Salt added to food at the table linked to higher risk of premature death: Study

USA: People who add extra salt to their food at the table are at higher risk of dying prematurely from any cause, according to a study of more than 500,000 people, published in the European Heart Journal.

Compared to those who never or rarely added salt, those who always added salt to their food had a 28% increased risk of dying prematurely. In the general population, about three in every hundred people aged between 40 and 69 die prematurely. The increased risk from always adding salt to food seen in the current study suggests that one more person in every hundred may die prematurely in this age group.

In addition, the study found a lower life expectancy among people who always added salt compared to those who never, or rarely added salt. At the age of 50, 1.5 years and 2.28 years were knocked off the life expectancy of women and men, respectively, who always added salt to their food compared to those who never, or rarely, did.

The study is the first to assess the relationship between adding salt to foods and premature death, it provides novel evidence to support recommendations to modify eating behaviors for improving health. Even a modest reduction in sodium intake, by adding less or no salt to food at the table, is likely to result in substantial health benefits, especially when it is achieved in the general population said the researchers.

They concluded the obvious and evidence-based strategy with respect to preventing cardiovascular disease in individuals is early detection and treatment of hypertension, including lifestyle modifications, while salt-reduction strategies at the societal level will lower population mean blood pressure levels, resulting in fewer people developing hypertension, needing treatment, and becoming sick. Not adding extra salt to food is unlikely to be harmful and could contribute to strategies to lower population blood pressure levels.

Reference:

Hao Ma, Qiaochu Xue, Xuan Wang, Xiang Li, Oscar H Franco, Yanping Li, Yoriko Heianza, JoAnn E Manson, Lu Qi, Adding salt to foods and hazard of premature mortality, European Heart Journal, 2022;, ehac208, https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehac208