There’s no doubt that salt is useful, but if you make an attempt to cut your salt intake, even by just a bit, it could make a big difference in your health.
We’ve touched on some of the problems associated with a high salt intake (osteoporosis, high blood pressure, kidney stones and even obesity risk) in my post on World Salt Awareness Week, which starts tomorrow.
A new salt study, published earlier this month in the New England Journal of Medicine, supported the dramatic health benefits of eating less salt. Eating less salt rivals the advantages you get from not smoking, lowering your cholesterol and maintaining a healthy weight.
Specifically, researchers concluded that if Americans had just one half teaspoon less of salt each day, there would be up to 99,000 fewer heart attacks each year and up to 92,000 fewer deaths!
Can you reduce your salt intake that much?
If you want to reduce your sodium intake, take a long look at the processed foods you consume. And start paying more attention to what you’re eating while dining out.
The research was conducted among a group of scientists from University of California San Francisco, Stanford University Medical Center and Columbia University Medical Center.
In their report, the scientists noted that 75 to 80% of the salt in US diets comes from processed foods rather than from salt added during food consumption or prep. American laws may one day better regulate salt in processed foods, but it’s up to consumers to be more careful until then.
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Post from: Blisstree