Salt reduction benefits health

Salt is essential thing in daily life. Dishes will be tasteless without salt. Too much salt is good? In today’s Personal Health column, Jane Brody explores the science behind New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s efforts to curb sodium intake. She writes:

The researchers calculated that the half-teaspoon reduction would “reduce the annual number of new cases of coronary heart disease by 60,000 to 120,000, stroke by 32,000 to 66,000, and myocardial infarction [heart attack] by 54,000 to 99,000, and reduce the annual number of deaths from any cause by 44,000 to 92,000.”

That, dear reader, would be a very big bang for a relatively small buck. The researchers’ suggested salt reduction would hardly render food tasteless, especially if the reduction is done gradually, as Mr. Bloomberg has proposed. Currently, the average American man consumes 10.4 grams of salt a day, and the average American woman consumes 7.3 grams.