Friday 16 October 2015 11:53am
Dr Rachael McLean, EDOR member and public health physician, has been interviewed by Alison Ballance at Radio NZ on how we can reduce our salt intake. The sodium present in salt has an effect on blood pressure, and too much sodium can contribute to heart attacks and strokes, as well as kidney disease.
The World Health Organization recommends that healthy adult eat no more than 2 grams (or 2000 mg) of sodium a day, which is approximately one teaspoon of salt. Currently in New Zealand, we consume more than one and a half times that amount. Much of this salt can be found in processed foods, so checking the food labels is important.
Dr McLean, also a senior lecturer at the University of Otago, is investigating how feasible it is for the average New Zealander to lower their sodium intake, and what changes they need to make to their diet to achieve this. Master's student Catherine Lofthouse is studying ten volunteers to identify the barriers people face when trying to lower their salt intake. Support strategies she uses include low sodium recipes, using the "Low Salt" salt product, and a free phone app called Foodswitch to help interpret food labels.
Listen to the interview
Too much salt, Our Changing World, Radio NZ, 1 October, 2015
