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Do you eat too much salt? Scientists have determined the amount not to exceed

In a recent study, researchers have estimated the limit not to cross if you do not want to have health problems related to your salt intake. This controversial term, however, prompted another team to do more research.

The dangers of salt

Currently, the World Health Organization recommends consuming less than 5 grams of salt a day . But this limit is largely exceeded since the average consumption is approaching 10 grams . A worrying finding, when we know that overconsumption salt increases the risk of hypertension, heart disease, and therefore premature death .

Controversial results

In recent work , researchers have studied in more detail the limit of salt intake not to be crossed. They discovered that consuming more than 12.7 grams of salt a day could lead to cardiovascular disease. New data at first interesting, but be careful not to make it an absolute truth because as in any scientific study, the methodology used may have some limitations … which is the case here.

A problem of methodology

Professor Feng He, a researcher at Queen Mary University of London, was interested in the study and said that the data on which the study is based are likely to be biased . The study is based on urine samples , a compound in which the human body evacuates on average 90% of the salt it consumes.

It should be known that the best way to study the level of salt in the urine is to take samples over 3 consecutive periods of 24 hours . A method unfortunately too expensive, because it requires more work and solicits more participants.

For example, several studies on salt consumption ( including the limit of 12.7 grams ) are based on one-off sampling , which is limited to a single 24-hour period. This method based on urinalysis is also not very reliable, because in addition to depending on the duration over which samples are taken, the results can be influenced by other substances consumed by the participants.

Helen Pruden
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