Too much salt on your plate doubles risk of heart failure
TOO much salt more than doubles the risk of heart failure, a new study shows.
Finnish scientists tracked more than 4,000 adults, correlating their dietary habits with cardiac problems, and found those who consumed the most salt were 110 per cent more likely to develop heart failure – one of Britain’s major killers.
Research has long linked salt to high blood pressure, but the new study showed that it does serious damage to the heart. Researchers tracked 4,630 healthy adults aged between 25 and 64 for an average of 12 years.
Prof Pekka Jousilahti, the lead researcher from the National Institute for Health and Welfare in Helsinki, said: “The heart does not like salt. High salt intake markedly increases the risk of heart failure. This salt-related increase in heart failure risk was independent of blood pressure.”
Heart failure is the leading cause of hospital admissions among pensioners. More than half a million people in the UK suffer with heart failure. Around half die within five years of diagnosis.
The findings were presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Barcelona.
Researchers divided participants into five groups, depending on their salt intake, by measuring levels in their
‘Heart failure is becoming increasingly common. And it is a terrible way to die. I would rather die of cancer’
urine. Those eating the most salt had an intake of over 13.7g daily – more than double the UK recommendations.
Prof Jousilahti said: “People who consumed more than 13.7g of salt daily had a two-times higher risk of heart failure compared to those consuming less than 6.8g. The optimal daily salt intake is probably even lower than 6.8g.”
The World Health Organization recommends a maximum of 5g per day. In the UK, health officials suggest adults have no more than 6g daily.
Graham Macgregor, professor of cardiovascular medicine at Queen Mary University of London and chairman of Consensus Action on Salt and Health, said: “This is a very important study. It is a powerful message that we need to be more ambitious in cutting salt from our diet. We have an ageing population and heart failure is becoming increasingly common. And it is a terrible way to die, I would rather die of cancer than heart failure.”
Average salt intake in Britain is now 8g a day, down from 8.8g a decade earlier, official statistics show.
It comes after food manufacturers were set stringent targets to reduce salt content in common foods.
Prof Sir Nilesh Samani, medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said: “We need to consume some salt in our diet but most Western diets have salt intakes much greater than the amount required to be healthy.”