It’s a small gesture that could have disastrous consequences for your health, adding salt to your plate. The link between excessive consumption of this condiment and the risks of high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, obesity and even kidney diseases are well known. The WHO recommends not consuming more than 5 grams (g) per day. In the past, researchers have estimated that reducing the amount of salt by one teaspoon can reduce high blood pressure. But what about the risks associated with kidney disease?
Kidney diseases: systematically adding salt to your dishes would increase the risk
Researchers from Tulan University in the United States wanted to know if adding salt to a dish could increase the risk of kidney disease. They noted that people who most regularly added salt to their dishes during meals had a greater risk of kidney disease. Their results are published in the journal JAMA Network Open.
To arrive at these results, the researchers based themselves on a panel of 465,288 people, not suffering from chronic kidney disease at the start of the study and registered in the UK Biobank, a study which analyzes the lifestyle of the participants. Participants were asked, in particular, to declare whether they added salt to their dish or not. Data was analyzed from October 2022 to April 2023
The researchers recommend “reduce the frequency of adding salt to foods” to limit the risk of kidney disease
The researchers noted that people who reported a higher frequency of adding salt to foods were more likely to have a higher BMI, had lower incomes, and had an eGFR (a test measuring the amount of blood in the kidneys can filter per minute) decreased compared to those adding the least salt. “Participants who added salt to their foods were also more likely than those who did not to be current smokers and to suffer of diabetes or cardiovascular diseases at baseline”, emphasize the researchers.
But what about the risk for chronic kidney disease? Over the period analyzed, researchers noted 22,031 chronic kidney disease events. The authors found that people who were more likely to add salt to their dishes had a higher risk than those who did so less often. The researchers therefore conclude that “reducing the frequency of adding salt to foods at the table could be a valuable strategy to reduce the risk of chronic kidney disease in the general population”.
Sources:
- Self-Reported Frequency of Adding Salt to Food and Risk of Incident Chronic Kidney Disease – JAMA Network Open
- Sodium reduction World Health Organization (WHO)