RESEARCH showing that high salt intake could double the risk of heart failure is particularly alarming for Australians, who consume almost twice the recommended daily amount.
Research by Finnish scientists followed more than 4000 people over 12 years and showed that people who consumed more than 13.7 grams of salt daily had two times higher risk of heart failure compared to those consuming less than 6.8 grams.
The World Health Organisation recommends a maximum of 5 grams a day, the physiological need is 2-3 grams a day, and the Australian average is 9 grams, which the research showed was still associated with a 40 per cent increased risk of heart failure.
The research has prompted the Heart Foundation to renew its call for us to watch our salt intake.
Chief executive John Kelly said while eating too much salt was already linked to high blood pressure, a leading risk factor for heart disease, a link with heart failure was yet another good reason to ditch the salt.
"This study showed a salt-related increase in heart failure risk that was independent of blood pressure, which is concerning," he said.
"Heart failure is one of the major cardiovascular diseases and is responsible for the deaths of more than 3000 Australians each year, and contributes to a further 18,000 deaths. It's also on the increase, with 29 per cent more deaths due to heart failure since 2006.
"While the process by which salt affects the development of heart failure is still unclear, this study supports the need for everyone to be aware of how much salt they are consuming."
The Heart Foundation recommends we eat less than 6 grams of salt a day, which is about one teaspoon. Those with high blood pressure and those at risk of heart disease should eat less than 4 grams a day.
"Although this study does not prove that high salt intake causes heart failure - only that the two are linked - it does underline the importance of reducing salt intake for better heart health," said Adjunct Professor Kelly.
The study authors concluded that further research was needed in larger populations to make more detailed estimates of the increased heart failure risk associated with consuming salt.
The Heart Foundation recently launched a digital campaign with the Victorian Salt Reduction Partnership called Unpack the Salt - https://unpackthesalt.com.au/
Salt v sodium
THESE two words are used a lot in nutritional circles and it can be hard to understand the difference. Salt is a mineral made up of sodium and chloride. It is the sodium that's bad for the heart and blood pressure.
Some food nutritional labels list sodium content; but how to convert that to grams of salt?
The Heart Foundation's website explains: multiply the sodium in milligrams by 2.5 then divide by 1000 to get grams of salt (one gram, ie 1000 milligrams, of sodium equals 2.5 grams of salt).
To convert amounts of salt to sodium, multiply the grams of salt by 0.4 then multiply by 1000 (one gram of salt equals 400 milligrams of sodium).
So where is all the excess salt we are eating coming from?
Salt is present in almost all foods, but fruit, vegetables and meat have only a small amount of naturally occurring salt.
Uncooked chicken breast, for example, has only 77mg of sodium (6 per cent of the recommended daily intake), an average apple has 1.8mg, while an average boiled potato has about 15mg.
Most of the salt we consume comes from processed foods that have large amounts of salt added. Some of these can be quite surprising as they may not taste all that salty. The Heart Foundation estimates 75 per cent of our salt intake comes from processed foods.
Two slices of white bread can have 364mg of sodium (16 per cent RDI), one slice of pizza from a well-known chain fast food store has 500mg of sodium (21 per cent RDI), one serve of pasta sauce 508mg (21 per cent), one rasher of bacon 735mg (32 per cent RDI), one sausage 608mg (28 per cent RDI).
The Heart Foundation has some nutrition suggestions for cutting down on salt - www.heartfoundation.org.au
The Unpack the Salt website has a range of information on adopting a low salt diet including videos, recipes and blogs -https://unpackthesalt.com.au/