Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
SALT BACK ON THE TABLE
Study shows you can eat more with your food... as long as rest of diet is balanced
THE safe amount of salt a day is at least double what the NHS advises, research suggests.
Prof Andrew Mente says two-and-a-half teaspoons a day is not a danger.
His controversial study found lots of fruit and veg may eliminate the health risks of excessive salt.
FOR decades experts have peppered people with warnings about the amount of salt being consumed.
Scientists agree too much of it can raise blood pressure, which is linked to a higher risk of heart disease and stroke.
The NHS and World Health Organisation say adults should not have over a teaspoon of salt per day – but a controversial study has suggested up to twoand-a-half teaspoons is not a danger.
The researchers also concluded eating a lot of fruit and veg may eliminate the risk of heart attacks and strokes from more than two-and-a-half teaspoons.
Study author Professor Andrew Mente, of Mcmaster University in Canada, said: “Only in the communities with the most sodium intake... did we find a direct link between [it] and major cardiovascular events like heart attack and stroke.” Sodium is the active ingredient in salt.
They found cardiovascular problems were lower in places with a high level of potassium consumption. Foods high in potassium include fruit and veg.
One problem is many processed foods are high in salt but rarely eaten with a lot of veg. The findings, published in The Lancet, involved a study of 94,000 people in 18 countries including China. Salt intake was measured with urine tests.
Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum, said Prof Mente has been criticised in the past for his advice, so “you would be best to stay within the UK’S MOST packaged food has a label listing salt content as a percentage of the recommended daily intake.
This is the “reference intake” and appears alongside a traffic light system, with green for low, amber for medium and red for high.
Nutritionists advise that foods with salt in the red zone should be eaten rarely or in small amounts.
official guidelines for the time being”. Exeter University health expert Prof Rod Taylor said: “The findings were observational so cannot claim cause and effect.
“[And] they were limited to a mostly Asian population, so we don’t know how widely applicable they might be.”