Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Reduce Your Salt Intake Now!

Salt is something that we need everyday for our food but it is also a 'poison' that could slowly lead us to death without any warning. This is because excessive sodium (the main component of salt) in our body will increase the chance of getting not only hypertension but also heart disease and stroke.

The American Medical Association (AMA) has, therefore, urged the US federal government to take immediate action to reduce excess salt in food. It is believed that this will help save thousands of lives in the future.

Research also shows that most Americans consume 2 to 3 times the amount of sodium required for the body. About 75 to 80 percent of their daily intake of sodium come from processed and restaurant foods. AMA believes that if the salt intake can be reduced by 50 percent over the next 10 years, at least 150,000 lives a year could be saved.

United States is not the first country to make such request to their citizens. Countries like Finland and Britain have already taken actions on salt and promising results have been seen.

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