Dear World
Salt Awareness Week 2019: Time for Action on Salt
Official UK website for Action on Salt has the following information –
Salt is hidden in most foods we buy from restaurants, cafes, takeaways and supermarkets.
Salt raises Blood Pressure and increases our risk of Stroke, Heart Disease, Stomach Cancer, Osteoporosis and Kidney disease.
The Department of Health estimates that if we could reduce our average salt intake from 8g per day to 6g per day, we could prevent more than 8,000 premature deaths from heart attacks and strokes.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence estimates that every 1g salt reduction could save our over-burdened NHS £1.5 billion in healthcare costs.
75% of the salt we eat comes from salt added to food by the food industry.
2003 – 2011
The UK had a world-leading salt reduction programme, led by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) which involved setting voluntary targets for salt levels in more than 80 categories of food that the food industry could work towards.
The FSA monitored the progress and made the results public.
Companies that were not making progress were exposed.
By providing guidance to the food industry, while transparently monitoring their progress, the FSA’s programme led to a 20-50% reduction in the salt content of many products between 2003 and 2011.
15% reduction in salt intake each day from average level 9.5g to 8g.
Reduction in average blood pressure and number of deaths from stroke and heart disease.
Since the salt reduction was moved to the Department of Health in 2011, there has been very little progress. (1)
Salt Awareness Week Themes
2001 Salt Hidden in the Diet
2002 Salt – The Forgotten Element
2003 Salt and Children
2004 Salt and Consumer
2005 Salt and Older Population
2006 Salt and Ethnic Groups
2007 Hidden Salt
2008 Salt and Children
2009 Salt and Eating Out
2010 Salt and your Health
2011 Salt and Men’s Health
2012 Salt and Stroke
2013 Less Salt Please
2014 Switch the Salt
2015 Salt and Children
2016 Hidden Salt
2017 Salt: The Forgotten Killer
2018 6 Ways to 6 Grams (2)
Hello
Can we start with saying SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT
Next – can we join the dots and keep it Simple
Are we missing the point about what salt does to our body
Do we understand fully what the impact of salt is on our health
18 years of trying to get a nation to change their eating habits and reduce their salt intake does not seem to be working.
Having a salt reduction program that produced results did not continue.
WHY?
2019 image on the website spelling out to us
Let’s take SALT off the menu (1)
Who is ready to listen to this
Who is really ready to change
Who can be bothered to make new choices
Are we always overdoing the salt at the chip shop
Are we always reaching for extra salt on any food
Are we never going to give up our bag of crisps
Do we love the fast foods and junk foods that we know are not good for us but we just keep eating it out of habit
Do we have any awareness about the Salt, Fat and Sugar combo that is highly addictive – read our blog on Fast Foods and Junk Foods
What if salt is a substance and has Drug like effects
In other words, it alters our natural state and that means our body cannot do its job properly
Dear World
Do we need to play our part and get on with it as nothing seems to be working
Is there a personal responsibility for each and everyone of us first
Is it time to stop the Blame game or trying to come up with Solutions
Is it time to really look at WHY we cannot just give up our salty foods
What if we need real education so that we get a true understanding about the effects of salt on our human body
What if we could find out why we crave salt in our foods and just can’t seem to give them up
What if we could get to the root cause of WHY we want salt in the first place, as it is possible to have salt off the menu
What if we start with reading the forensic blogs on this website about
Heart Disease and Stroke
High Blood Pressure
Kidney Disease
Cancer
Would the Stats, Facts, Questions presented and the wisdom offered in these articles give us some answers that we have been seeking.
Could it be possible that to see real change, we need those presenting and teaching about taking Salt off the menu – to actually live in that way in their own lives.
In other words, they are not trying to convert or change another but simply present that it is possible to be salt free, as they live a life that is free of the health issues related to salt.
Could it be that Simple
References
(1) Salt Awareness Week 2019: Time for ACTION on Salt! Action on Salt. Retrieved March 5, 2019 from
http://www.actiononsalt.org.uk/awareness/salt-awareness-week-2019-time-for-action-on-salt/
(2) (n.d). Archive Salt Awareness Week. Action on Salt. Retrieved March 5, 2019 from
http://www.actiononsalt.org.uk/awareness/archive/
Comments 5
It never pays to ignore the signs if you ask me.
The thing is most of us do but at what cost?
I have a real life story here and what I would call a valuable lesson.
Noticed lots of salt on my dining table when I asked the waitress for black pepper which you grind at the table. I dismissed all that salt but my initial thought was where on earth has this come from on a clean table?
When my amazing salmon and vegetables arrived, I get suspicious if it tastes yummy as I wonder what on earth has gone in there. Recently, I have enjoyed eating my own cooked food, every single day and I don’t even have salt so it is never used. I know that food itself has salt and that is plenty enough.
Back to the salmon, I started to feel the salty taste. It just got to the point where I could not eat anymore and my mouth started to close in. Hard to describe but it was like someone had gagged me with loads of salt and forced me to shut my mouth. That feeling would not go. I fasted the next day and ate very little. Made no difference. Teeth brushing, flossing and my tongue scraper that I have used for over 50 years still left this embedded salty mouth and tongue. As the next day wore off, the tongue continued to feel like there was salt still on it.
The point is – this is saying that when we abstain from salt, our body reacts when it then gets a strong dose from a restaurant dish. My lesson is I can never now order a meal when I eat out unless I say upfront that I do not want salt.
My husband had a different dish and he really struggled because he said it was way too salty for him. What we both said was this lesson has taught us that we would be prepared to walk out if any dining out place was not able to accommodate our NO salt request. I guess it had to get this bad for us to no longer over-ride the effects salt has on our body.
Could it be possible that we actually do not need all this extra salt that is thrown into our foods when we go out to eat?
By the way, that salt that just ‘appeared’ on my table at the very beginning was a sign for me to pay attention and question the salt. But I chose not to as at the time I did not want to make a big fuss about some spilt salt. Wish I did as that salt on my tongue took days to dissipate.
Science News – 2 April 2022
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/04/220402131902.htm
A new study reveals how reducing salt intake can help patients with heart failure.
This is the largest randomised clinical trial to look at sodium reduction and heart failure and found reducing salt intake had improvement in symptoms such as swelling, fatigue and coughing as well as better overall quality of life.
The study cannot say there is a blanket recommendation across all patients that limiting salt intake is going to reduce the chances of dying or being in hospital but it can improve people’s quality of life overall.
Most dietary salt is hidden in processed foods or restaurant meals rather than being shaken at the table said the study author, Professor Justin Ezekowitz.
Some of the participants in this trial were given menu suggestions using foods from their own region and encouraged to cook at home without adding salt and to avoid high salt ingredients.
What if we all started doing this? Air cargo would be out of business as we would be eating what was available on our land near our home and not overseas.
Home cooking would change our focus as we would spend the time and resources to plan, shop and cook and the whole process would be a paradigm shift to where things are at in many homes today.
Eating out would still be around but restaurants would need to not entice us with the added salt, as customers would have a different no salt taste please request.
Bottom line is – eating salt is not necessary and not needed by the human body. What we get from foods is plenty enough so why are we eating it or overdoing the salt thing – that needs to be the real question for all of us?
George Institute-Australia – 10 January 2023
https://www.georgeinstitute.org.au/media-releases/what-if-sodium-in-packaged-foods-was-reduced-for-an-entire-continent
According to new research study published in Hypertension – an American Heart Association journal, re-formulating packaged food in Australia to contain less sodium might save about 1700 lives per year and prevent nearly 7000 annual diagnosis of heart disease, kidney disease and stomach cancer.
High sodium intake increases blood pressure, risk of heart disease and stroke, chronic kidney disease and stomach cancer.
To reduce the incidence of these conditions, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends reducing the population-wide average sodium intake by 30% by 2025, which limits total daily sodium intake per person to about 2 grams or 2000 mg per day.
Institute for the Advancement of Food and Nutrition Sciences – 6 February 2023
https://iafns.org/publication/top-sodium-food-sources-in-the-american-diet-using-national-health-and-nutrition-examination-survey/
Reducing population-level sodium intake can reduce hypertension, an important preventative strategy to lower the risk of cardiovascular diseases, the leading cause of death in the United States.
Considering that most dietary sodium is derived from pre-packaged foods, this study quantitively estimates the proportion contribution and mean sodium intake from key food category contributors to total sodium intake in the U.S. population.
The top 15 sources of sodium were identified.
50% of U.S. population level dietary sodium intake was contributed by:
5.3% pizza
4.7% bread, rolls and buns
4.6% cold cuts and cured meats
4.4% soups
4.3% burritos and tacos
4.1% savoury snacks
4% poultry
3.1% cheese
2.9% pasta mixed dishes
2.5% burgers
2.5% meat mixed dishes
2.4% cookies, brownies and cakes
2.4% bacon, frankfurters and sausages
2.2% vegetables
1.5% chicken nuggets
Results remained consistent among population subgroups.
Mail Online – 25 March 2023
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11900743/Healthy-food-chains-packing-meals-salt-30-bags-crisps.html
Popular fast food chains are packing as much salt as 30 bags of crisps into some of their meals.
Researchers for the Daily Mail found dishes at “healthy” high street eateries containing large amounts of salt, including a Japanese food chain with nearly double the daily salt limit of 6 grams recommended by the NHS.
The World Health Organization warns too much salt is as harmful as smoking and can cause high blood pressure, heart disease and strokes.
“The meals from these chains would often be perceived as “healthy” with the use of vegetables and vegetable protein sources or lean meat, but the salt content means they are much less healthy than they seem.”
Clare Thornton-Wood – the British Dietetic Association