People are 'unaware of salt intake'; face possible stroke risk

Healthcare News
04/02/2010
Many people have way too much salt in their diet and could be walking into a stroke, it has been stated.

The amount of salt people are eating could be potentially devastating to the future health of individuals and modern society as a whole unless everyone does something about it, according to an expert.

Professor Graham MacGregor, chairman of Consensus Action on Salt & Health (CASH) and professor of cardiovascular medicine, highlighted that the issue leads to strokes and other illnesses which can affect older people.

He asserted: "People are unaware of that and they think that they may be able to cut back by using less salt at the table or in their own cooking but that only makes up about ten per cent of our salt intake."

Instead, individuals need to be aware that salt is in all of the processed food products they may eat or the restaurants they may visit, Professor MacGregor continued.

According to a recent CASH report, just over a quarter of people know that high salt intake contributes to kidney diseases like renal failure or kidney stones, while four per cent know that it can lead to osteoporosis.

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