Research - should salt be banned from processed foods?

Should salt be banned from processed foods

A low salt diet and healthy eating to lower your blood pressure and improve health.

The amount of salt - sodium chloride - that we eat has a direct effect on our health and . The more salt we eat the higher our blood pressure. This is true, not only in people with high blood pressure, but also in people with normal blood pressure. A high sodium salt intake also causes other health damage, such as greater retention of water in your body, which leads to swelling of the ankles and weight gain. Too much salt also worsens thinning of the bones (osteoporosis), asthma and kidney disease and is closely related to cancer of the stomach. Therefore, everyone should cut the amount of salt they eat to improve their health.

The Food Standards Agency issued salt intake targets for adults and children. The target for adults is to cut their salt intake from the current amount of 10-12 grams per day (two teaspoonfuls) to 5-6 grams a day (1 teaspoonful) or less. Salt intakes for children depend upon their age, but are considerably less than for adults. If you can reduce your salt intake more this will lower your blood pressure further.

Salt or sodium chloride is one such ingredient that we consume daily through our . Salt makes the food tasty and provides the body with the required quantity of salts. It is very difficult for all of us to imagine our diet without salt. It can be a really nervous situation. But some people have to face it as their habit of consuming excess salt can lead to such conditions wherein doctors advise them to stop consuming salt. Indeed, salt does have harmful effects!

Many people have a habit of consuming excess salt even when the food has adequate amount of salt. You must have seen people making use of the salt and pepper shakers too often during their meals. But this is not a healthy habit as consuming excess salt can lead to some serious health conditions that can be very troublesome.

The sodium present in the salt can lead to if consumed in large quantity. Hypertension can in turn put pressure on the heart causing a threat to the normal functioning of the heart. Therefore, people who are suffering from hypertension are advised to reduce the quantity of dietary salt.

Consuming excess salt can also lead to cardiovascular diseases and increase the risk of strokes and asthma. A high salt intake leads to the thickening of the arteries hampering the natural blood flow to the heart, thus increasing the chances of cardiac failure. Research has proved that people who consume more salt on a daily basis are more likely to suffer from renal functional failure than others.

In women, excess amount of salt reduces the bone density leading to osteoporosis. Even obesity is one disorder that occurs due to salt as proper breakdown of sodium is not achieved leading to the deposition of high amounts of sodium in the stomach. This sodium can also cause stomach cancer if it remains for longer periods in the stomach.

Taking into consideration all these harmful effects of the salt, it is better to consume it in moderate quantity. One should refrain from consuming salt in excess amount, especially as a condiment.

The roles of salt

Science and medicine have tried to define the precise roles of salt in the human organism, in health and in disease. Blood, sweat, and tears all contain salt, and both the skin and the eyes are protected from infectious germs by the anti-bacterial effect of salt.

When salt is added to a liquid, oppositely charged particles are formed: a positively charged sodium ion and a negatively charged chlorine ion (chloride). This is the basis of osmosis which regulates the inter-?? cellular pressure of the human body fluid and protects the body from excessive water loss (as in diarrhoea or on heavy sweating).

Salt regulates the function of the digestive system and kidneys. Sodium ions create a high liquid pressure inside the kidneys and water is extracted through the renal drainage system. This is how the body retains the water it needs. Out of 1500 litres of blood that pass through the kidneys every day, only about 1.5 litres of liquid leave the body as urine.

The two charged particles of salt (sodium and chloride), as well as potassium, create a measurable difference in potential across the membranes of body cells. This ensures that the liquid inside and outside the cells remains separate. Thus, although the human body consists mainly of water, we do not “evaporate”.

Streams of positively and negatively charged particles send an impulse to a nerve fibre. A muscle cell will contracts only when it is reached by this impulse. Nerve impulses are propelled by the co-ordinated changes of charged particles (among other factors).

Salt on Skin

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Salt on Skin

As a prophylactic against many diseases, salt has recently been used increasingly in products for medical body care and as a supporting treatment of skin diseases. The antiseptic effects of salt on skin and mucous membranes, although known for hundreds of years, has been turned to special advantage. Dental salt can remove plaque and prevent dental caries, and in this application the antiseptic and bactericidal qualities of ocean salt are used. As additional therapy for chronically inflamed skin medical bath salt from the Dead Sea or normal salt can be used: The salt has a peeling-effect on dandruff and it is inhibitory on inflammations, itch, and pain, and helps to regenerate the skin. The most important areas for the use of salt bath therapies are psoriasis, atopic dermatitis and chronic eczema as well as arthritis. The results of a large number of scientific studies confirm the effectiveness of salt therapy. Salt bath therapy can be combined with a subsequent radiotherapy using ultra violet light (salt-UV-therapy, e.g. against psoriasis). The additives of salt are also used for body care products (ointment, shampoo, gel, and wash and body lotions).

“Who Would Nowadays Be Amazed at a Goitre in the Alps?”

Salt is not only a food or a remedy but is also very important in the prevention of disease. Salt especially has an influence on two kinds of diseases: cardiovascular disease as a result of excessive salt consumption in food, and thyroid gland disease as a result of a lack of iodine. A lack of iodine is considered a major health risk, and appears most frequently when the salt in consumed food does not contain any or sufficient iodine. A symbol and symptom of lack of dietary iodine is the goitre, which could reach a remarkable size in former times. A lack of iodine leads to struma and functional disturbance of the hormones inside the glands (cretinism). People suffering from goitre are often found in special regions (endemic) such as alpine areas far away from the ocean, whereas in southern European areas, which border on the oceans, goitre is rarely to be found. This is why iodised salt functions as an important factor in helping to prevent disease caused by a lack of iodine. Germany is the only industrial nation where struma, caused by a lack of iodine, is still common. It is for that reason that all Germans and German food producers were urged to use only iodised salt.

Healthy or Sick by Salt?

An excessive use of salt in food, especially for people with an inherited sensitivity to salt, can lead to an increased risk to heart and circulation. Extensive studies show that too much salt in food may lead to the development of arterial hypertension. On the other hand, prohibition is no longer placed on the use of salt and salt-free food is not mandatory. Modern medicine currently suggests only a moderate restraint on the consumption of salt, to around 5 or 6 grams a day. Apparently, according to most recent scientific researches, there is no direct causal connection between the consumption of salt and high blood pressure.

Benefits of Salt

Salt helps to keep the water balance in our bodies, aids nerve impulses and plays a role in muscle contraction. Salt also helps to regulate the acid-base balance in many body fluids including tears and blood. For all of these vital processes, only a small amount of salt is required.

A sore and swollen throat is easily relieved with a simple saltwater gargle. Because water molecules will travel naturally towards the liquid with the higher salt concentration, the fluid in your swollen throat will move into the saltwater which you are gargling.

In the summer time, or while playing sports and exerting an excess of energy, dehydration is common. The body’s water supply cannot be fully replenished without the addition of salt. The reason sweat tastes salty is that you are losing your natural salt supplies as you sweat. Sports drinks like Gatorade take this into account with the addition of electrolytes which are, essentially, salts. Adding a little bit of salt to your water or food will allow your body to re-hydrate to the full balance it requires.

Disadvantages of Salt

Excess salts are removed from the body in the urine. It is the job of the kidneys and liver to remove the salts from the body. When too much salt is consumed, the kidney and liver have to work overtime, thus taxing the body's immune and digestive system. Extra salt in the body also interferes with the natural elimination of other toxins from the body, such as uric acid, which can lead to Gout.

The most common problem associated with excess salt intake is high blood pressure. While all of the variables have not been eliminated, the ingestion of an excess of salts is almost always associated with a generally unhealthy diet filled with processed foods. Diets low in salt contribute to weight loss by discouraging water retention, and weight loss itself can lower blood pressure.

The best way to level your salt intake is to avoid pre-packaged and highly processed foods, which contain an excess of salt. The salt provided in a well-balanced and generally healthy diet should be enough to cover your body's needs.

How Salt Affects You

Salt Awareness Day 29 January 2002

CASH Consensus Action on Salt and Health*

Blood Pressure Unit, St. George’s Hospital, Cranmer Terrace, London. SW17 ORE

SALT: THE FORGOTTEN ELEMENT

Embargoed until: 06:00AM Salt Awareness Day 29 January 2002

The salt action group Consensus Action on Salt and Health (CASH) is holding it’s third Salt Awareness Day today. It will start with a breakfast brief at the House of Commons, attended by MPs, members of the Lords, journalists, the major supermarkets, food manufacturers and other interested parties such as doctors and health professionals. Speaking at the media brief will be well-known chef Raymond Blanc** and salt expert and founder of CASH, Professor Graham MacGregor, from St. George’s Hospital, London. The renowned Scottish chef Nick Nairn*** will also be present to add his weight to the fact that healthy food needs very little salt added to it.

During the day health professionals around the country will be holding their own Salt Awareness Day events. They will be spreading the message that our current salt intake is bad for health, leading to elevated blood pressure, strokes, heart failure, heart attacks and other illnesses such as gastric cancer and osteoporosis (bone thinning). The main emphasis this year is how salt can often be the forgotten message when talking about a healthy diet, and how a so-called ‘healthy diet’ is often not low in salt. CASH calculated the salt intake of a typical day’s ‘healthy’ intake which included a high fibre breakfast cereal, soup and wholemeal bead and a vegetable lasagne with salad: Because the meals included processed food and a ‘ready meal’, the salt content was over 13 grams, over twice the recommended intake of 6 grams, yet most would agree, in all other ways, it fits in with current healthy eating guidelines.

Typically in the UK today, we eat between of 9-12g of salt a day. There is much evidence to support the fact that too much salt is bad for health and that cutting our salt intake by a third could cut strokes by 22% and heart attacks by 16%. Additionally, the dangerous effects of salt on health has been strongly reinforced by some major studies in the last few years****. The Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health and the Food Standards Agency now recommend a target for average salt intake for the adult UK population of 6g or less a day, i.e. almost half our current intake.

Sir John Krebs, Chairman of the Food Standards Agency, said: “The Food Standards Agency believes that public awareness about salt in foods is very important. Lowering the salt intake in people’s diets is a vital step towards combating coronary heart disease – one of the UK’s biggest killers. The Food Standards Agency is pleased that the UK bread industry has achieved significant reductions in the levels of salt in bread. We now want to see this example followed by others in the food industry. The Agency has already looked at various food surveys, identified key sources of dietary salt and is discussing with the food industry ways of reducing salt in other processed food.”

Currently around 80% of our salt intake is hidden in processed foods, including some of our so-called healthy staples such as bread and breakfast cereals; yet the general public is largely unaware of this fact. Children are especially at risk of getting a salt overload, as they are tending to eat as much salt as adults due to their high consumption of processed foods, whereas they should eat proportionality less.

Most supermarkets have made great strides in reducing the salt in their own-brands of foods, so that they contain significantly less salt than their branded counterparts. Also, many supermarkets have introduced consumer friendly labelling so that the amount of salt per portion of food can be clearly compared with the recommended intake for the day.

There is now clear evidence that reducing salt will save lives, but we cannot expect people to return to the days when meals were prepared at home from basic ingredients which are generally low in salt. Processed and convenient meals are here to stay, so food manufacturers must follow the lead of supermarkets and make these foods as healthy as possible, which includes a gradual reduction in their salt content. Evidence from salt reductions made by some supermarkets, shows that technically it can be done, and that the consumer readily accepts it and in many cases even prefers the flavour.

Professor Graham MacGregor said: ”The UK is leading the world in this one area of preventive medicine, namely salt reduction. This is largely as a result of the foresight of many of the leading supermarkets in the UK. However, we still have a long way to go and the whole of the food industry now needs to respond to make gradual reduction in the salt content of processed food.” Chef Nick Nairn added “After hearing Professor MacGregor talking on the effects of a diet with a high salt content I was sufficiently worried about the health implications of salt and set about drastically cutting my own salt intake.”

Why do we need salt?

Salt is a commonly occuring mineral, the technical name of which is sodium chloride. It is the sodium part of salt that is important. The body needs a certain amount of sodium to function properly.

Sodium helps to maintain the concentration of body fluids at correct levels. It also plays a central role in the transmission of electrical impulses in the nerves, and helps cells to take up nutrients.

Why is too much salt bad?

In adults, when levels of sodium are too high, the body retains too much water and the volume of bodily fluids increases.

Many scientists, although not all, believe this process is linked to high blood pressure, or hypertension, which in turn is linked to a greater risk of coronary heart disease and stroke.

With high levels of fluid circulating through the brain there is a greater chance that weaknesses in the brain's blood vessels are exposed, and that they may burst, causing a stroke.

Similarly, a greater volume of fluid passing through the heart can place additional strain on the organ, increasing the possibility of coronary disease.

However, there are many potential causes of hypertension and coronary heart disease, and some scientists deny that salt plays any significant role at all.

An adult will be able to remove salt from the body through the kidneys into the urine.

However, very young babies do not have the capacity to process large quantities of salt as the kidneys are not yet developed.

If they are given adult food with a higher salt content before they are at least four months old, excess sodium can accumulate in the body, causing kidney, liver and brain damage, and in very occasional cases, death.

It is recommended that babies are given only milk, whether breast or formula, for the first four months of life.

Baby foods are supposed to contain lower levels of salt, and it is recommended that if adult foods are to be given, unprocessed foods should be used, and no salt added.

How much salt should we eat?

The government recommends that adults should eat 6g of salt a day. However, the average intake of salt is between 9g and 10g a day.

Experts estimate that if average consumption was cut to 6g a day it would prevent 70,000 heart attacks and strokes a year.

The main sources of salt in the diet are processed foods and salt added during cooking or at the table. Meat and meat products, and bread can also be high in salt.

Processed foods are thought to account for around 75% of the average person's salt intake.

However, research published in The Lancet medical journal suggested that most people could not tell the difference between loaves with markedly different salt content.

Salt is added to processed foods to aid preservation and to improve taste. Sodium is present in additives such as monosodium glutamate and sodium bicarbonate.

Small amounts of sodium can be found naturally in some foods such as eggs and fish.

The salt we sprinkle on our food from cellar accounts for only 10%-15% of our intake.

What action has the Food Standards Agency taken?

It drew up targets for the food industry to cut the salt content of a range of 85 products.

The aim was that if the targets were enforced, the average daily intake of salt would fall to the recommended level of 6g.

However, the targets were voluntary, and campaigners said they were not set at a sufficiently tough level. They argued that even if followed by the food industry they would result in an average daily intake of 8g, rather than 6g.

Professor Graham MacGregor, of Cash (Consensus Action on Salt and Health), said that would mean an extra 30,000 more strokes and heart attacks a year in the UK - 15,000 of which would be fatal.

What should we do?

Dr Wynnie Chan, a nutrition scientist for the British Nurtrition Foundation, says that everybody should look to reduce the amount of salt in their diet.

"It would have a significant effect on those people who need to reduce their salt levels because they are susceptible to hypertension, but it would also do no harm for the whole population to reduce its salt intake," she said.

Dr Chan said there were four main ways to reduce salt intake:

Stop adding table salt to food once it is served
Choose items with a reduced sodium content
Carefully monitor the salt content of processed food
Eat more fruit and vegetables - they contain potassium which balances the effect of salt on the body

Reading food labels can be confusing as they often give the sodium, rather than the salt content of food. To calculate the amount of salt in a product, multiply the sodium content by two-and-a-half times.