salt

Posted on Multiple Sclerosis

How salt can trigger inflammation in multiple sclerosis

Researchers at Yale have identified a high-salt environment as one of the contributing factors to the development of multiple sclerosis (MS).

In a new study published Oct. 29 in the journal Nature Immunology, they report just how salt can trigger the potentially disabling autoimmune disorder.

First author Tomokazu Sumida, a researcher in the lab of David Hafler, the William S. and Lois Stiles Edgerly Professor of Neurology and professor of immunobiology, and colleagues report that cells in a high-salt environment show activation of the beta-catenin/Wnt signaling pathway. This pathway, which also been implicated in the development of cancer tumors, disrupts regulatory T cells and triggers inflammation.

The risk of developing MS is thought to increase by interaction between relatively common genetic variants and environmental factors. In addition to salt, vitamin D deficiency, smoking, and obesity have been linked to development of MS, researchers say.

Leave a comment Posted on Diet

How much salt or sodium is good for me?

Salt cartoon (2)

We all need a little bit of sodium because it helps keep your body fluids at the right concentration and is needed for muscle and nerve activity. Salt (sodium chloride) is the main source of sodium in the UK diet, but the majority of us eat much more salt than we need. Eating too much salt over time is linked with high blood pressure, which can lead to serious problems such as heart disease or stroke.

Salt recommendations

On average, adults in the UK eat about 8.1g of salt (3.2g sodium) a day.  This may not sound like much, but to reduce the risk of high blood pressure, it is recommended that adults should not be eating more than 6g of salt (2.4g sodium) a day.

Salt intakes should be much lower than this for babies and children. Babies under 12 months old should have less than 1g of salt a day. The daily recommended maximum amount of salt children should eat depends on their age:

1 to 3 years – 2g of salt a day (0.8g sodium)

4 to 6 years – 3g of salt a day (1.2g sodium)

7 to 10 years – 5g of salt a day (2g sodium)

11 years and over – 6g of salt a day (2.4g sodium)

Salty tips

As salt is often a ‘hidden’ ingredient in many foods, it can sometimes be difficult to work out how much you are eating. Some foods, such as crisps, olives, cheese and bacon, taste obviously salty but other foods can contribute a lot of salt to our diet without us realising.

The salt we add during cooking and at the table makes up only a small amount of salt in our diets. Around 75% of the salt we eat comes from ready-made and processed foods, such as bread, breakfast cereals, soups and baked beans. Even sweet things, such as biscuits, can have salt added to them.

To keep track of your salt intake, get into the habit of reading the nutritional information on food labels, where you will find the salt content for a 100g serving. Try to eat those foods that are high in salt less often or in smaller amounts. As a rough guide:

a high amount of salt is more than 1.5g per 100g

a low amount of salt is 0.3g per 100g

See tips for a lower-salt diet for more information and advice on reducing your salt intake.

Salt and effervescent tablets

Effervescent vitamin supplements or effervescent painkillers can contain up to 1g of salt per tablet. Consider changing to a non-effervescent tablet, particularly if you have been advised to watch or reduce your salt intake. Talk to your GP about alternatives if you have been prescribed these medicines.

Leave a comment Posted on Children's health

How much salt do babies and children need?

How much salt do babies and children need?

How much salt do babies and children need?


 

How much salt do babies and children need?

Babies and children only need a very small amount of salt in their diet. However, because salt is added to a lot of the food you buy, such as bread, baked beans, and even biscuits, it is easy to have too much.

The maximum recommended amount of salt for babies and children is:

  • up to 12 months – less than 1g of salt a day (less than 0.4g sodium)
  • 1 to 3 years – 2g of salt a day (0.8g sodium)
  • 4 to 6 years – 3g of salt a day (1.2g sodium)
  • 7 to 10 years – 5g of salt a day (2g sodium)
  • 11 years and over – 6g of salt a day (2.4g sodium)

Babies who are breastfed get the right amount of salt through breast milk. Infant formula contains a similar amount of salt to breast milk.

When you start introducing solid foods, remember not to add salt to the foods you give to your baby, because their kidneys cannot cope with it. You should also avoid giving your baby ready-made foods that are not made specifically for babies, such as breakfast cereals, because they can also be high in salt.

Lots of foods produced for children can be quite high in salt, so it’s important to check the nutritional information before you buy. The salt content is usually given as figures for sodium. As a rough guide, food containing more than 0.6g of sodium per 100g is considered to be high in salt. You can work out the amount of salt in foods by multiplying the amount of sodium by 2.5. For example, 1g of sodium per 100g is the same as 2.5g salt per 100g.

You can reduce the amount of salt your child has by avoiding salty snacks, such as crisps and biscuits, and swapping them for low-salt snacks instead. Try healthy options such as dried fruit, raw vegetable sticks and chopped fruit to keep things varied.

Making sure your child doesn’t eat too much salt means you’re also helping to ensure that they don’t develop a taste for salty food, which makes them less likely to eat too much salt as an adult.

Further information:

Summary

Information on how much salt your baby or child requires.

Categories:

  • Food and diet
    • Children and healthy eating
    • Salt and sugar, fibre and fats
  • Children’s health
    • 0-2 years
    • 3-6 years
    • 7-12 years

[Original article on NHS Choices website]

1 Comment Posted on Cardiovascular disease, Patient Talk, Research

10 Tips for a Healthy Heart. Check them out and you can help prevent coronary heart disease (CHD) this World Heart Day.


Tips for reducing the risk of heart disease!

Tips for reducing the risk of heart disease!

As I sat down to work today I had a look over the BBC’s health news to see what the issues of teh day might be. The main headline was “Heart disease warnings ‘missed‘” . I’d also forgotten that today is World Heart Day.

Delving further into the article I discovered that the British Heart Foundation had recently organised some survey research and they discovered, to their horror, that 90% of people think that there must be symptoms associated with that “silent killer” high blood pressure.

So I thought it would be a good opportunity to share with you British Heart Foundation’s tips for a healthy heart and to prevent coronary heart disease.

a) Give up smoking. You can find some ideas to help you pack in smoking here.
b) Get your general health road tested by your doctor.
c) Maintain a healthy weight. Read our weight loss tips and blog posts here.
d) Keep active. Pretty hard for many of us but much more for people with chronic pain. You might find this guide to exercise for people with pain useful.
e) Lower your salt consumption. Both in and out of the home.
f) Eat your 5-a-day. Do you?
g) Cut the saturated fat. Find out more about diet and health here.
h) Always read the food labels. You would be amazed at the salt and sugar in processed foods.
i) Cut down on the amount of alcohol you drink. How much do you drink?
j) Watch your portion sizes. Make sure you eat less.

Do you have any tips for our readers? If you do please do feel free to share below in the comments boxes.

Thanks in advance.

1 Comment Posted on Patient Talk

WORLD HEART DAY 2014: SALT REDUCTION SAVES LIVES


World Heart Day 2014

World Heart Day 2014

As regular readers of this blog know I am rather skeptical about of lot of MedEd (medical education for those not in the in crowd). Actually much of it is total rubbish. And it strikes me the bigger the organisation the more rubbish it tends to produce. You know who you are! But no names no pack drill!

So you can imagine my delighted when an email about World Heart Day dropped into my inbox. One of those great occasions when I’m sent something which is actually useful. Mainly about salt reduction it does not just say why but much more importantly it says how.

On World Heart Day, which takes  place on 29 September, the World Health Organization (WHO) is asking us to take action on the overuse of salt.  They feel we can do this  by implementing their sodium (the main source our diets is salt)  reduction recommendations.   This they say reduce the number of people experiencing heart disease and strokes.


In fact noncommunicable diseases, including heart disease and stroke, are now the main causes of premature death .

“If the target to reduce salt by 30% globally by 2025 is achieved, millions of lives can be saved from heart disease, stroke and related conditions,” shares Dr Oleg Chestnov, WHO Assistant Director-General for Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health.

As we noted above main source of sodium in our diet is salt. But it also come from  from sodium glutamate and sodium chloride, and is used as a condiment in many parts of the world. In the developed world WHO claim 80% of salt intake comes from processed foods such as bread, cheese, bottled sauces, cured meats and ready-made meals.

Too much sodium to hypertension, or high blood pressure, and there or up the risk of things like  heart disease and stroke.

On average, people consume around 10 grams of salt per day which is twice as much as we should.

“Salt is in almost everything we eat, either because high levels of salt are found in most

Salt reduction boost health

Salt reduction boost health

processed and prepared foods, or because we are adding salt when we prepare food at home,” adds Dr Chestnov.

Government and NGos wouldn’t be government or NGOs if they did not call for greater regulation.  So they kick off with:-

  • regulations and policies to ensure that food manufacturers and retailers reduce the levels of salt in food and beverage products;
  • agreements with the industry to ensure that manufacturers and retailers make healthy food (with low salt) available and affordable;
  • fostering healthy eating environments (that promote salt reduction) in public places such as schools, hospitals, workplaces and public institutions;
  • ensuring clear food labelling so consumers can easily understand the level of salt in products;


But what about us.  Because that is where it really counts as we all know.

  • reading food labels when buying processed food to check salt levels; (or of course you can give process food a miss)
  • asking for products with less salt when buying prepared food in restaurants etc
  • removing salt dispensers and bottled sauces from dining tables;
  • limiting the amount of salt added in cooking to a total maximum amount a fifth of a teaspoon over the course of a day;
  • limiting frequent consumption of high salt products;
  • guiding children’s taste buds through a diet of mostly unprocessed foods without adding salt.

 

They also gave us a few links so please check them out!