Is Adding Salt Bad for You? When you reach for the shaker and sprinkle some salt over your meal, you might think that you’re merely adding some additional flavor to your food. However, it turns out that you might also be subtracting years from your life, according to new findings.
Study to Determine If Adding Salt Is Bad for You
In a study that was recently published by the European Heart Journal, the diets of over 500,000 people were considered and compared.
• When those behind the study noted who was dying before the age of 75, they found that people who added salt to their food increased their risk of premature death by 28% compared to those who didn’t use additional salt.
• Beyond that, men who were 50 years old and added salt to their food shortened their lives by an average of 1.5 years while women the same age who ate extra sodium shortened their lives by around 2.28 years.
Analysis of Study’s Findings
• Senior author, Lu Qi, MD, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, says: “Our study provides supportive evidence from a novel perspective to show the adverse effects of high sodium intake on human health, which is still a controversial topic. Our findings support the advice that reduction of sodium intake by reducing the salt added to meals may benefit health and improve life expectancy.”
• Amanda Lane, MS, RD, CDCES, Founder of Healthful Lane Nutrition agreed: “This study underscores the importance of sodium and potassium balance in the diet. Many individuals consuming a Western diet consume too much sodium and too little potassium. A prolonged imbalance of these electrolytes can lead to increased blood pressure which can cause damage to the heart, eyes, brain, and kidneys.”
Click here to read more on the health risks of adding salt.
