Economic, Not Just Health Benefits of Salt Reduction
Posted: Monday, March 29, 2010
by Joel Hirschhorn
http://www.delusionaldemocracy.com
Salt continues to make a tasty story. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine looked at the benefits of reducing daily salt consumption by three grams (or 3,000 milligrams, the units used on food packaging).
For Americans, such a reduction would reduce the annual number of new cases of coronary heart disease by 60,000 to 120,000, strokes by 33,000 to 66,000, heart attacks by 54,000 to 99,000, and deaths from all causes by 44,000 to 92,000. Not bad.
There simply is no disputing the very harmful effects of so much salt consumption. Make that excessive salt consumption. Yes, we need some salt intake. Healthy adults need no more than 2,300 mg of sodium a day or about one teaspoon of salt. But people are knowingly and unknowingly consuming far too much salt. People with high blood pressure should consume no more than 1,500 mg of sodium, and children about 1,200 mg.
Knowingly when they add salt to their food during cooking or afterwards.
Unknowingly when they eat prepared foods bought in restaurants and grocery stores.
This is the big problem. Some 75 percent to 80 percent of dietary salt is essentially hidden in processed foods. Even worse than restaurants are packaged foods. Worst of all are some fast food meals that contain nearly triple the salt amount recommended for a whole day.
People have become addicted to salt; they are hooked on salt. But there are many better and healthier ways of making foods tasty.
The truth about excessive salt has been known for a long time. Yet most people are still consuming too much. What is the answer? When information and education do not accomplish what is medically sensible and health care costs are off the charts, we clearly need another approach. Government must step in and use various methods to provide incentives and costs for commercial use of high salt levels. Even bans on salt must be considered.
Just say no to salt most of the time and you will be better off. Throw you salt shakers away. Replace with pepper, garlic powder, and all kinds of herbs and spices.
This Article has been viewed 914 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)Thanks for taking the time to write this article. I appreciate your perspective and your sincerity.
Very nicely stated. I don't agree with the ban on salt (I don't use it myself, which is probably weird to most), yet you state your case beautifully. I think the problem I have with the salt ban is I remember reading how Ghandi walked to the sea to make salt symbolically, and I wonder if it really should be considered as dangerous as carcinogens and other products.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.