sodium in the meal,” said Samantha Heller, a senior clinical nutritionist at NYU Langone Medical Centre in New York City.

“Unfortunately, this is not the case,” Heller said.

If a frozen pizza, chicken pot pie, or a ham and cheese sandwich contains 1 340mg of salt, then that is the amount your body has to manage, whether you try to dilute it or not, Heller explained.

One solution to reducing salt intake, she said, is to read nutrition labels on foods and make more foods fresh at home.

“This can be done with a bit of forethought and planning and, ultimately, will help save money, too,” Heller said.

To help lower high blood pressure, she recommends potassium-rich meal plans like the DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension).

Potassium works with sodium to help maintain the body’s fluid and electrolyte balance, she said. This new study found that at lower levels of 24-hour sodium excretion, potassium intake mitigated the sodium-blood pressure relation, but not at higher levels.

“A diet high in salt indicates that the diet is high in ultra-processed foods like hot dogs, frozen pizza, fast and junk foods like chips, commercially baked products (breads) and prepared foods, and low in potassium-rich vegetables, fruits, legumes and grains,” Heller said. – Daily Mail and The New York Times