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Thursday 23 January 2020 11:03am

Dr Rachael McLean, EDOR researcher and Associate Professor in the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Otago, discusses the measures needed to reduce salt consumption in Aotearoa NZ, in the latest issue of The Listener.

The Listener 18 January article "Over Salt" describes how New Zealanders are still having on average 50% more salt than the recommended daily upper limit.  This exposes us to a higher risk of cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack and stroke.

Dr McLean, a member of the Ministry of Health's sodium working group (sodium is the component in salt that affects your blood pressure), talks about the need to change our diet, but also that the salt content of processed foods needs to be lowered.

"If we can reduce salt in the food supply, then probably everyone will reduce their salt intake, but particularly the people who need to the most."

Read the Listener article online

Halt your salt: The latest research on salt's link to heart, cancer and brain diseases, New Zealand Listener online, 1 February, 2020.

Tips for reducing your salt intake

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