Bulletin Board

Salt away

The average Canadian diet contains about 3500 mg of sodium daily (approximately 1.5 teaspoons of salt), which is approximately 2000 mg more than is recommended for most adults. Meta-analyses have shown that a daily 1840-mg reduction in dietary sodium (0.8 teaspoon of salt) would reduce blood pressure by 5.1/2.7 mm Hg. Table 1 shows the potential reduction in death and hypertension from this modest reduction in salt intake.

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Table 1

Potential reduction in death and hypertension from a reduction in dietary sodium of 1840 mg/d (0.8 teaspoon of salt) in Canada

The College of Family Physicians of Canada has recently endorsed a policy statement on sodium from Blood Pressure Canada. For more information on this statement, including a table on sodium intake recommendations by age, see the Blood Pressure Canada website at www.hypertension.ca/bpc.