Summary FAQ on Avoiding Salt to Prevent or Treat High Blood Pressure And Other Salt-Related Conditions - 

This answer is brought to you by many of the Australian nutrition professionals who regularly contribute to a nutrition email discussion group.

Summary Answer

High blood pressure (also known as 'hypertension') is the most important risk factor for stroke, and a major risk factor for heart disease. Most cases of high blood pressure are believed to result from inappropriate diet and lifestyle, especially high salt intake and low levels of physical activity.

The Dietary Guidelines for Australians include the advice to 'Choose foods low in salt'. Unless labelled 'low-salt', processed foods usually contain high levels of salt, which is often added to counteract a lack of flavour, or to act as a preservative. In Australia and New Zealand, a food labelled 'low-salt' must contain no more than 120 milligrams of sodium per 100 grams of food (120 mg/100 g). Virtually all fresh foods (when unsalted) are also suitable for people who want to avoid excessive salt intake.
By consuming only foods that are low in salt, you will ensure that your sodium intake is low, but not so low that you are in danger of salt depletion. For people who are 'hooked on salt', low-salt foods taste bland at first, but the palate adapts to a lower salt intake, and highly-salted processed foods soon begin to taste too salty.
People eating typical (i.e. high-salt) Western diets need to replace heavy sweat losses of salt with sodium-containing foods or by using sports drinks, which are available commercially or can be made at home. If you are used to high salt intakes, dangerously low blood sodium levels can occur due to heavy sweating. People who strictly adhere to a low-salt diet have much lower sodium levels in their sweat and are unlikely to need to consume sodium-containing foods or sports drinks following periods of profuse sweating.

In addition to hypertension, many other medical conditions are likely to be helped by reducing salt intake, including heart failure, osteoporosis, premenstrual syndrome, carpal tunnel syndrome and kidney stones. Adopting a low-salt diet may also reduce the risk of kidney failure and stomach cancer, and the severity of asthma.

Some drugs are more effective when taken in conjunction with a low-salt diet (see the detailed FAQ for more information about this). If you are undergoing medical treatment for any of the conditions mentioned in this FAQ, check with your doctor before you reduce your salt intake.

Also, it is important to note that there are several conditions where a sudden change to a low-salt diet is not appropriate (and may be harmful). These include pregnancy, when diuretics are prescribed, and following episodes of diarrhoea or vomiting.

With careful planning and adequate forewarning you should be able to maintain a low-salt diet when eating away from home. This might entail, as a few examples, requesting a 'salt-free' meal when making a reservation at a restaurant or booking an airline ticket, letting your friends know about your special needs before visiting them for dinner, and you might also consider taking your own salt-free bread.

Finally, there is no evidence to support the claim that 'sea salt' is somehow special and doesn't have the adverse health effects of excessive intakes of ordinary salt. In fact, animal studies suggest that sea salt may be even more harmful than ordinary salt in terms of its ability to increase blood pressure.

Click here for a full FAQ on Salt 

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[Date Issued: January 2003]

Disclaimer: This material is provided on the basis that it constitutes advice of a general nature only. It is not intended to replace the advice of a physician or a dietitian.