More than 5 gramms of salt per day: Why is it really bad?

Eating too much salt increases the risk of stroke and cardiovascular disease, according to a study released November 25 on the website Bmj.com.

Consuming more than the usual five grams of salt would lead to 23% additional risk of a stroke and 17% more risk of cardiovascular disease.

The two researchers who conducted the study believe that decreasing consumption of salt to five grams per day ( an equivalent to a teaspoon) would prevent more than one million deaths from stroke and nearly three million deaths from cardiovascular disease worldwide each year.

According to the specialists, the effects of the overuse of salt a little known because the amount of salt consumed is often miscalculated.

The authors studied the results of thirteen studies, in which 170,000 people participated. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a quantity of five grams of salt per day. But in most Western countries, the consumption of salt per day is close to ten grams per day, according to the study.

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