TheCable

Consumption of salt is injurious to health and likely result in hypertension, strokes, heart attacks and kidney disease, a UNICEF public health and nutrition consultant has warned.

Dr John Egbuta said people should avoid taking meals with too much salt, particularly at young age.

He said no one should wait till old age before checking the consumption.

“Whether your parents had that history or not, as you continue to grow in life by the time you get to 70, 80 you’ll still have problem with salt,” he said.

“But if you began to discipline yourself at an early stage, you can never have it. Run away from salt, but it is better for the problem not to become a disease, before you begin to handle.

“Once it has manifested it has become a disease and you now have to start struggling to fight it.”

Egbuta explained that as a result of ignorance, many do not take the daily recommended measure of salt that is required for them, adding that almost all ready-made snacks have salt.

He recommended one teaspoon of daily intake of salt to children and advised adults to take less than that.

People should read the labels on processed foods for adequate information that would enable them know the appropriate amount of salt that they should consume, he said.

Salt could prevent some drugs from working effectively in the body, according to him.

Egbuta said the blood pressure of a person could rise if he or she consumed too much salt, adding: “The higher the person’s blood pressure, the greater the strain on their heart, arteries, kidneys and brain”.

He said that heart attacks, strokes, dementia and kidney disease could be caused by high blood pressure.