Adding salt to meals is associated with an increased risk of chronic kidney failure.
- Adding salt to meals is associated with a higher risk of chronic kidney failure.
- The more frequent the addition of salt, the greater the risk.
- This can lead to an additional risk of developing other diseases such as high blood pressure or osteoporosis.
Salt harms your kidneys. According to a study published on December 28 in JAMA Network Openadd salt in your meals is associated with a higher risk of kidney failure. This chronic kidney disease corresponds to a reduction in kidney function. These are no longer able to properly filter the blood. “Although many studies have investigated the association between dietary sodium intake and risk of chronic kidney disease, most of these have only included participants with a previous diagnosis of hypertension, diabetes or other chronic diseases while few studies have investigated the association between sodium intake and risk of chronic kidney disease in the general population“, specify the authors in the preamble to their study.
Chronic kidney failure: the more salt added, the greater the risk
To fill this data gap, the researchers used a cohort of more than 465,000 people without kidney disease. Their state of health was monitored between 2006 and 2023. They themselves provided information on their salt consumption habits.
“After adjusting for covariates, a higher frequency of adding salt to foods was significantly associated with a higher risk of chronic kidney disease., note the scientists. The risk was present for people who reported adding salt to their dishes from time to time, those who did it often and those who did it systematically. But the more frequent the addition of salt, the greater the risk. For example, compared to individuals who have never consumed it, participants who declared using “Sometimes“of salt in their dishes were 4% more likely to suffer from kidney disease. This figure was 7% for people who added salt often and 11% for those who added salt all the time.
Salt reduction: a strategy to combat kidney failure
For the authors, these results are proof that the “reducing the addition of salt to foods” can become a “potential intervention strategy for the prevention of chronic kidney disease”.
According to’World Health Organization, almost all populations consume too much salt. “The average intake of adults worldwide is 4,310 mg of sodium per day (equivalent to 10.78 g of salt per day)she specifies. This is more than double the World Health Organization recommendation of less than 2,000 mg of sodium per day for adults (equivalent to <5 g of salt/day)..” Beyond the risk of kidney problems, a diet too rich in salt increases the risk of high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, gastric cancer, obesity and osteoporosis. According to the WHO, Nearly 1.89 million deaths each year are linked to excessive salt consumption.
