Cutting Down on Salt can Reduce Blood Pressure, Premature Death Risk

Eating too much salt can be associated with a higher risk of early death from heart disease. Therefore, limiting salt intake can prevent high blood pressure (hypertension) and make you live longer.

A worldwide effort to lower people's blood pressure, cut sodium intake and eliminate trans fat from their diet could prevent 94 million premature deaths from cardiovascular disease (CVD) over a quarter century, says a study.

Low Salt Diet for Good Health - Benefits - Food Groups - Recipes
Salt is substance existing in water as well as in foods. The article discusses the major risks involved in taking excessive salt intake, along with proposed benefits after reduction.

‘Reducing salt intake and eliminating unhealthy trans fat from the diet can lower blood pressure (BP) levels and also prevent 94 million premature deaths from cardiovascular disease (CVD).’
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Regions expected to benefit most from the interventions include East Asia, the Pacific, and South Asia, as well as countries in sub-Saharan Africa, said the study published online in the journal Circulation.

"Focusing our resources on the combination of these three interventions can have a huge potential impact on cardiovascular health through 2040," said lead author Goodarz Danaei, Associate Professor of Global Health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

For the study, the researchers used global data from multiple studies and estimates from the World Health Organization in making their calculations.

Iodised Salt: Good or Bad for Your Health?
Consuming iodized salt regularly could do more harm than good. Excess intake of iodine can cause several forms of rhythm disturbances in heart, and lead to heart failure.

They estimated that scaling up treatment of high blood pressure to 70 percent of the world's population could extend the lives of 39.4 million people.

Cutting sodium intake by 30 percent could stave off another 40 million deaths and could also help decrease high blood pressure, a major risk factor for CVD.

Tame your Salt Intake Smartly
Salt is essential for the proper functioning of body but most of us generally exceed the intake of salt than the daily requirement of 6gm.We should keep the intake of salt under control.

And eliminating trans fat could prevent 14.8 million early deaths.

More than half of all delayed deaths, and two-thirds of deaths delayed before 70 years, are projected to be among men, the researchers found.

Regulating Your Salt Intake is the Key for Preventing High Blood Pressure
About half of adults living in Asia are suffering from hypertension or high blood pressure. Therefore, salt consumption should be regulated to prevent hypertension.

The authors said a variety of programs and policies would be necessary to reduce premature CVD-related deaths. One important strategy would be to increase the use of blood pressure medications, many of which are safe and affordable.

The research team acknowledged that scaling up the three interventions would be a "huge challenge," requiring countries to commit additional resources to boost health care capacity and quality.

Source-IANS