- International recommendations suggest that
average population salt intake should be less than five grammes per day.
Even though, sadly, Kenya lacks data on salt consumption, researchers
say 75 per cent of the salt we eat is already in everyday foods such as
bread, breakfast cereal and ready meals. A doctor admits that salt is a
greater trigger of hypertension than dietary factors, alcohol
consumption, diabetes and obesity combined
Shake! Shake! Shake! Are you a salt buff? Well,
you could be salting yourself to a stroke. Yes, those precious sodium
chloride particles you add to your meal everyday could be taking you
closer to high blood pressure, research shows.
The situation — and levels of ignorance — is so
worrying that, earlier this month, two health bodies endorsed a plan to
reduce dietary salt consumption in the Americas by half by the year 2020
despite the fact that, globally, consumption of salt is still far below
the WHO-recommended targets.
The Pan American Health Organisation and the World
Health Organisation hope that an advisory on low salt diets would
promote the prevention of cardiovascular disease.
“Modern diets typically provide excessive
quantities of salt,” says Branka Legetic, interim coordinator of
PAHO/WHO’s chronic non-communicable disease programme. Evidence shows
that consuming more than five grammes of salt (or 2,300 milligrams of
sodium) per day increases the risk of high blood pressure, which is the
leading risk factor for death from heart attacks, stroke, and kidney
failure.”
Although the key evidence for the association
between high salt intakes and blood pressure relates to sodium, the
major dietary source of sodium is salt.
Dubbed ‘Salt Reduction Initiative,’ the American
campaign hopes to reduce dietary salt intake as the most cost-effective
measure for reducing the risk of heart attacks and stroke.
Closer home, little is being done to cut this
potentially fatal risk, even though the head of cardiology at Kenyatta
National Hospital, Dr James Munene, admits that salt is a greater
trigger of hypertension than dietary factors, alcohol consumption,
diabetes and obesity combined.
His sentiments are validated by a study by the
University of Naples’ Medical School in Italy, led by Prof Pasquale
Srazzullo, that found out that high salt intake did more harm than good
to the body. Researchers also concluded that reduction in habitual
dietary salt intake of six grammes a day triggered corresponding
reductions in blood pressure of 7/4 mm Hg in people with hypertension
and 4/2 mm Hg in those without hypertension.
At the population level, these reductions in blood
pressure could result in an average lower rate of 24 per cent for
stroke and 18 per cent for coronary heart disease, Strazzullo and his
team noted in their report.
To ward off chances of a premature death from
stroke, experts are advising the adoption of eating habits that are as
closer to nature as possible. Fresh fruit, vegetables and nuts, together
with lean fresh meat or fish, are believed by many nutritionists to be
the most health-promoting foods of all.
On the other hand, snack foods, sandwich meats,
smoked and cured meat, canned juices, canned and dry soups, pizza and
other fast foods have been cited as the leading culprits in high salt
content.
“Adding salt to food is an acquired ritual that
our taste buds have been accustomed to, not that we really need as much
as we add to our food,” Dr Munene, who says he no longer puts salt in
his meals, argues, adding that taste buds can be “trained” to become
accustomed to a wide range of salt levels in food, or none at all.
Taste buds are flexible with respect to salt, says
Dr Munene, thus they can adjust to both higher and lower intakes. By
gradually reducing salt intake over a period of several months, the
palate will alter to the extent that normal processed foods — those with
added salt — will start to taste too salty.
But how can a few grains that add taste to your
food be so harmful, you ask. International recommendations suggest that
average population salt intake should be less than five grammes per day.
Even though, sadly, Kenya lacks data on salt consumption, researchers
say 75 per cent of the salt we eat is already in everyday foods such as
bread, breakfast cereal and ready meals. The main reasons for addition
of salt in manufactured foods are for flavour, texture and preservation.
Dr Munene says that, although the development of
hypertension is dependent on the interaction of dietary factors, alcohol
consumption, diabetes, obesity and its association with lack of
activity and genetic predisposition, salt plays a huge role in the whole
scheme of things.
Gladys Mugambi, a nutritionist at the Ministry of
Health, agrees, saying that whenever a person is diagnosed with high
blood pressure, “it is recommended that the person reduces salt intake”.
“Too much salt can aggravate blood pressure,” says Ms Mugambi, “even though it may not be the cause in all cases.”
To stem the risks and create consumer awareness,
Ms Mugambi says, food processors should start labelling and indicating
the amount of salt used in their products so that end users can
calculate their cumulative daily intake.
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