Cut the junk, go easy on the salt, and look after your heart

We are a global community of salt lovers, the more we have the more we want!

Our consumption of energy-dense foods that are high in saturated fats, trans fats, sugars, and salt is unprecedented. Consuming high levels of sodium, in particular, is associated with hypertension and an increased risk of having a heart attack and stroke.

Most of us are consuming too much salt, on average, around twice the recommended maximum level of intake per day.

Reducing our salt intake lowers our blood pressure and risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). It’s also been identified as one of the most cost-effective measures countries can take to improve population health outcomes and prevent an estimated 2.5 million deaths each year.

Salt can come from many sources, e.g., processed foods such as ready meals, processed meats cheese, salty snacks, and instant noodles, in large amounts in bread and processed cereal products and added during cooking.

The effects and risk of consuming too much sodium to health become more pronounced as we fail to eat enough fruits and vegetables which contain potassium, which contributes to healthy blood pressure.

Lowering our salt intake by e.g., reducing our reliance on pre-packed and processed meals, reducing the salt products we add to food, and eating more fruit and veg which increases our potassium intake, can significantly maintain healthy blood pressure and reduce our risks of having a heart attack or stroke.   

 Resources:

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/salt-reduction