Salt Awareness Week
It's Salt Awareness Week, 9th - 15th March 2020
Eating too much salt isn’t just a concern as we get older, eating too much in childhood increases blood pressure. This is then tracked into adulthood and later life increasing the risk of strokes and heart attacks.
Salt puts up our blood pressure and therefore puts our health at risk. Over a long period of time, reducing salt intake can help to prevent the rise in blood pressure that occurs with age.
Small amounts of salt are essential for our health. The Government recommends that adults should be aiming to eat less than 6g of salt per day, that’s about one teaspoon.
The good news is that it's never to late! Any reductions that you make to your salt intake can be beneficial to your health.
Follow a few simple tips that could make a real difference to your salt intake.
- Shop for lower salt foods, read the food labels
- Don't add salt when cooking or at the table
- Make smart choices when eating out
BHF (British Heart Foundation) have produced the below food label decoder. This can be used when you're doing the food shopping to help you choose the healthier option.
Lots more information can be found on NHS Choices, BHF (British Heart Foundation) and CASH (Consensus Action on Salt & Health) websites. You can also download some free recipe books on the CASH website.