People who put salt in their food face an increased risk of premature death, new research has found.
A study of more than 500,000 people concluded that those who always added salt to the table had a 28% higher chance of premature death compared to people who rarely or never did so.
Typically, about three in 100 people aged 40 to 69 die early in the general population.
But the study, published in the European Heart Journal, found that one extra person in every 100 could succumb to early death as a result of added salt.
Men aged 50 lose about 2.28 years of their life by consuming extra salt, the study found.
Women of the same age could see their life expectancy decrease by about a year and a half.
Almost 18,500 premature deaths (under the age of 75) were recorded during the nine years of follow-up between 2006 and 2010.
The new study was led by Professor Lu Qi from the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans, US.
Prof Chi, who worked with colleagues at Harvard Medical School, said: “In the Western diet, added table salt accounts for 6%-20% of total salt intake and provides a unique way of assessing the relationship between usual sodium intake and the risk of death.”
Even a “moderate reduction” in sodium intake can lead to “substantial health benefits”, Prof Chee said.
The study took into account factors that could affect the results, including age, gender, race, deprivation, body mass index (BMI), smoking, alcohol intake, physical activity and diet, along with health conditions such as diabetes, cancer and heart diseases.
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The risks of early death associated with added salt were slightly reduced in people who ate more fruit and vegetables – but the difference was not “significant”.
“As our study is the first to report an association between dietary salt addition and mortality, further studies are needed to confirm the findings before recommendations can be made,” said Dr Chee.
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British Heart Foundation senior cardiology nurse Chloe MacArthur warned that “most of the salt” is already in products before they are bought – meaning people are consuming more than they realize – and urged ministers to find ways to promote nutritional – the food industry to reduce salt.
“We need some salt in our diet, but eating too much can lead to high blood pressure, which in turn increases the risk of heart attack and stroke,” she said.
The National Food Strategy, a major review by businessman and restaurateur Henry Dimbleby, includes recommendations for a tax on salt and sugar in a bid to reduce obesity.
But this was rejected by Boris Johnson, who insisted it was not the right time to start “imposing new taxes” on junk food and argued that people should simply “eat less”.
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