Overconsumption of Salt Linked to Cardiovascular Disease

A research team at the Harvard School of Public Health has found that overconsumption of salt—and its effects on the cardiovascular system—can be linked to 2.3 million deaths worldwide, nearly 40 percent of which were premature.

Dariush Mozaffarian, associate professor at HSPH and a lead author of the study, said that limits on salt consumption could have significant effects on a population’s health.

“National and global public health measures, such as comprehensive sodium reduction programs, could potentially save millions of lives,” Mozaffarian said in a news release for the American Heart Association.

The study examined data from 247 surveys on sodium intake and 107 clinical trials linked salt consumption to blood pressure and blood pressure to cardiovascular disease—like strokes and heart attacks. The results showed that adverse affects hit both elderly and young people.

Researchers said that the optimal amount of salt consumption for adults should be 1,000 mg per day—less than half a teaspoon. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institue currently recommends consuming less than 2400 mg a day.

The research team’s findings come in conversation with a variety of other studies that link higher sodium intake and increased incidence of cardiovascular diseases. Increased blood pressure, according to the American Heart Association, may have harmful side effects “including increased risk for stroke, heart failure, osteoporosis, stomach cancer and kidney disease.” Increased blood pressure can result from the added strain on the body that excess fluids—retained by excess sodium—exert.

But some say that salt is taking the fall for larger problems with unhealthy diets.

The Salt Institute, a non-profit salt industry trade association, has vehemently opposed the calls for decreased sodium intake, and has launched a grassroots campaign to protect current use of salt in diet. Their video, “The Salt Guru: Fight Feds for Salt Freedom,” features the Salt Guru Mortin Satin as he guards against a decrease in taste that accompanies a decrease in salt use.