Half a Teaspoon Less Salt a Day Would Prevent 92,000 Deaths, 99,000 Heart Attacks, 66,000 Strokes
By Daniel J. DeNoon
WebMD Health NewsReviewed by Louise Chang, MDJan. 22, 2010 -- Cutting U.S. salt intake by just half a teaspoon a day would prevent up to 92,000 deaths, 99,000 heart attacks, and 66,000 strokes -- a benefit as big as smoking cessation.
That's the prediction from computer models that used real clinical data to predict the effects of small reductions in salt intake.
"The [ heart] benefits of reduced salt intake are on par with the benefits of population-wide reductions in tobacco use, obesity, and cholesterol levels," says Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, PhD
Amazing that cutting salt intake could help as much as cutting smoking. I would speculate that this has to do with the rise in obesity as well because people's bloodpressure/ cholesterol levels are already high, so the high salt intake furthers the severity of these conditions. As a society, we need to better our diets overall and these problems would subside. Then we wouldn't have to look out for particular ingredients, vitamins etc. If we could learn to eat and prepare food healthily these problems would be in our past.
article by: http://www.webmd.com/hypertension-high-blood-pressure/news/20100122/cutting-salt-as-good-as-quitting-smoking
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I don't think too many people realize the dangers of high sodium in their diets. Many people do not use traditional table salt and for that reason they feel they are "watching" their sodium. Flip over a can of soup or a bag of chips. You will often consume half of you daily sodium in one trip to the bag of chips. Be honest with yourself, when is the last time you had 1 serving? A can of soup is always 2 serving unless it is really small. Even if the label states "low sodium" it is comparing itself to others of the same that are high in sodium.
ReplyDeleteAs a memeber of the oppressed minority known as 'smokers', I approve this message. Now if only we can convinve people that second hand salt is bad...
ReplyDeleteI have suffered from high blood pressure for a little bit i have just recently been put on meds for this. I have not had table salt in over 2 years for this reason. It is still hard to keep down because of people who use it in cooking, but my parents have stopped using it in cooking and keep the table salt there for people who want the extra flavor. I personally know of the effects salt can have on someones body and all the dangers. If only we could spread the awareness and get others to realize the same risks.
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