Dr K K Aggarwal

Cut Daily Salt Intake to 1,500 mg

1. Daily intake of salt should be limited to 1,500 mg according to an advisory statement from the American Heart Association (AHA).
2. The 2020 goal of the American Heart Association is to improve the cardiovascular health of all by 20% while continuing to reduce deaths from (cardiovascular disease) and stroke by 20%. (Dr Lawrence J. Appel, of Johns Hopkins, and colleagues wrote online in Circulation.)
3. Two key components of improving cardiovascular health are population-wide lowering of blood pressure below 120/80 and reducing sodium chloride intake below 1,500 mg per day.
4. The evidence includes more than 50 trials assessing the blood pressure effects of salt, as well as a meta-analysis showing that cutting salt intake by about 1,800 mg per day lowered blood pressure by 5 mm Hg systolic and 2.7 mm Hg diastolic.
5. Reducing salt consumption also can help prevent the blood pressure increases that come with age, ultimately affecting 90% of adults.
6. Salt also has pernicious effects aside from blood pressure increases, including left ventricular hypertrophy and renal damage, including interference with the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system.
7. Excess sodium also can result in abnormalities in mineral metabolism, fibrosis in several organs including the heart, and endothelial and arterial dysfunction.
8. Benefits of lowering sodium intake by 1,200 mg per day could lead to:
a. Up to 120,000 fewer coronary heart disease events
b. As many as 66,000 fewer strokes
c. Almost 100,000 fewer heart attacks
d. Up to 92,000 fewer deaths
9. The previous recommendation was that salt intake should be below 2,300 mg per day but advised that people at risk — those with hypertension, blacks, and older individuals — lower their intake to 1,500 mg.
10. Processed foods are a main contributor, as these foods contain three-quarters of the sodium consumed.
(MedpageToday)