Study reveals Spaniards’ salt intake exceeds recommended limit
A study coordinated by the Spanish Nutrition Foundation (FEN) has revealed that sodium intake from food and beverages in Spain exceeds the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommended limit.
According to the findings, Spaniards ingest a daily total of 2,025mg of sodium on average from food and beverages. These figures exceed the WHO’s recommendation of 2,000mg of salt per day from food and beverages.
Overall salt intake was recorded at 5,060mg daily – higher than the recommended limit of 5,000mg.
Findings also revealed that salt intake was significantly higher in man than in women.
In the study, published in Nutrients, it was found that primary sources of sodium were coming from meats, cereals, dairy products, and seafood.
Breaking salt intake into meals, dinner appears to contribute the most daily intake of sodium, at around 30-37% of the total intake. Lunch provides 25-34%, and mid-morning and afternoon snacks account for 5-11% or the total sodium intake.
FEN president Gregorio Varela-Moreiras, who is also a professor of nutrition and bromatology at the Universidad San Pablo-CEU, has stressed that the excess salt calculated does not take into account supplementary salt – which may be added during the cooking process or at the table.
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