(ABC News)--On the heels of a study linking sugary drinks to 25,000 U.S. deaths a year, new research suggests salty food is even more dangerous.
The new study, by the same Harvard research team, linked excessive salt consumption
to nearly 2.3 million cardiovascular deaths worldwide in 2010. One in
10 Americans dies from eating too much salt, the researchers found.
"The burden of sodium is much higher than the burden of
sugar-sweetened beverages," said Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, an
epidemiologist at the Harvard School of Public Health and author of both
the salt and sugary drink studies. "That's because sugar-sweetened
beverages are just one type of food that people can avoid, whereas
sodium is in everything."
Mozaffarian and colleagues used data from 247 surveys on sodium
intake and 107 clinical trials that measured how salt affects blood
pressure, and how blood pressure contributes to cardiovascular disease
like heart attacks and stroke.
"From that we could determine the health effects of sodium," he said,
adding that one out of three deaths due to excessive sodium occurred
before age 70. "It's really affecting younger adults, not just the
elderly."
The study, presented today at the American Heart Association's annual
meeting in New Orleans, adds to mounting evidence that packaged and
processed foods containing high levels of salt for flavor and shelf life
can take a heavy toll on cardiovascular health.
"It's really amazing how pervasive it is," Mozaffarian said of salt.
"For the average person, it's very hard to avoid salt – you have to be
incredibly motivated, incredibly educated, have access to a range of
foods and do all the cooking yourself."
But not everything is easy to whip up at home, Mozaffarian added. Bread and cheese are the top two sources of sodium in the U.S.
"It's everywhere," he said.
For the study, the researchers set the ideal level of salt
consumption at 1,000 milligrams per day – less than half of the upper
limit recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
and less than a third of the average American intake.
The Salt Institute took issue with the unrealistic threshold.
"This misleading study did not measure any actual cardiovascular
deaths related to salt intake, since, by the authors' own admission, no
country anywhere in the world consumes the low levels of salt they
recommend," Morton Satin, vice president of science and research for the
Virginia-based institute said in a statement.
Satin also stressed that Mozaffarian's research is yet to be
published in a peer-reviewed journal, and said it "reveals an agenda far
more rooted in sensationalist politics than in science."
"The Salt Institute does not consider this misleading modeling
exercise helpful in furthering our knowledge of the role of salt on our
health," Satin said. "On the contrary, it is disingenuous and
disrespectful of consumers."
Mozaffarian said he plans to submit the study for publication later
this year, and stressed that politics has nothing to do with it.
"We have no vested interest in what the research shows," he said.
"This is not sensational. The point is to objectively look at the impact
of salt using the best possible science, and that's what we have done."
Mozaffarian said he hopes the study will impel policy makers to set
sodium limits in prepared foods and make it easier for Americans to
lower their salt intake. In the meantime, however, some smart shopping
can help.
"One way you can have more control is to shop the perimeter of the
supermarket," said ABC News' chief health and medical editor Dr. Richard
Besser. "That's where you will find fresh fruits and vegetables, meats
and dairy products. When you cook with these ingredients you have
control over how much salt you take in."
Another tip: Read food labels. Table salt is listed as sodium chloride.
"You might be surprised at all the foods that have hidden salt," Besser said.
Copyright 2013 by ABC News
