The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
The Canadian Stroke Network is working to reduce sodium levels in processed, packaged and fast foods because it hopes to prevent strokes in thousands of Canadians. ÒWhen you look at various opportunities to try to reduce hypertension, sodium stands out as being unique,Ó says Dr. Antoine Hakim, CEO and Scientific Director of the CSN. ÒThe impact will be at a population level.Ó High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a treatable condition that leads to more than half of the 50,000 strokes in Canada every year. One in four adult Canadians has hypertension Ð about 5.3 million people. A third of those people could eliminate the problem by consuming an Adequate Daily Intake of 1,200-1,500 mg a day of dietary sodium. But cutting sodium intake is a difficult thing. Sodium is hidden in much of the food that we eat Ð even in seemingly healthy things like cereal, breads, vegetable soups and muffins. It is a cheap preservative and flavour enhancer for products that donÕt always contain top-quality ingredients. In processed meats, it is used to bind water to boost the weight of the product. According to recent surveys, Canadian food products are among the saltiest in the world and the average Canadian consumes more than double the healthy level of sodium a day. The Canadian Stroke Network (CSN) wants to flush high salt levels from our food supply. The Network took up the sodium issue in 2005 when it initiated discussions with University of Calgary hypertension expert Dr. Norm Campbell, who was later awarded the CIHR Chair in Hypertension Prevention and Control. Next, CSN management reviewed the evidence around sodium and began to urge Health Canada to include warnings about sodium in CanadaÕs Food Guide. ÒWorking with our partners, we were successful in convincing Health Canada officials that, for the first time, sodium should be included in the new Food Guide,Ó says CSN Executive Director Katie Lafferty. The CSN would go on to coordinate media coverage around a National Sodium Policy statement for Canada, released by 17 health groups and professional associations, and welcomed the appointment of a federal working group, established by Health Minister Tony Clement to study the issue. ÒBy cutting hidden salt in processed foods, we will not only make an impact on the incidence of stroke but also other health conditions, including heart and kidney diseases, stomach cancer and dementia,Ó Dr. Hakim says. ÒReducing the sodium in our food supply will have a dramatic impact on the burden of chronic disease in Canada.Ó Salt Facts Salt is sodium chloride. One level teaspoon of salt contains just over six grams of salt. Six grams of salt contains about 2,300 milligrams (mg) of sodium. 2,300 mg is the Tolerable Upper Intake Level of dietary sodium Ð the maximum amount per day compatible with good health. National guidelines for Adequate Intakes of sodium by age: 1-3 years: 1,000 mg per day 4-8 years: 1,200 mg per day 9-50 years: 1,500 mg per day 50-70 years: 1,300 mg per day 70 years: 1,200 mg per day
