Cut Salt and Save Lives Say Researchers

LONDONCutting salt and adding potassium could save millions of lives around the globe from premature death by stroke and cardiovascular conditions, acccording to an article published online in the British Medical Journal. The findings suggest the U.S. food processing industrys efforts fall short of measures introduced in Great Britain that have already proven successful in reducing salt levels in processed foods.

Graham MacGregor, senior author of one of the research papers and professor of cardiovascular medicine at Barts and London School of Medicine, said an estimated 2.5 million deaths could be prevented worldwide each year by cutting salt intake in half. He claims Britain is making better progress in this effort than the United States. MacGregor is also chairman of World Action on Salt and Health.

Efforts to reduce sodium in processed food sold in the United Kingdom has resulted in a 15% reduction in salt intake over the past seven years, which researchers say has prevented about 9,000 deaths per year from cardiac arrest and stroke.

Among the research findings:

·         Even a modest reduction in salt intake for four or more weeks lowered systolic pressure by an average of 5mm Hg (millimeters of mercury). Blood pressure reductions from reduced salt intake were greater in people with hypertension.

·         Increased potassium intake helped lower blood pressure.

·         Reduced salt intake did not have adverse effects on cholesterol or renal function.

MacGregor says "Many of the branded food companies in the U.K. are the same ones that operate in the U.S., and they need to reduce the huge amount of unnecessary salt they are putting into food in the U.S. in the same way that they have in the U.K."

Another recent study, published in the Hypertension, concluded that a gradual reduction of sodium intake in the U.S. could save 280,000 to 500,000 lives over 10 years.

Currently about 67 million American adults (31%) have high blood pressure according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention. Approximately half have the condition under control. About 69% of people who have a first heart attack, 77% of people who have a first stroke and 74% of people with chronic heart failure have high blood pressure.

Americans currently consume about 3,400 milligrams of sodium per day, mostly from processed foods and restaurant meals. The governments dietary guidelines recommend reducing daily sodium intake to less than 2,300 mg for most people age 2 years and older and cutting back to 1,500 mg for people age 51 and older and other special population groups. The American Heart Association recommends everyone cut back to 1,500 mg per day.

Morton Satin, vice president of science and research, Salt Institute, Alexandria, Va., says This is a contrived, coordinated effort to take the decision out of the hands of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines advisory group," which, he says, needs to consider new evidence that cautions against salt reduction. This is not the way you manage science. An objective process should be objective or youre going to get a skewed outcome."

Satin says that only 5% of the salt industrys sales stem from food use and, Were not telling people to eat more or less (salt), just asking them to please consider the evidence. There is new evidence coming in from people all around the world and it is being ignored."  He added the salt industry voluntarily added iodine to its product which resulted in a massive reduction of all iodine-related diseases," and emphasized that policies based on sound science are in the best interest of consumers health.

Ronald Bayer, Ph.D., professor at Mailman Institute at Columbia University, New York, published a review article in Health Affairs in December tracing the salt controversy to determine whether current recommendations are based on sufficient evidence. He studied journals published under the Cochrane Collaboration and was struck by the fact that on the one hand, public recommendations on salt intake had a quality of certitude while dispassionate researchers concluded the evidence was insufficient to make that determination.

Bayer said he had to ask himself what causes this gulf between public health recommendations and challenges posed by people with an axe to grind?"

He suggested perhaps in the face of partial evidence the health community might take the approach of an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." However, his paper concludes, the concealment of scientific uncertainty in this case has been a mistake that has served neither the ends of science nor good policy."