vitamin c. No pinch of salt

Indians consume a total average of 10 gm of salt per day per person, which is twice the recommended WHO Guideline on salt/sodium consumption for human beings in India.

Indian cooking uses lot of spices, tomato, tamarind, onion, etc, as the base for the curries or meals due to which the requirement of salt in cooking goes up.

Drastic changes are needed in the cooking habits, such as the following:

Salt should be added as the last ingredient while cooking. The Indian habit of tasting the recipes in between cooking makes one add more salt. Initially the food should be allowed to cook with the salt available naturally in these foods and then the required salt should be added.

While boiling vegetables, it should be no-salt boiling or the residual water after boiling should be discarded as this water contains the residual left out from cooking.

Indian cooking should move from boiling to steaming, to grilling or microwave cooking as this requires little salt.

Replace salt with herbs and other seasoning wherever possible so as to mask the low-salt taste.

Usage of Lite salts (salts with lower sodium content) is desirable.

The taste of salt requirements is when the food rolls over the tongue while chewing in the mouth. Hence, if salt is added last, then the sodium remains on the surface of the food and the low-salt cooking tastes normal. Except for the salty taste, the body adjusts easily to eating less salt. As the taste buds adjust, the desire for salty tastes will decline.

Develop children’s taste towards low-salt foods, guide them to reject foods with high salt content.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, US, reducing sodium content by 25 per cent across the 10 major food categories that contribute high sodium intake could reduce daily sodium intake by 11 per cent, or approximately 360 mg. This is significant, considering a slash in daily sodium consumption of 400 mg has been projected to prevent 28,000 deaths annually, along with saving $7 billion in healthcare expenditures.

The projected benefits of sodium reduction are substantial. Several studies have estimated the societal benefits of population-wide sodium reduction. In the most recent and comprehensive set of projections, the effects of 400 mg/d to 1,200 mg/d reduction in sodium intake on a variety of relevant outcomes has been quantified. A national effort that reduces sodium intake by 1,200 mg/d should result in 60,000 to 1,20,000 fewer coronary heart disease events, 32,000 to 66,000 fewer strokes, 54,000 to 99,000 fewer myocardial infarctions, and 44,000 to 92,000 fewer deaths, and save 1,94,000 to 3,92,000 quality-adjusted life-years and $10 to $24 billion in healthcare costs annually.

Even if average sodium intake is reduced by just 400 mg/d, the benefits would still be substantial and warrant implementation. Accomplishing population-wide sodium reduction is similar to achieving other lifestyle modifications, in that a substantial public health approach will be required to facilitate environmental changes that support changes in individual behaviour. Indeed, the need for an effective public health approach is even greater for sodium reduction than other lifestyle modifications. For example, in contrast to cigarette smoking, where usage is evident and deliberate by the consumer, the sodium content of our diets is not readily apparent.

As the processed foods industry advances in India, up to more than 75 per cent of consumed sodium will come from processed foods. Even those who read labels are often left without realistic alternatives to high-sodium foods, and as eating out has increased, consumers are subjected to excessive sodium intake from routinely served, processed foods. Some food items are extremely high in sodium. However, from a public health perspective, the problem of excess sodium intake largely reflects the cumulative intake of common foods that are only moderately high in sodium. Hence, any meaningful strategy to reduce sodium intake population-wide must involve the efforts of food manufacturers, food processors, and restaurant industries, a strategy that is being successfully implemented in other countries. For example, the UK has a vigorous salt reduction campaign, which has resulted in an estimated population-wide reduction in sodium intake of 10 per cent.

Hence, to lower salt consumption in India, we need a national mission with a four-pronged approach (CRMR) to form the base for a comprehensive policy:

Communication — establishing and evaluating public awareness campaigns.

Reformulation — setting progressive salt targets for reformulating existing processed food and engaging with the food industry in setting standards for new foods.

Monitoring — surveying population salt intake, progress of reformulation, and effectiveness of communication.

Regulation — engagement with industry, including regulation, to create a level playing field so as not to disadvantage more enlightened and progressive companies.

With the above recommendations, we can hope to prevent the devastating life disease, hypertension, in India.

Vitamin c is a regular section on consumer empowerment

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