‘Salt intake increases risk for stroke, heart attack’

Dr. Jacqui Webster of The George Institute for Global Health in Australia underscored the importance of reducing salt intake, citing growing evidence that it increases the risk for stroke and heart attack.

“Salt had an overall health benefit for several millennia as a way of preserving food. With the advent of refrigeration, the benefits are now outweighed by the harms. Once it was a precious commodity and now it’s mass produced in increasing amounts and causing enormous burden of disease as a result of this,” said Webster.

Webster was among the presenters at the CNMI Non-Communicable Disease Training held at the Pacific Islands Club in San Antonio yesterday. Over 100 health care professionals and administrators attended the first day of the two-day training organized by the Department of Public Health.

Yesterday’s training also featured presentations about diabetes and eye health, tobacco and cancer, nutrition and cancer.

Webster, who is also the senior project manager for the Australian Division of World Action on Salt & Health, noted that an average person only needs about one to two grams of salt daily.

“We actually need very little salt to be healthy,” she said.

Webster noted that salt consumption throughout the world increased rapidly since the discovery of its preservative properties by the Chinese some 6,000 years ago.

“The average person tends to eat between eight to 10 grams a day now,” said Webster.

According to Webster, about 90 percent of most people’s salt intake comes from sodium chloride, although others get it from additional sources such as monosodium glutamate or MSG, sodium bicarbonate, and sodium nitrate.

“It’s the sodium in salt that’s bad for our health,” she warned.

Webster said there is growing evidence that salt increases blood pressure and raises the risk for heart attacks and strokes. On the other hand, there is also growing evidence that reduction in salt intake results in reduced blood pressure and lowered risk of cardiovascular diseases.

“If you reduce salt to five to six grams a day, you could reduce stroke by 24 percent and coronary heart disease by 18 percent,” said Webster.

These figures, Webster added, translates to 600,000 lives in the Western Pacific Region alone and some 2.5 million lives a year worldwide that could be saved through salt reduction programs.

Webster noted, however, that salt reduction initiatives should not just involve raising consumer awareness and putting out low-salt products in the market.

She emphasized key elements of salt reduction strategies around the world, which include mobilization or getting people together to discuss what the problem is and identify sources of salt; conducting a baseline assessment to determine the current level of salt intake among people, consumer awareness, and salt levels of food products in the market; and developing actions and strategies that would reduce salt intake by changing consumer behavior and product labeling as well as collaborating with the food industry.