Health Issue: Salt and Sodium chloride in food can lower the risk of...

Low salt intake prevents heart problems too Washington: Restricting the amount of salt or sodium chloride in food can lower the risk of cariovascular morbidities, concluded researchers.        Dieter Klaus and colleagues said that people whose intake of dietary sodium chloride is in excess of 6 gms pe day increase their risk of cardiovascular morbidities and hypertension. This is particularly notable in view of the fact that in the Western industrialised nations, one in two deaths is due to a cardiovascular disorder and the average intake of sodium chloride is in the range of 8 to 12 gms per day.        Salt restriction may not only help to prevent cardiovascular morbidities but may also counteract other lifestyle diseases such as obesity and diabetes.As a preventive measure, the authors suggest reducing dietary salt intake.        By successively lowering the NaC1 content of industrially processed foods by 40% to 50% people's daily salt intake would be lowered to 5 to 6 gms per day per head of population.        One of the best ways to reduce salt intake is to cut back on heavily processed and prepared foods. Hot dogs, sausages, ham, and prepackaged delimeats usually contain much more salt than freshly sliced lean meats, such as chicken fis. Most canned vegetable also have a much higher salt content than the same vegetable found in the fresh produce section. Frozen prepared meeals should be avoided.