Take it with a pinch of salt

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-02-18 15:53

"Processed foods, and particularly canned foods, are also very high in salt," says Professor Walter Zidek, director of the Nephrology Clinic at Berlin's Charite University Hospital.

So how much salt is healthy? The question is not easy to answer. The standard given by the Bonn-based German Nutrition Society (DGE) is 6-10 grams daily for adolescents and adults.

"Exceeding this amount could lead, in individual cases, to negative consequences for health," says DGE spokesperson Antje Gahl.

The guarded phrasing reflects the fact that salt intake is no longer automatically linked to high blood pressure or hypertension.

"There has been no reliable study proving that the average salt intake in the healthy population contributes to high blood pressure," Resch says. He believes there are many possible causes of high blood pressure and "many ways to lower it, too", among which reducing the consumption of table salt is one of the least effective.

According to Resch, simply gaining four or five kg affects blood pressure two to three times more than anything achievable by reducing salt intake.

There are no uniform recommendations on how much salt a person should consume. While Zidek says a diet low in salt would do no one any harm, Resch advises against a strict low-salt diet.

"A healthy person with fairly normal blood pressure need not worry about salt consumption," Resch says.

Nonetheless, nutritionists are agreed on one thing: A diet rich in fresh foods and low in processed ones would seem to be the safest bet.

Previous 1 2 Next Page