According to a study of over half a million individuals, those who add extra salt to their food at the dinner table have a greater chance of dying prematurely.
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Those who consistently added salt to their diet had a 28% higher chance of passing away too early in comparison to those who rarely or never did so.
Within the general population, between the ages of 40 and 69, around three out of every hundred persons pass away too soon. According to the new study, an additional 1 out of every 100 people in this age range may die early due to adding extra salt to their meals.
On top of that, the research team looked at the life expectancy of individuals that always put extra salt on all of their meals and contrasted them with those that rarely or never add salt.
It turns out that, at age 50, men who add extra salt to every meal have lost approximately 2.3 years of their life expectancy and women who do the same about 1,5 years.
Image Credit: European Heart Journal
The study
The team looked at the data of over half a million people that participated in the immense UK Biobank study.
At the time participants joined the Biobank study, they were asked about their sodium intake.
While analyzing the data, the team made adjustments to account for variables that may have an impact on results, including age, gender, race, BMI (body mass index), whether or not the participant smokes, alcohol use, and physical activity.
In addition, the researchers corrected for various illnesses, such as diabetes and heart/blood vessel disorders. They monitored the individuals for nine years on average. Death before the age of 75 was seen as premature.
Results
The researchers discovered that people who added salt to all of their meals had a higher risk of early/untimely death.
The study's lead author, Professor Lu Qi, stated that their research is the first to examine the connection between added salt to food and early death.
Due to the fact that this analysis is the first to find a connection between putting extra salt on meals and mortality, further research is required for confirmation before making any hard recommendations.
Nonetheless, a strength of this study is that it has been done on an enormous research group. The evidence suggests that even slightly lowering the amount of salt taken in on a daily basis could improve health, particularly when looking at the population at large.
Read more about healthy cooking: What is the best way to cook vegetables for maximum nutritional value?
The results of the research have been published in the peer-reviewed European Heart Journal. We have listed it below for those that are interested in more details.
Sources and further reading:
Adding salt to foods and hazard of premature mortality (European Heart Journal)
Salt substitutes shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and death - (Universal-Sci)
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