Experts say much intake of salt can be harmful

They took time to speak in Calabar during a roundtable enlightenment discussion with journalists and stressed that even food substances including junk food, cheese, canned food and those consumed by most rural dwellers with high percentage sodium could also lead to hypertension and early death of consumers.“Excessive consumption of salt and food substances containing high […]

They took time to speak in Calabar during a roundtable enlightenment discussion with journalists and stressed that even food substances including junk food, cheese, canned food and those consumed by most rural dwellers with high percentage sodium could also lead to hypertension and early death of consumers.
“Excessive consumption of salt and food substances containing high percentage of sodium could most likely result in high risk hypertension and consequent death of the patients”, said the Head of the Institute of Tropical Diseases, UCTH, Prof.Martins Meremikwu,
Leading a team of other medical experts, Prof Meremikwu said, “The resultant consumption of much salt could lead to ‘mystery’ deaths of the sufferers especially in rural climes where medical attention has not been prioritized.”
The experts also revealed that sodium-containing substances which form 40 percent salt content are destructive to human health as they contribute greatly to high blood pressure leading to vast symptoms and untimely death.
 Dr.Emmanuel Efa, a consultant with the Institute of Tropical Diseases, UCTH  also said that in order to avoid high blood pressure, people should only take about 2,300 milligrams of salt which contains sodium chloride as contained in the dietary guidelines.
 He observed that fast food vendors add plenty of salt to serve as a preservative for their food items, adding that the development does not augur well for the dietary concerns of humans who consume them.
 As a remedy, he recommended healthy lifestyle including zero-intake of cigarettes, caffeine-containing products, enough intake and consumption of fruits, vegetables and food substances that have low salt content.
 Buttressing claims by other experts on consequences of much intake of salt , another expert, Dr.Etim E. Udoh on his part said hypertension has been known to produce such severe conditions and symptoms as stroke, kidney failure, heart attack, blindness, eclamsis [convulsion from pregnant related hypertension] among others warning that the World Health Organization [WHO] has recommended a reduction in the daily intake of salt from 9-12 grammes to 5-6 grammes per day.
 Prof Meremikwu later stressed the essence of Cochrane review and said there was need to evolve clinical expertise, research evidence and patients value to update and test knowledge in a bid to produce current best result and evidence that enables experts arrive at decisions that guarantee the longevity of humans especially patients who suffer from such ailment as hypertension.