At a time when nutrition headlines are saturated with information about fat and sugar, CASH (Consensus Action on Salt and Health) has done a great job at getting us talking about salt, again. This is important because although we need a little bit of salt in our diets, too much puts us at an increased risk of high blood pressure, which is a major cause of strokes and heart attacks.
Their National Salt Awareness Week had hospitals, schools, community groups and health professionals engaging in activities, displaying key information and talking and tweeting about salt. View some of the conversations on Twitter by following @cashsalt and using #nationalsaltawarenessweek.
I attended their Parlimentary reception at The House of Commons to hear the latest on salt from other health professionals, academics, members of food industry and chefs. Here are some of the key updates:
- We reduced average daily salt intakes by 15% (from 9.5g – 8.1g) between 2000/2001 and 2011. This is mainly due to food industry reformulating their products to reduce the amount of salt in them.
- Reducing salt intake by 1g prevents 4147 deaths and saves the NHS £288million each year.
- Adults should aim to work towards no more than 6g salt/day (full recommendations below).
- Businesses have pledged to further reduce salt in many commonly eaten everyday foods by 2017.
- A recent survey carried out by CASH showed that almost a quarter of children’s meals in family-friendly eateries contain ‘more than 2g of salt per meal – that’s the entire maximum recommendation for a whole day for a 1-3 year old – and more salt than 4 packets of crisps!’. Read the full survey summary, here. The main offenders were: Burger King, Hungry Horse, Loch Fyne Seafood and Grill, Beefeater and Bella Italia.
- A recent study showed that educating primary school children in China about the dangers of salt resulted in their whole family reducing salt intake. Read more, here. It would be really interesting to see if a similar outcome could be replicated in other studies and with other nutrients.
Want to learn more? How much is too much?
6g of salt is approximately a teaspoon.
Ready to sort out your salt intake? Here’s how:
Keep the table salt away from the table:
Most of the salt we consume is already in the foods we eat. So avoid adding additional salt to your food, including whilst cooking. If you’re worried about the food not tasting the same, gradually reduce the amount you add and your taste buds will adapt. They are not set for life!
Limit foods that are high in salt, like:
- Bacon
- Cheese
- Ham
- Olives
- Pickles
- Prawns
- Smoked meat and fish
- Salted nuts
Read the label to see how much salt is added to packaged and processed foods, like these:
- Bread products
- Sauces (e.g. pasta sauce, Ketchup, mayonnaise)
- Pizza
- Ready meals
- Soups
- Sandwiches
Get technical about your takeaway and be restaurant ready:
We are eating foods cooked outside of the home more and more. When eating out, try to choose somewhere that gives you the nutrition information of the food they serve to help you make educated choices. Only choose foods that you know are high in salt (see list above) occasionally, or ask for a smaller portion. And don’t forget to request that less salt is added during cooking. Check out CASH’s ‘Less salt, please’ campaign and some more ideas, here.
Good luck! Share what changes you’ve made by leaving a comment below or tweeting me @HelloHealthyYou
References and further reading:
Consensus Action on Salt and Health http://www.actiononsalt.org.uk/index.html
Department of Health: Public health responsibility deal https://responsibilitydeal.dh.gov.uk/salt-reduction-onwards-and-downwards/
NHS Choices, Salt: the facts
Hello Healthy You 