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The foods we eat play a key role in our health and
wellbeing. However, with such a big focus on sugar in recent
years, have Kiwis forgotten about salt?
The Heart
Foundation has today released a new position statement on
salt and heart health which serves as an important reminder
that we could all do with eating a bit less salt.
The
latest evidence continues to show a strong relationship
between sodium and blood pressure and the benefit of
reducing salt intake on our long-term heart disease risk.
Everyone benefits from consuming less salt, with the
greatest benefit seen in people with high blood
pressure.
In fact, people who follow a diet with less
salt have a 26% lower risk of heart disease and 21% lower
risk of high blood pressure when compared to people who
follow their usual diet.
Although a small amount of
salt is needed for our body to function, the average New
Zealand adult is consuming 8.5g of salt a day, significantly
more than the recommended maximum of 5g of salt, which is
about a teaspoon.
Heart Foundation National Nutrition
Advisor Lily Henderson says the goal is to get people to be
thinking about how they can eat a bit less salt while
keeping to their food budget.
“Given the rise in the
cost of fresh foods, many of us are relying on packaged
foods now more than ever,” she says. “Around 75% of the
salt we eat is hidden in processed and packaged foods, and
it’s easy to eat more than we need.
“The sodium
content per 100g can vary greatly between similar products.
Small swaps at the supermarket like switching to a
lower-salt sauce can make a big difference and often won’t
cost you any extra.
“You’ll get the greatest
benefit to your heart health if you swap products that you
buy and eat often.”
It’s a common misconception
that we only need to think about our salt intake if our
blood pressure is high or if we’re older, but too much
salt can raise our blood pressure at any age.
“Young
children can develop a preference for salty foods, and we
now know that high blood pressure in childhood tracks into
adulthood, increasing the risk of heart disease later in
life,” adds Lily.
Most of us add salt to our food
out of habit. Cooking with less salt doesn’t mean you need
to completely remove it or miss out on flavour.
“The
good news is you can gradually ease off the salt and retrain
your taste buds to enjoy less. Start with one lower salt
product or using less salt in a dish you make often, and you
may surprise yourself. Use ingredients like dried herbs,
spices, lemon, vinegar, chilli, and olive oil in your
cooking to help to deliver plenty of flavour.”
For
ideas on how you can ease off the salt without losing
flavour and to download the Heart Foundation sodium and
heart health position statement go to www.heartfoundation.org.nz/salt
© Scoop Media
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