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Too much salt raises stroke and cardiovascular risk
25 Nov 2009
Eating high quantities of salt may increase a person's risk of suffering from stroke or cardiovascular disease.
This is according to joint findings by World Health Organization's (WHO's) Collaborating Centre for Nutrition and the European Society of Hypertension Excellence Centre, with researchers reviewing 13 previous studies.
It was revealed that sticking to a 5g lower daily salt intake would reduce instances of stroke by 23 per cent and cardiovascular disease by 17 per cent.
This could result in 1.25 million fewer fatal and non-fatal strokes across the world each year, in addition to three million fewer vascular episodes.
Head of the WHO Collaboration Centre Professor Francesco Cappuccio said that progress towards the recommended salt intake targets had been "slow".
"For population salt intake to approach the WHO targets within a reasonable time, a regulatory approach is necessary in addition to health promotion campaigns to reduce the burden of avoidable death, disability and associated costs to individuals and society caused by unacceptable high levels of salt in our diet," he explained.
According to the UK NHS, approximately three-quarters of the salt we eat is already in the food we purchase.
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