A joint consensus recently released by the New York Health Department (NYHD) and the American Heart Association (AHA) brought together SFU health science professor Michel Joffres along with 33 of the world’s leading scientists in the field to affirm the benefits and importance of reducing sodium intake to combat one of the world’s deadliest diseases.

Sodium is an important regulator for the body, necessary for proper nerve conduction, muscle activation, and control in blood pressure and blood volume. However, sodium is also a major contributor to heart disease, because it elevates blood pressure, which is the leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease and stroke.

The news release indicated that many studies and controlled trials have shown that a decrease in sodium intake levels has a positive impact on improving health, sustaining lives, and reducing healthcare costs.

The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports heart disease as the leading cause of death in the US, while a Statistics Canada report had it down as the second leading cause of death in Canada, after cancer.

The CDC currently recommends that individuals under the age of 50 consume no more than 2,300 mg of sodium per day—for those over 50, that number drops to less than 1,500 mg.

Nevertheless, Joffres told The Peak that humans require as little as 200 mg of sodium per day for their basic physiological needs. However, he said, “We are consuming about 3,400 mg [of sodium] per day, and young people consume even more.”

Joffres explained that, “We have an appetite for sodium as we did not have high sources of sodium in our evolution. [. . .] Now this appetite has been exploited by industries that make low quality food and use salt to enhance taste.”

Sodium occurs naturally in most foods — milk, beets, celery, and even water, according to the National Institute of Health. Sodium chloride, or table salt, is the most common derivative of sodium and makes up a large percentage of sodium consumed.

However, “[about] 80 per cent of sodium we eat comes from processed food,” said Joffres. Examples include breads, cold meats cuts, pizza slices, and canned soups and vegetables. Other lesser known products that contain sodium are laxatives, aspirin, mouthwash, and toothpaste, according to the Household Products Database.

The best way to avoid unexpected sodium intake is to cook meals at home, emphasizing low sodium, and consuming more fruits and vegetables, advised Joffres. Care should also be taken when reading labels and choosing what is to be eaten.

While Joffres acknowledges that the reduction of sodium intake levels is important, he says that the regulation of sodium usage within food industries and distribution locations is just as integral to the health of the world’s populations.

For now, Joffres hopes to raise awareness of the deadliness of sodium. “You may see the negative effects of high sodium diets much later,” Joffres told The Peak. “It is like a very slow acting poison and is a silent killer.”