Salt awareness week

Today is the beginning of Salt awareness week; the campaign aims to raise awareness about reducing salt in order to prevent strokes and other health related issues.

A stroke is a serious medical condition which occurs when the blood supply to the brain is cut off. Each year more than 150,000 people suffer a stroke, approximately one third results in death.

The Consensus Action on Salt & Health (CASH) says high blood pressure is the single most important factor contributing to the risk of stroke, reducing your intake will reduce your risk.

Eating too much salt can increase blood pressure and in turn triple the risk of having a stroke; it is the third biggest killer in the UK and the leading cause of severe adult. There are over 600 awareness events taking place this week throughout the UK, in churches, hospitals, pharmacies, schools and libraries, if you would like to find out more, visit the website here.

How much salt is too much?              

• The recommended daily salt intake is just 6g
• One pizza shop pizza can contain an outstanding 10g of salt, up to 2.5 times more than a supermarket pizza.
• The salt we add to our food isn’t always necessary as many products already contain salt, such as soup, ready meals and pasta.

Tips for reducing salt intake:

• Avoid putting salt on the table
• Use little or no salt when cooking, especially if you are having a ready meal or soups.
• Cut back on salty products such as crisps, and processed foods.
• Check food labels for salt and go for less or reduced salt options

Each year salt awareness week aims to raise awareness of the dangerous effects when eating too much salt. This year the CASH is campaigning to educate people on the relationship between salt and strokes. The BDA says: “Eating too much salt can increase your risk of developing high blood pressure.  Having high blood pressure is a major risk factor for both heart disease and stroke.  By reducing your salt intake it is possible to reduce this risk, so it’s well worth starting today.

If you or your loved ones have suffered from a heart related illness, why not consider a Medical ID which can offer peace of mind and more importantly, save lives.

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