Salt Awareness Week

Salt Awareness Week 2010 kicks off on Monday. It is run in the UK by CASH - expect to see items in the news about sodium and health.

Salt in Pasta Sauces

No shock here, as shop-bought pasta sauces are revealed to be high in salt. You can read the full report, from CASH, here. Worst of the lot was Jamie Oliver's range, with 5.3g salt per portion for his Spicy Olive, Garlic and Tomato sauce (no excuse for all that salt if it's spicy!). There are a couple of good Weight Watchers options there though, and it's worth noting that, although the pestos were generally high in salt per 100g, you would of course eat far less of it per serving than a sauce.

Kill or Cure?

Damn you, Daily Mail
Originally uploaded by floongle

I spend a fair bit of time reading health-related news items, so this website tickled me. It aims to "help to make sense of the Daily Mail’s ongoing effort to classify every inanimate object into those that cause cancer and those that prevent it". The number of things which are claimed do both (e.g. alcohol, milk), according to various studies, should remind us just how much research there needs to be before a definitive answer is found.

Which reminds me of the site Sense about Science, which I urge anybody using the internet to read up on health issues to take a look at.

News Roundup from CASH and the BPA

While I've been offline, CASH have of course been continuing their excellent work (for which they've received an award from the Chief Medical Officer), highlighting the sodium levels in foods targetted at those on special diets (I have one of those nasty nut allergies, so a subject close to my heart).

Also, the Blood Pressure Association has confirmed what your gran always told you, that porridge is the best possible breakfast, and that there may be an explanation for how vegetables help to lower your BP. Know Your Numbers Week was last month, and a survey showed that black cab drivers throughout the country, like many of us, have high blood pressure, and don't know it.

Also in the news - I have heard that restaurants and retailers are continuing to lower their sodium levels. More on this soon...

FSA Salt Calculator

Hello again! Thinking of disinterring this blog...and wanted to share this with you.

The FSA have launched a salt calculator here (scroll down a bit), which you can use to more easily compare salt contents of foods. They've also launched an app for the iPhone called FSA Salt, which is free. I've tried it and it's really good. But then I am a bit of a geek.

A great way of fathoming out what the various different labels are trying to tell you.

Alcohol Free Week 2009

Celebrate Alcohol Free Week 2009 with offers from the excellent Alcohol Free Shop. It coincides with Lent, so what's your excuse not to skip the booze?...

Salt Awareness Week 2009 - 2nd to 8th February

Next week is CASH's annual Salt Awareness Week. Their website has lots of guidance, and information on recent research, and is well worth a visit.

Or why not take a look at my top ten tips for reducing your sodium intake? If you can only manage to take one step, the single easiest and most effective way to reduce your salt intake is to change your breakfast cereal.

Know Your Numbers - Results

The results of the Blood Pressure Association's "Know Your Numbers" week are in, and it makes sobering reading.

At least 246,000 adults across the UK had a free blood pressure check. Only 24% of people tested had an 'optimal' reading. This means 76% (187,000) of those tested should be taking positive action to lower their blood pressure.

Across the UK, 38% (more than 93,000 people) had high blood pressure readings (at least 140/90mmHg) which needed further investigation.

Even 'average' readings across the UK fell into the 'high normal' definition (130/85 - 139/89mmHg). The final report is here. See page 6 for the headlines.

Beetroot Lowers Blood Pressure, Apparently

Beetroots
Originally uploaded by Anushruti RK

Recent research suggests that beetroot may lower blood pressure.

"HeartBeet", a new, palatable beetroot juice (it has apple juice added to it) has now come onto the market and is available from Holland & Barrett.

Christmas Dinner "Loaded with Salt"

Lyndsey's Christmas feast
Originally uploaded by claracluc

It's just once a year, so probably not worth getting too worked up about (unless you're this chap), but look at the figures on the bread sauce and stuffing.

Merry Christmas!

Another (albeit slightly obscure) reason to cut down on salt...

fingerprint
Originally uploaded by Toodlesnot

It seems criminals would be well-advised to follow a low sodium diet, according to recent research from the University of Leicester.

A diet high in salty foods results in saltier sweat, which can produce mild, fingerprint-shaped corrosion on metals such as bullet casings, which can then be spotted by new fingerprinting techniques.

Breakfast...again

Day 165 - Fry up
Originally uploaded by DragonDrop

I love breakfast, so do keep returning to this subject. The CASH website carries a recent report which raises concerns about the salt content in typical breakfasts. A traditional fry-up can contain your full daily allowance, 6g.

The spreadsheet is well worth a look - it lists sodium contents for breakfast cereals, takeaway breakfasts, toast, coffee...everything you could possibly want, and because it's in a spreadsheet, you can sort it and be suitably shocked at some of the measurements, but also find some good low sodium options.

The Evidence Builds in Favour of Chocolate...

The evidence that eating a little dark chocolate every day reduces blood pressure continues to mount.

At this rate I may start a campaign to get chocolate available on prescription.

Know Your Numbers - Free Blood Pressure Checks

Next week (8th-14th September) is the Blood Pressure Association's "Know Your Numbers" week.



They are setting up 3000 blood pressure measurement stations around the country, where you can get your BP measured quickly and for free. Click here to find your nearest station.

A thought - I wonder if having your BP measured in this sort of non-clinical setting would mean you would be less likely to experience white coat syndrome?

Oh dear.

West Norfolk Council are sending salt shakers with fewer holes to chippies in the hope that it will reduce the salt intake of the customers. And no, this isn't an urban myth, it's on the BBC website, complete with a quote from the Council.

Vive le Sel!

The lack of recent posts has been because we have been away on holiday in the Dordogne region of France. Very nice it was too (especially because the weather in the UK was so bad!) but we did have to abandon our healthy diet temporarily. OK, we didn't have to, but you can't go on holiday and not eat out, and I wasn't about to spend hours slaving in the kitchen.

Although more people seem to cook from scratch there, there also seems to be more of a reliance on ham, cheese and bread, and so reports from government research body INSERM show that the French end up consuming 10g of salt a day - more than in the average UK diet, which is now 8.4g per day (although the "everyday" cheese there is Emmental which is much lower in sodium that the cheddar which we Brits use for everything).

It seems that they have no immediate plans to change anything - a recently proposed VAT rise on unhealthy foods to 19.6% has been abandoned due to the credit crunch. So let's hope that all those unhealthy eating habits are cancelled out by red wine.

Dispatches: Sandwiches Unwrapped

This week's Dispatches on Channel 4 took a look at sandwiches. Much of the programme focussed on a sandwich factory which had rats, however they also took a look at nutrition.

Boots came out top for nutritional value, most often reaching the FSA guidelines for low sodium/fat/saturated fat. Subway and Pret a Manger both did poorly, as did the posh sarnies from Marks & Spencer.

Looking at the Subway website, it's not straightforward to fathom out what you get in any given sandwich, as they list all the ingredients separately, however here are the highest and lowest options I could put together, avoiding dressings...

Highest sodium option - Wrap with Meatball Marinara - 2.6g sodium per sandwich, more than the daily recommended intake for an adult

Lowest sodium option - Honey Oat 6 inch Veggie Delite - 0.5g sodium per sandwich

UK Salt Intake Has Fallen by 3000 Elephants

Elephants
Many thanks to kjdrill for the beautiful photo

Great news for our health - the BBC reports that the average salt intake in the UK has fallen by almost a gramme in the last seven years - from 9.5g to 8.6g a day. This means that more people will be reaching the goal of not more than 6g a day.

You can read the full report here, and CASH's (Consensus Action on Salt and Health) response here. They have calculated, usefully, that this has removed 19,700 tonnes of salt from the UK diet, equivalent to 3000 male elephants.

Dark Chocolate Can "Ease" Blood Pressure

Green & Black's Espresso Chocolate
Originally uploaded by faerieenigma

This is an article from ages ago, but one I hadn't seen until I saw it stuck on the chocolate display in the chemists yesterday. Our local pharmacist Derek always has the health of the community at heart :-)

Thanks to faerieenigma, a fellow chocolate lover, for the photo.

Salt in Children's Diets

The Sunday Times ran an item today on the salt in children's diets:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article4079712.ece

Good to see this issue getting some publicity.