It would be enough to put a salt substitute on the table to prevent 14% of strokes, 13% of heart attacks and save millions of lives around the world. These are the conclusions reached by one of the most extensive intervention studies on nutrition ever carried out. Presented at the Congress of the European Society of Cardiology, it has just been published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Longform
Salt, we eat less but it is always too much
by Giulia Masoero Regis
The enemy of the heart
Every year in Italy there are about 200,000 people affected by stroke, which is the third leading cause of death. The first is represented by cardiovascular diseases (in pre-Covid times), which kill over 230,000 patients a year. It is now proven that excessive consumption of salt – the amount recommended by the WHO is 5 grams per day – is associated with high blood pressure and that replacing it with an alternative (containing less sodium chloride and a part of potassium chloride) can lower blood pressure. But the effect of the modified salt on cardiovascular disease and death was not yet known. Till now.
Here is the diet that is good for the heart
by Irma D’Aria
I study
Led by the George Institute for Global Health in Sydney in Australia, it managed to recruit 21,000 people in 600 villages in rural China. All the volunteers were over 60 and had had a stroke or suffered from high blood pressure. The first group was given a salt substitute composed of 75% sodium chloride and 25% potassium chloride, a mixture very similar to the low sodium salts that are also found in the supermarket. The second group, on the other hand, continued to use traditional salt.
Iodine at the table, children aged 11 to 13 promoted
by Irma D’Aria
“We followed them for 5 years, without losing sight of a single one, thanks to routine visits and constant monitoring of our surveillance system on the territory”, explains the only Italian involved in the research, the Roman medical statistician. Gianluca Di Tanna, professor at the University of New South Wales and head of the Biostatistics section of the George Institute: “The conclusions are unequivocal: the modified salt reduces the risk of stroke by 14%, of cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attack, by 13% and the risk of death from any cause is 12%. The salt substitute has the same effect as an expensive secondary prevention drug, if not greater. The scope of the results and the simplicity of the intervention give us hope for a far-reaching impact. public health scale “.
Beware of potassium
However, the salt alternative doesn’t work for everyone. “An excessive level of potassium in the blood, known as hyperkalemia, can favor cardiac arrhythmias, particularly in subjects with chronic liver diseases. In fact, we excluded those with liver disease from the volunteers. Still, we found no potassium-related risk signals and no difference in the incidence of hyperkalemia. Certainly patients with liver problems should not use salt substitutes but they should also stay away from the salt itself “, explains the lead researcher. Bruce Neal, professor of Medicine.
The hidden salt
Using low-salt salt can certainly have an impact on health, but let’s not forget that sodium chloride is also found in many foods, especially packaged and ultra-processed foods, even if in Europe a lot has been done by the food industry to reduce its quantities. .
A healthy diet could prevent 70% of deaths from heart disease
by Marta Musso
Therefore, opting for “special” salt should not be an excuse to consume foods that are rich in it, the researchers note. “Trying to persuade the food industry to add less sodium to processed foods is definitely one of our goals for the next 10 years,” concludes Neil.
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