What's The Deal With... Salt?

Been skipping the salt for years to protect your heart? We’ve asked the experts whether we should be more liberal with it or whether we should take the latest studies with a pinch of the white stuff.

- Rebecca Speechley

IF YOU THINK TWICE before sprinkling salt on a sneaky portion of chips or adding it to your pasta water, you may not need to question it. While eating too much salt has long been thought to increase your risk of high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke, the very latest research suggests that eating too little could have a similar effect.

The Food Standards Agency recommends you don’t consume more than 2,400mg of sodium, which is 6g of salt a day, but, according to US scientists, eating a lot less than this could actually make you more likely to experience health issues than someone who consumes between 2,500 and 4,000mg sodium (6.25-10g salt) per day. The researchers at the Boston University School of Medicine in Massachusetts found that both very low and very high sodium diets carry an increased risk of high blood pressure. ‘Salt was first declared bad for us decades ago, but now we have better ways of measuring its effects and it seems we might not have to be as cautious as we once thought,’ says Dr Jenna Macciochi, an expert in immunology, nutrition and pharmacy from the University of Sussex. So here’s how to stay salt savvy...

AT A PINCH