Adding salt to all meals increases the risk of early death by 28%.
- 70% of the salt in our diet comes from processed and prepared products.
- The rest comes from the salt that is added during meals.
According a new study published in the European Heart Journal, adding salt to every meal increases the risk of dying prematurely by 28%.
A cohort of 501,379 people
“To my knowledge, our research is the first to assess the relationship between the addition of salt to foods and premature death,” said Professor Lu Qi, director of the trial. “Even a small reduction in our salt intake is likely to yield substantial health benefits,” he adds.
These conclusions are based on a cohort of 501,379 people, formed between 2006 and 2010. All participants were followed for 9 years. At the start of the experiment, each patient completed a questionnaire asking how often they added salt to their food (“never”, “rarely”, “sometimes” or “always”).
“Further studies are needed”
After analyzing and cross-checking the data, the scientists found that at the age of 50, women and men who systematically added salt to their dishes saw their life expectancy decrease by 1.5 and 2.28 respectively. year.
“Further studies are needed to validate our results and formulate nutritional recommendations” for everyone, Professor Lu Qi concludes.
