Sodium Facts
The common reasons for limiting salt intake often revolve around salt’s effects on the cardiovascular system, obesity and non-communicable diseases. However, researchers in Japan have now concluded that high salt intake can also lead to an increase in a key biomarker associated with Alzheimer’s disease and other biomarkers associated with the symptoms of dementia.
When it comes to sodium intake among adults, the general consensus is that high consumption will increase risk of hypertension and stroke. According to the 2020–2025 Dietary Guideline for Americans, 45% of people 18 and older are living with hypertension. Does a high sodium intake pose the same risks for children and adolescents as it does for adults?
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) can help setting and finalizing longer term voluntary sodium reduction targets for different food categories, according to a petition filed with the agency by the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest. Reducing sodium in the food supply could save tens of thousands of lives and tens of billions of dollars in healthcare costs each year.
Females tend to like salt more than males. Like many sex-related differences, the proclivity for salt likely relates to the physiological need to retain sodium and the fluid following sodium, sufficient to sustain another life in pregnancy. A new study confirms that hypertension caused by salt sensitivity was higher among females than among males.
A Korean-based study has found a link between depression and a higher intake of ultra-processed food (UPF) among the female population. Females who consumed the highest measured level of UPF have a 1.51 times higher likelihood of suffering depression than those following a diet high in fruits and vegetables and lower in saturated fat, sugar content and dietary sodium levels, researchers discovered.
The World Health Organization (WHO) Global report on sodium intake reduction shows that the world is off-track to achieve its global target of reducing sodium intake by 30% by 2025. Only 5% of WHO Member States are protected by mandatory and comprehensive sodium reduction policies and 73% of WHO Member States lack full range of implementation of such policies.
In 2021, IFBA (International Food & Beverage Alliance) members collectively developed a global sodium reduction commitment with standardized, stepwise voluntary targets for key categories of products to be achieved incrementally by 2025 and 2030. The following chart illustrates IFBA members’ commitments and achievements to reduce sodium in their product portfolios.
The Chinese government may be able to prevent 250,000 stroke and heart disease events each year by having children teach families healthy eating with AppSalt for smartphones, a study says. According to the researches, salt intake in adult family members was reduced by 8% (0.82 g per day), over a 12-month period.
Early evidence has emerged that South Africa’s mandatory salt restriction has effectively reduced salt consumption. The findings showed a reduction of approximately 0.82g salt per day in young adults in 4.6 years.
UK sets new salt targets to be obtained by 2024, read more to learn about the country’s ambitious plan to reduce salt consumption and safe over 2,3 billion USD on healthcare by diminishing heart diseases
Sodium reduction remains a priority and continues to cause millions of deaths in the States. What will Biden’s administration do to tackle this matter? Different experts express their opinions and their suggestions on the way forward.
Brazil, Costa Rica, Paraguay and Peru are taking action to reduce sodium consumption by approaching the matter to the population through social marketing in order to make consumers conscious about the health derived illnesses from excessive salt intake.
Find out more about how even being an essential ingredient to prepare bread, reducing salt content would not affect the bread’s final taste or properties.
If you want to know all about the current initiatives taking place in European Countries pay a look to what the WHO has to say.
Exceeding the daily recommended salt intake can cause severe health problems. This study explains the contribution of food to sodium consumption levels in Spain.
If you are looking for more information on how to keep tract of the sodium you are consuming per day, check these tips by the American Heart Association and their suggestions regarding sodium consumption.
The British Journal of Nutrition studied the salt intake among Spanish adults by considering the urinary sodium excretion during 24h in a representative sample.
This review by MDPI focuses on salt reduction in food and the sensory evaluation of salt reduced foods.
The Colombian National University studied consumer’s acceptance towards low salt and fat cheeses to determine which are the minimum quantities of salt needed to reach customer satisfaction.
Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) — mainly cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes—are the world’s biggest killers. Find out more about WHO Action Plan to reduce them.
This paper reviews the current sodium intake in the European Union and the actions taking place to reduce the content of salt in food.
This paper reviews the different national programs to promote low salt consumption around the world.
This study evaluated the incidence of hypertension and blood pressure changes in relation to urinary sodium excretion and whether or not it could be linked to fatal or non-fatal outcomes.
Discover the initiatives, strategies and action plans followed by East Mediterranean countries to achieve 2025 sodium reduction targets.
This study aimed to estimate the effect of sodium reduction strategies in The Netherlands, starting by the reduction of salt in processed food and it’s acceptance among consumers.
Public health efforts reducing sodium in diets are “warranted” after research links salt intake to premature death
Consumers who always add salt to their food have a 28% higher risk of dying prematurely compared to those who never – or rarely – add salt, a study revealed. According to Sonia Pombo, campaign manager at Action on Salt, encouraging people to use less salt in cooking is helpful, but with most of the foods already having added salt (up to 75%), “the best policies to reduce population salt intakes would be to encourage food companies to reformulate their foods to contain less salt.”