SAN FRANCISCO—Reducing daily salt consumption by as little as one-half teaspoon could prevent nearly 100,000 heart attacks and 92,000 deaths each year and reduce U.S. healthcare costs by $24 billion, according to a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Results were derived from the Coronary Heart Disease Policy Model, a computer simulation of heart disease among U.S. adults that has been used by researchers to project benefits from public health interventions. The CHD Policy Model found that reducing dietary salt by three grams per day (about 1200 mg of sodium) would result in 11 percent fewer cases of new heart disease; 13 percent fewer heart attacks; 8 percent fewer strokes; and 4 percent fewer deaths.
“It’s clear that we need to lower salt intake, but individuals find it hard to make substantial cuts because most salt comes from processed foods, not from the salt shaker,” said Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, PhD, MD, lead author of the study. “Our study suggests that the food industry and those who regulate it could contribute substantially to the health of the nation by achieving even small reductions in the amount of salt in these processed foods.”
