According to the medical journal Circulation, reducing sodium intake globally will save millions of lives (source: 27.08.19)
That’s a mission worth campaigning for. And that’s why LoSalt is working together with health professionals and organisations, campaigning to season with sense. Our shared mission is to change, not just individuals’ salt consumption, but to shape the way our whole society views and uses salt.
The recent popularity of “posh” salt is a good example of a trend we need to address as a society, as many consumers believe that pink Himalayan salt, rock salts, flavoured salts and sea salts are healthier, when in fact they contain exactly the same amount of sodium as table salt.
To cut our salt intake significantly, we need to know what the food and condiments on our supermarket shelves contain. We need to campaign for more consumer information and education.
And we need to campaign for more healthy living advice and support, so that both as a society and as individuals we can make small and informed changes to what we buy, cook and eat and by doing so make significant improvements to our health and wellbeing.
Dr Sarah Jarvis, MBE
(medical advisor to LoSalt)
Dr Sarah Jarvis has over 30 years’ experience working in the NHS. After training in medicine at both Cambridge and Oxford, she became a GP in an inner-city London practice.
In addition to her “day-job” Dr Sarah Jarvis is a well-known face in the media and comments regularly on all health issues. She believes passionately in helping people to take control of their own health and making sure that everyone has enough reliable health information to allow them to make really informed decisions.
Sarah has been the resident doctor for the Jeremy Vine show on BBC Radio 2 for the last 16 years. She appears on Good Morning Britain on ITV, Jeremy Vine on Channel 5, BBC World News, BBC Radio 4, Radio 5 live, Channel 5 news and LBC. In addition, she writes regular columns in Good Housekeeping and My Weekly magazines. If that didn’t keep her busy enough, Sarah is Clinical Director of the patient information website Patient.info, which provides free health information, written by NHS doctors, for patients all over the world.
She says: “Research by LoSalt shows that more than half (58%) of people are not concerned about how much salt they are eating and 86 per cent of people do not know how much salt they should be consuming each day. This worries me greatly because, in the UK, we are still eating far too much salt. If salt intake fell by a third, it would prevent 8,000 premature deaths in the UK each year and save the NHS over £500 million annually.
“No matter how old or young you are, too much salt can affect your health. Even if you are young and don’t suffer from high blood pressure, you could be storing up problems for later in life. Learning how to reduce salt intake so that it becomes a habit is a good lesson for everyone.”
Sally Bee
(LoSalt brand ambassador)
Sally Bee is a motivational speaker on the subject of health and wellbeing. Specialising in healthy cooking, she is the chef for The Lorraine Show on ITV, the author of six bestselling cookbooks and a mother of three children. Sally has survived five heart attacks and attributes a healthy diet as a fundamental building block to recovery and to her enjoyment of everyday life.
In 2004, at the age of just 36, Sally suffered three heart attacks and doctors advised her husband to prepare to say his goodbyes. But miraculously Sally survived and credits her passion for healthy eating with saving her life.
She says: “Instead of wrapping myself in a cocoon I decided to embrace everything life had to offer and realised very early on that the food I ate affected my health. When I fed my body with good nutrients, it reacted in a positive way,” she said.
A low sodium diet is hugely important for Sally but, as a passionate foodie and cook, she knows how a little salt is sometimes helpful in bringing out the delicious flavours of healthy ingredients. She says: “With the issue of high blood pressure in the UK on the rise, it’s important to remember that continuously cooking with salt can create health problems. Using reduced sodium alternatives like LoSalt means I can continue to develop delicious tasting recipes without the guilt. I can use it in exactly the same way as regular salt – whether it’s for seasoning, cooking or baking.”
Read more about Sally’s story here www.sally-bee.com/my-story/ and
check out more of her advice for all round wellness on her website www.sally-bee.com
Blood Pressure UK
(supported by LoSalt)
Blood Pressure UK is the only charity solely dedicated to lowering the nation’s blood pressure in order to prevent disability and death from stroke and heart disease.
Since October 2000 Blood Pressure UK – previously known as ‘Blood Pressure Association’ – has been making a real difference to the 16 million people affected by high blood pressure in the UK. They work tirelessly to ensure that high blood pressure is at the top of everyone’s health agenda – not just for every individual adult in the UK but within government, amongst health professionals and across the media.
Because we share Blood Pressure UK’s vision to help people take control of their lifestyle and their long term health, LoSalt has been supporting Blood Pressure UK for over 10 years.
Know your Numbers! is Blood Pressure UK’s award-winning flagship campaign which raises awareness of the risks of high blood pressure. The highlight of the campaign is Know your Numbers! Week, the nation’s biggest blood pressure testing event, which takes place in the second week of September each year. LoSalt are proud to support this activity each year.
For more information on Blood Pressure UK and Know Your Numbers!® visit:
www.bloodpressureuk.org
www.bloodpressureuk.org/kyn
Action on Salt & World Action on Salt
(supported by LoSalt)
Action on Salt and World Action on Salt are the leading campaign groups concerned with salt and its effect on population health.
Action on Salt (formerly known as Consensus Action on Salt & Health, CASH) was set up in 1996 as a response to the Chief Medical Officer’s refusal to endorse the COMA (Committee on Medical Aspects of Food and Nutrition Policy) recommendations for the reduction of salt intake. This position was contrary to medical and scientific consensus at that time, so the charity’s mission was to promote the wealth of scientific evidence, which clearly linked high salt intake to ill health.
Action on Salt is successfully working to reach a consensus with the food industry and the Government over the harmful effects of a high salt diet, and bring about a reduction in
the amount of salt in processed foods, as well as salt added to cooking and at the table. As a result, many supermarkets and food manufacturers have gradually been reducing the salt content of their products, following a comprehensive salt reduction program led by Government.
Established in 2005, World Action on Salt & Health (WASH) aims to translate the success of the UK salt reduction strategy throughout the world, providing resources and advice to their network of expert members in 100 countries, all of whom are committed to improving the health of populations throughout the world by achieving a gradual reduction in salt intake.
Each year Action on Salt organise a national ‘Salt Awareness Week’ and an international ‘World Salt Awareness Week’, where the organisations talk directly to the general public, providing information about how much salt is hidden in our favourite foods and encouraging consumers to campaign for the reduction of unnecessary added salt.
LoSalt is proud to support these campaigns each year.
For more information on these groups visit:
www.actiononsalt.org.uk
www.worldactiononsalt.com