In spite of new studies, expert says ‘reduce salt’

Some international studies published recently question long-held beliefs about salt intake, but a Canadian doctor discredits them and insists Canadians are eating too much.

Canadians consume about 3,400 mgs of sodium per day, partly because they eat a lot of processed and restaurant food, which usually contains high amounts of salt.

“Humans evolved on just a few hundred milligrams of sodium a day,” says Dr. Norm Campbell, professor of medicine at the University of Calgary and president of the World Hypertension League. “So we’re really in the ten-fold or more intake above the level s that are ultimately healthy for us.”

Officially, Health Canada recommends adults consume about 1,300 mgs per day, and no more than 2,300. By having more, Campbell says people increase their risk for high blood pressure, which can cause heart attacks and strokes. He adds that studies have also linked high sodium intake with gastric cancer, renal cancer, kidney stones, osteoporosis, asthma and obesity.

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Canadian measures ‘meaningless’

Campbell dismisses studies which question the link between high salt intake and poor health outcomes. “The other studies are really quite controversial and this is probably because they have serious methodologic issues… it’s almost laughable.”

One study suggests some people are not consuming enough salt, but Campbell says they would only be people with certain medical conditions or taking certain medications.

He prefers the Global Burden of Disease study which he says “represents the state of the art evidence” and is done under the auspices of the World Health Organization and involves 500 of the world’s top scientists. It says that increased dietary sodium causes about 1.65 million deaths a year globally. Specifically, this is among people who consumer above 2,000 mgs daily.

Voluntary measures ‘are meaningless’

Just how much salt is ideal is open to debate. If Canadians were to eat fresh fruit and vegetables and meat, Campbell says their sodium intake would be just a few hundred mgs a day. But since they’re not likely to do that, Campbell thinks people should pressure the government to oblige the food industry and restaurants to put less salt in their products. Several countries are doing that. Canada has only voluntary measures which, he says, are “meaningless.”