By Xiaoyue (Luna) XU Scientia teacher, School of Population Health, Unsw Sydney and Bruce Neal Executive Director, George Institute Australia, George Institute for Global Health
This week, the World Health Organization has released new guidelines in which people are recommended to switch the normal salt that they use at home for substitutes that contain less sodium.
But what exactly are these woulds talternes? And why is it who recommends this? Let's look.
A new solution for an old problem
Advice to eat less salt (sodium chloride) is not new. It has been part of international and Australian guidelines for decades. This is because evidence clearly shows that the sodium in salt can harm our health if we eat too much of it.
Excess sodium increases the risk of high blood pressure, which affects millions of Australians (about one in three adults). High blood pressure (hypertension) in turn increases the risk of heart conditions, stroke and kidney diseases, in addition to other disorders.
The WHO estimates that 1.9 million deaths worldwide can be attributed to eating too much salt every year.
The WHO recommends not to consume more than 2 g of sodium every day. However, people eat this on average more than double, around 4.3GA Day.
In 2013, WHO member states who are committed to reducing the sodium intake of the population by 30 percent by 2025. But reducing the intake of the salt has proved to be very difficult. Most countries, including Australia, will not achieve the purpose of the WHO to reduce sodium intake by 2025. The WHO has since set the same goal for 2030.
Little progress has been made in the efforts to reduce sodium intake
The difficulty is that eating less salt means that it accepts a less salty taste. It also requires changes for established ways to prepare food. This has been shown too much for people to eat at home, and too much for the food industry.
Enter potassium enriched salt
The most important salt replacement with a lower nature-satrium is called potassium enriched salt. This is salt where part of the sodium chloride has been replaced by potassium chloride.
Potassium is an essential mineral and plays a key role in all functions of the body. The high potassium content of fresh fruit and vegetables is one of the main reasons why they are so good for you. Although people eat more sodium than they should, many do not get enough potassium.
The WHO recommends a daily potassium intake of 3.5 g, but in general people in most countries consume considerably less than this.
Potassium -enriched salt benefits our health by cutting the amount of sodium that we consume and increase the amount of potassium in our diet. Both help to lower blood pressure.
It has been shown that salt for potassium -enriched salt regularly reduces the risk of heart conditions, stroke and premature death in large tests around the world.
Modeleringsst
The most important advantage of switching instead of cutting the salt intake is that potassium-enriched salt can be used as a direct one-for-one swap for normal salt. It looks the same, works for herbs and in recipes, and most people don't notice an important difference in taste.
Excessive sodium intake increases the risk of high blood pressure, which can cause a series of health problems
In the largest test with potassium -enriched salt so far, more than 90% of people still used the product after five years.
Make the switch: some challenges
If fully implemented, this can be one of the most consistent advice that the WHO has ever given.
Millions of strokes and heart attacks can be prevented worldwide every year with a simple switch to the way we prepare food. But there are some obstacles to overcome before we arrive at this point.
Firstly, it will be important to balance the benefits and risks. For example, people with advanced kidney disease do not go well to potassium and so these products are not suitable for them. This is only a small part of the population, but we must ensure that potassium -enriched salt products are labeled with appropriate warnings.
An important challenge will make the potassium -enriched salt more affordable and accessible. Potassium chloride is more expensive to produce than sodium chloride, and currently potassium-enriched salt is usually sold as a niche health product at a premium price.
If you are looking for it, salt substitutes can also be called salt with low cards, potassium salt, heart salt, mineral salt or sodium-reduced salt.
A review published in 2021 found that low sodium salts were sold in just 47 countries, usually with a high income. Prices varied from the same as normal salt to almost 15 times higher.
An extensive Supply Chain that produces much more potassium chloride from Food Kalium will be needed to make a wider availability of the product possible. And we have to see potassium -enriched salt in the shelves next to regular salt, so it's easy for people to find.
In countries such as Australia, about 80% of the salt we eat from processed foods are coming
In countries such as Australia, around 80% of the salt we eat from processed foods come. The WHO Directive falls short by not explicitly giving a priority to a switch for the salt used in the production of food.
Stakeholders who collaborate with the government to encourage the absorption of the food industry will be essential for maximizing health benefits.
This article originally appeared on the conversation and was re -published with permission
