Despite reports by various national papers yesterday that salt is in fact good for us, NHS Choices has said the research will make no difference to the current NHS advice that adults should eat no more than 6g of salt per day.
The Daily Express reported findings from a new study, published in the American Journal of Hypertension, that suggested salt in the diet can lessen our chances of suffering heart disease and strokes.
NHS Choices said perhaps the story “should be taken with a large pinch of salt”, as the study did not actually suggest that eating high levels of salt is good for us.
“Instead, the research found that in white people with normal blood pressure, a low-salt diet only slightly reduced blood pressure but led to small increases in substances such as cholesterol,” according to NHS Choices.
It added that many of the studies included in the review only lasted a few weeks and that none were designed to look at the effect of salt reduction on longer-term health outcomes such as heart disease and stroke.
The study was carried out by researchers from the Cochrane Collaboration, an international organisation that undertakes systematic reviews of evidence.
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