Small Cuts in Salt Intake Spur Big Drops in Heart Trouble

Slashing salt intake by just 3 g a day—the equivalent one half teaspoon—could dramatically cut the incidence of heart disease and death in U.S. adults, researchers claim.

According to the authors of a study in The New England Journal of Medicine, the projected reductions would be similar to the benefits accruing from a 50% drop in the smoking rate and a 5% decline in body mass index among obese adults.

U.S. health agencies recommend that most adults limit their daily consumption of salt to less than 5.8 g (2,300 mg of sodium), with 3.7 g a day preferable.

The American Heart Association urges the average American to eat less than 2,300 mg of sodium daily, but also notes that older people, blacks, and people with high blood pressure need to go even lower—to under 1,500 mg per day.

Despite these recommendations, the average daily intake of salt is on the increase. In 2005-2006, the study authors stated, men in the United States took in an average of 10.4 g of salt a day and women consumed 7.3 g a day.

Limiting salt intake would be good for the fiscal diet as well, saving an estimated $10 billion to $24 billion in healthcare costs yearly, the paper found.

But if Americans cut even a mere 1 gram of salt from their meals and snacks every day, the effects would still be stunning, the authors stated: 20,000 to 40,000 fewer cases of coronary heart disease; 18,000 to 35,000 fewer heart attacks; 11,000 to 23,000 fewer strokes; and 15,000 to 32,000 fewer deaths.

Given that so much sodium comes from processed food, the authors urged a public health initiative to curb consumption.

— Source: Brigham and Women's Hospital