What if you could start by making small changes to your everyday foods, like bread and takeout, to improve your heart health?

What if no one had to change their diet or follow strict rules to see reality? advantage?New research from France and the UK suggests this idea may already be at work.?

Scientists now show that reducing the salt content of common foods by a small amount could prevent thousands of heart attacks, strokes and premature deaths. Most people won’t even notice the difference in taste.

salt increases blood pressure

Salt contains sodium sodium It helps regulate how blood moves through the body. If the daily intake remains high for many years, blood pressure tends to rise.

This increased pressure, known as high blood pressure, puts extra strain on your heart and blood vessels, increasing your risk of heart attack, stroke, kidney disease, and several other serious conditions.

Most people don’t realize how much salt is in their daily diet. Bread, processed foods, and take-out dishes all contain large amounts of salt, even if they don’t attract attention.

Because these foods frequently appear on dinner tables, even small reductions can add up to large amounts when applied to an entire country.

To understand the impact of this idea, two new studies investigated what would happen if governments and food companies worked together to lower the salt content of everyday foods.

small changes save lives

Both studies used computer models. These models estimated future health outcomes if: salt The reduction target was fully achieved. The goal was not to change individual habits, but to improve the food environment itself.

Dr. Clemence Grave, lead author of the French study, said: French National Public Health Agency.

“This approach is particularly powerful because it doesn’t rely on changes in individual behavior, which are often difficult to achieve or maintain. Instead, it can create a healthier food environment by default,” Dr. Glave said.

The results of this study showed that even small reductions in daily salt intake can lower blood pressure in large populations. Over time, this change could save many lives.

Reduced salt in bread

Bread is an everyday food in France. Baguettes and other breads are traditionally high in salt. In fact, bread alone provides about a quarter of your daily recommended sodium intake.

In 2019, France set a national goal to reduce salt intake by 30%. In 2022, the government reached a voluntary agreement with bread producers to reduce salt levels by 2025.

By 2023, most breads will already meet the new standards. Researchers studied what would happen if these goals were fully achieved.

The analysis showed that daily salt intake decreased by about 0.35 grams per person. Although this amount may sound small, the health effects were meaningful.

Estimated benefits to France

We estimated that the model fully complies with the following criteria: salt Achieving reduction targets would prevent approximately 1,186 deaths each year. Fewer people will need hospital treatment for ischemic heart disease, and hospital admissions will fall by just over 1 percent.

Hospitalizations for hemorrhagic and ischemic strokes would also be reduced. Within the female age group, women aged 55 to 64 showed the largest increase, although this effect appeared to be slightly stronger for men.

“This salt reduction measure went completely unnoticed by the French public, and no one realized that the bread contained less salt,” Dr Glave said. “Our findings show that food reformulation, even small and invisible changes, can have a significant impact on public health.”

“These results highlight the need for collaboration between policy makers, industry and health professionals.”

Reducing salt in processed foods

The second study focused on the United Kingdom. Researchers looked at processed foods and meals eaten outside the home, such as hamburgers, pizza and curry.

The country has set sodium reduction targets for 84 food categories and 24 household food categories. This study investigated what would happen if all of these goals were achieved.

The results showed that average daily salt intake could be reduced from about 6.1 grams to 4.9 grams. This corresponds to a reduction of 17.5% per person.

Health effects of reducing salt intake

Over time, the model suggested that reducing salt intake could prevent approximately 103,000 cases of ischemic heart disease and approximately 25,000 strokes.

These health gains are estimated to add 243,000 quality-adjusted life years to the population as a whole. At the same time, health spending could be reduced by around £1 billion due to lower morbidity rates.

“We know that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the UK, so reducing salt intake and blood pressure could lead to significant benefits,” said Phil’s Lauren Bundy. oxford university.

“If UK food companies had fully met their 2024 salt reduction targets, the result would have been a reduction in salt intake across the population and could have prevented tens of thousands of heart attacks and strokes.”

What does this mean outside of Europe?

Experts say these findings are important far beyond France and the UK.

“Both of these modeling studies demonstrate the potential benefits of reducing sodium intake to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke,” said Daniel W. Jones, dean of the University of Mississippi. Faculty of Medicine.

Small changes in food recipes may seem uninteresting. But this study shows that without asking people to change what ends up on their plates, we can save millions of hearts by quietly changing common foods.

The research will be published in a journal high blood pressure.

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