When it comes to health, researchers have searched for practices that may maximize the person’s life expectancy. A recent study has discovered that eating lots of fruits and vegetables could help stave off risk of premature death.
But for habitual salt users, they may have to increase their fruit and vegetable intake even more because consuming too much of it is linked to high blood pressure and other untoward health effects in the body.
Basically, those who constantly add extra salt to their meals may not have a lifespan as long as those who rarely get the saltshaker whenever they eat. For those aged 50 or above, the addition of salt may lower life expectancy by as much as 2.28 years for men and 1.5 years for women. The researchers compared these numbers with those who don’t do it. This was according a study published in the European Heart Journal last July 10.
“To my knowledge, our study is the first to assess the relation between adding salt to foods and premature death,” said lead author Lu Qi, MD, PhD, HCA Regents Distinguished Chair and professor at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans. He spoke about this in detail in a release made.
These findings have given new evidence that support doctor’s recommendations. This was designed to adjust eating behaviors so that health is maximized, according to Dr. Qi. “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,” he had stated.
Most Americans take More than 50 Percent Than the Recommended Daily Sodium Intake
Adding salt to food isn’t the only major method that Americans take in sodium. Interestingly enough, this is just about around 6 to 20 percent of the daily diet. The majority, around as much as 70 percent, of dietary sodium comes from different sources such as packaged and processed meals like deli meat, pizza, tacos, and chips. This was what the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found.
Even if salt can be found everywhere, the number of time you reach for that salt shaker is a good gauge of your overall sodium intake. This was explained by the authors of the study. “Adding salt to foods at the table is a common eating behavior that is directly related to an individual’s long-term preference for salty-tasting foods and habitual salt intake,” said Qi. When they based the data to the person adding salt gives them a new perspective on how they evaluate and link the association between habitual sodium intake and the risk of early death, especially for those who regularly take the Western diet, he added.
It can’t be denied that sodium is also vital for your overall health, but too much of everything can also be detrimental. For salt, this is linked to the eventual development of high blood pressure. The average American consumes around 3,400 milligrams (mg) of sodium every single day, this is around 50 percent more than the recommended daily intake.
Looking into the Effects of Added Salt in More Than 500 Thousand Americans
To look into the connection between the frequency of adding salt to food and the increased danger of premature mortality and shorter life expectancy, researchers asked a total of 501,379 participants to join the study. These were people who had enrolled in the UK Biobank and completed a dietary questionnaire. Included in the questions were further information about their personal salt intake.
As for the UK Biobank, they are an international health resource. Their tasks include collecting blood, urine, and saliva samples. They also look into detailed health information from more than half a million folks living in England, Wales, and Scotland. They did this between the years 2006 and 2010. Their purpose was to assist in studies made regarding a variety of illnesses that people have been diagnosed with.
The researchers also made sure to make adjustment for specific factors that may have an effect on mortality such as age, sex, race, body mass index, smoking status, alcohol intake, physical activity, diet. Included are also medical conditions like diabetes, cancer, and heart and blood vessel diseases. The people who signed up for the study were monitored for around nine years, and premature death for them was those who died before the age of 75.
Those Who had Higher Salt Intake Were at a 28 Percent Greater Risk of Premature Death
Aside from the risk of lower life expectancy, the “always salt” group had a 28 percent greater risk of premature death, as stated by the authors. They said that in the normal population, about 3 out of 100 people die pass away between the ages of 40 and 69. The risk was always related to sodium and the study also suggested that one more person out of 100 may die at a young age.
Several studies of the same nature have been made. Many of them pointed to the fact that too much sodium may have a detrimental impact on overall health. They also said that lowering salt intake may bring about long-term advantages. In a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine last 2021, the researchers involved also saw that making use of salt substitute instead of the real deal and also adding more seasoning were linked to a lower risk of stroke, heart attack, and even death.
Why is salt so important? It all boils down to blood pressure, explained Jim Liu, MD. He is a cardiologist and assistant professor in the division of cardiovascular medicine at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus. He is also familiar with the issue, but was not part of the research team.
“Hypertension is one of the main risk factors for stroke and heart disease. If blood pressure is uncontrolled and remains high, the risk of stroke and heart disease will be elevated; a low-sodium diet can help reduce blood pressure,” he said.
To Lower Risks When You’re a Frequent Salt User, Fruits and Vegetables Help
For those who love the taste of salt, reading this may be worrisome, but there is also light at the end of the tunnel. The researchers notice that the risks weren’t as high for those who included more fruits and vegetables in their diet. Still, it’s also good to note that the results seen made no statistical impact.
“We were not surprised by this finding as fruits and vegetables are major sources of potassium, which has protective effects and is associated with a lower risk of premature death,” Qi had stated.
As for the fruits and vegetables, credit can be given to the amount of potassium these contained because this vitamin assists in relieving tension in the blood vessel walls, a process that is able to bring down blood pressure, as stated by the American Heart Association.
If you want to lower sodium and increase potassium intake, go for the natural sources like citrus fruits, bananas, tomatoes, spinach, and broccoli.
Further Research Should be Made Before Giving Out Recommendations
This study is the very first to look into the relationship between adding salt to foods and mortality. More work is needed in order to validate the findings. Recommendations can only be made when there is more data, said Qi.
While the size of the study was considered significantly large, the authors also noted of a few limitations they need to consider when evaluating the results that they saw. First and foremost, the UK Biobank program is voluntary. They did not randomly choose their participants. This means that these may not represent what’s happening with the general population. Another possibility is that adding salt to foods is an indicator of a less than ideal general lifestyle or a lower socioeconomic status. Of course, the researchers tried their best to take control of the said factors.
While the participants were required to report on how often they added salt, the study didn’t look deep into how much salt was being added. Lastly, the addition of sodium might be connected to how much food they were consuming. All these may impact the findings of the study that was conducted.
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