Published on
Updated
Reading 2 mins.
Medical validation:
August 17, 2022
While we still consume too much salt and processed products, a new study reveals the direct and beneficial impact that a slight change in eating habits would have. To everyone.
All countries combined, we consume an average of 9 to 12 grams of salt per day, more than twice the maximum intake recommended by the World Health Organization. A problem raised many times, at the origin of heart disease and cerebrovascular accidents. But a new English study published on August 16 in the BMJ Nutrition Prevention & Health approaches the problem from another angle: according to precise modeling, reducing your daily salt intake by just one gram, an achievable goal, would have an impact on the lives of 4 million people. Over 10 years, this would even represent 13 million heart and vascular accidents avoided.
A study conducted on the highest consumers of salt
To reach this conclusion, the study conducted by researchers from the London School of Medicine & Dentistry relied on the characteristics of the country that consumes the most salt in the world, China, where blood pressure and the risk of Cardiovascular disease accounts for 40% of all deaths. By compiling the most reliable and recent data on Chinese consumers, the researchers estimated the impact of 3 different approaches to lower salt levels on the plate. The first of these was a 1 g/day reduction in salt intake to be achieved in 1 year. The second was the WHO interim target of a 30% reduction by 2025, which is equivalent to a gradual reduction of 3.2 g/day. The third was to reduce salt intake to less than 5g/day by 2030, the goal set by the Chinese government in its action plan for health and development, Healthy China 2030.
The results are clear:
- A reduction of 1 g/day should lower average systolic blood pressure by about 1.2 mmHg. If maintained, some 9 million cases of heart disease and stroke could be prevented by 2030, including 4 million fatalities.
- Maintaining that for another 10 years could mean around 13 million cases of heart attacks and strokes averted, including 6 million deaths.
- Reaching the WHO interim target by 2025 would require a 3.2 g/day drop in salt intake. If this were to be maintained for another 5 years, a cumulative total of around 14 million cases of heart disease and stroke could be prevented by 2030, including 6 million fatalities.
NO to diets, YES to WW!
Reducing salt on the plate by 2025, a global goal
Although it is carried out on the Chinese population, the English study comes to fuel a worldwide desire to moderate the salt on the plate, to reduce mortality linked to heart problems and vascular and cerebral accidents. Indeed, the Member States of the WHO, of which France is a member, have decided to reduce the salt consumption of the world’s population by 30% by 2025, while highly processed foods, containing saturated fats, sugar and salt in too high doses are becoming more common and affordable.
The WHO website also reminds that a consumption of less than 5 grams per day (a little less than a teaspoon) is recommended and that there are simple ways to reduce your own consumption:
- Avoiding adding salt during food preparation;
- By not putting a salt shaker on the table;
- By limiting the consumption of salty snack foods;
- By choosing products low in sodium.