Salt
By Gaye Rutherford

Why do we need salt?
Dietary ‘salt’ is a compound that comprises sodium and chloride. Sodium in particular plays a number of essential roles in our bodies: it regulates the correct amount of circulating fluids, including blood, in our bodies, and plays a vital role in the transmission of nerve impulses and contraction of muscles. However, the amount needed to perform these vital roles is small, much less than the amount most of us eat in our diets.

Most Australians eat around two times (!!) the current Australian Recommended Dietary Intake (RDI) for sodium of 920–2,300mg per day. The Australian RDIs, published back in 1991, are currently under review, and the Draft Nutrient Reference Values proposed to replace them recommend a much lower acceptable intake range of just 460–920mg per day for everyone over the age of 14 years. That means that most of us need to look at ways to substantially reduce the amount of sodium or salt we are eating.

Why is too much salt a problem?
The major health problem associated with excessive salt intake is high blood pressure, or hypertension, often called the ‘silent killer’ because its consequences – coronary heart disease, heart failure, stroke or kidney failure – often strike without visible symptoms or warning. As at 2004, 30% of Australian adults – that’s nearly one in three of us – had high blood pressure. That’s a staggering and frightening statistic, especially when there is clear evidence many people can effectively control their blood pressure without resorting to medications by adopting a healthier diet and lifestyle – for example by eating less salt.

Other conditions linked to eating too much salt include heart failure, kidney problems and kidney stones, stroke, stomach cancer, and osteoporosis, none of which could be considered minor health complications.

Where’s the salt coming from?
If we’re going to cut back on the amount of salt we eat, we first need to know where it’s coming from in our diet. Easy you think? Surely most of it comes out of the salt shaker we sometimes use a little too vigorously? Surprisingly enough, no – typically only 15% of the salt we eat comes from salt we add at the table or when we are cooking. Another 10% (or less) comes as a natural component of fresh foods like meat, fruit and vegetables. The remaining 75% comes from processed foods, most of which we don’t even realise are loaded with salt.

The major culprits are clearly identified in the book, “Salt Matters, A Consumer Guide”, written by one of Tasmania’s leading diet researchers, Dr Trevor Beard. Dr Beard singles out bread and also breakfast cereals as being major sources of hidden salt. For example, sweet corn has a natural sodium content of 3mg of sodium per 100g of corn cob, but when this is turned into cornflakes, the sodium content becomes a staggering 800mg approx per 100g of cereal. Some cereals on the market contain more sodium than sea water – but while we couldn’t stomach drinking sea water, with the added sugar and other ingredients in processed cereals, most of us wouldn’t even pick by taste that salt is an ingredient. The salt content of most Australian breads ranges from 400 to 725mg per 100g, and according to Dr Beard, no other single food adds as much to the huge sodium overload on the Western diet as bread.

One small consolation for Tasmanian bread consumers is that most bakeries in Tasmania agreed a few years ago to use only iodised salt in their breads. This is significant because Tasmania has iodine-deficient soils, meaning Tasmanians more so than most other Australians are at risk of iodine deficiency, which can lead to conditions like goitre and mild to severe mental retardation. Iodised salt has been used worldwide to reduce the prevalence of iodine deficiency, however, in a Western population with high blood pressure, eating naturally high-iodine foods like seafood and fish is a better option than relying on iodised salt to meet your iodine needs.

Other highly salty processed foods include cheese, butter, sauces like soy, tomato, pasta and simmer sauces, mayonnaise, spreads like vegemite, biscuits, foods that have been preserved with salt, eg anchovies or fish in brine, manufactured meats like salami, and also the obvious crisps or potato chips and salted products like nuts.

Given we can’t taste the level of salt in many processed foods, the only way to tell how much is in there is to use the ‘Nutrition Information Panel” on the label of all packaged foods sold in Australia. This panel contains information on the kJ, fat and carbohydrate content, but also lists the salt content per serve and per 100g. A food is defined as a ‘low salt’ food if it has less than 120mg of sodium per 100g – how do the foods in your pantry and your supermarket compare? It’s an eye-opening and worthwhile experience to start to use this panel, I can’t recommend enough that you do.

Before the invention of the refrigerator, salt was added to food to help delay spoilage, however, today most salt is added as a flavour enhancer. Manufacturers are reluctant to cut down the amount added because of the cost of reformulating food, and the fear that a different taste will cut down on sales. However, a number of positive steps have been made by companies like Kelloggs and Uncle Tobys. For example, Kelloggs undertook a salt reduction program in 1997 that resulted in a reduction of 2.35 tonnes of salt annually from 12 of its breakfast cereal options.

Tips for getting excess salt out of your diet:

	Choose no-added salt, low-salt and reduced-salt processed foods like bread, breakfast cereals, spreads, sauces, margarines, butters and baked beans – practise your label reading to help you identify these foods. As an example, Sanitarium’s Lite-Bix are a no-added salt alternative to Weetbix, while Freedom Foods Hi-Lite Breakfast cereal contains only 55mg of sodium per 100g. One of the criteria for displaying the National Heart Foundation “Tick” logo is a low salt content – so watch out for this on labels too. Finding low-salt foods in the supermarket can be a challenge – try the health food aisle, and if you can’t find what you’re looking for, ask for it! Manufacturers won’t respond with low-salt options until we, the all-powerful end consumer, start demanding them.
	Avoid high salt foods – there are so many other better, tasty options. High salt options to avoid include takeaway hot chips, burgers, meat pies and pizza. These are also high energy, high fat choices, more reasons to pick another option. Replace salty luncheon meats in sandwiches with cold roast beef or chicken.
	Stop adding salt to food at the table or when cooking – it only takes around three months for our taste buds to adapt to new tastes. When you have weaned yourself off excessive salt, you’ll no longer enjoy the taste of salty food and making low-salt choices will be easy.
	Use herbs and spices such as garlic, oregano, lemon juice and balsamic vinegar to enhance flavour instead of using salt.
	Watch out for ingredients like stock cubes, soy sauce and MSG, as these are loaded with salt. Note that sea salt, onion, celery or garlic salts are not low salt alternatives.
	Buy foods canned in water not brine, eg tinned tuna, baked beans and vegetables.
	The best tip – eat more foods naturally low in salt like fresh fruits and vegetables.

Just as a final note, there are a few situations in which it is best to seek advice from your doctor before altering your salt intake – these are if you are pregnant, ill, taking prescribed medication, or have a past history of kidney disease.

If you have any questions about salt, or a healthy diet in general, feel free to email me at grutherford@fairbrother.com.au.