Vietnamese people have high blood pressure and heart disease due to their habit of eating salty foods

Respond to the press World Hypertension Day May 17Professor. Pham Manh Hung, Director of the Cardiovascular Institute – Hospital 198, said hypertension is a “silent killer” because the disease often progresses silently for many years but can cause serious complications such as stroke, myocardial infarction, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, chronic kidney failure, blood vessel damage and early death.

In Vietnam, the rate of hypertension in adults is about 25-30%, equivalent to tens of millions of people with the disease. Worryingly, the disease tends to rejuvenate rapidly due to a sedentary lifestyle, prolonged stress, salty eating, obesity and heavy alcohol use.

Results of the 2021 National Non-communicable Disease Risk Factors Survey (STEPS) of the Ministry of Health show that the average amount of salt consumed by Vietnamese people per day is about 8.1 g, down from 9.4 g in 2015 but still nearly double the recommendation of less than 5 g/day of the World Health Organization (WHO). About 8.7% of the population regularly consume processed foods containing high salt content.

Nutrition experts warn that eating salty foods is one of the causes of high blood pressure and a series of dangerous cardiovascular diseases. MSc.BS. Ngo Thi Ha Phuong, Institute of Nutrition, said sodium (a component of salt) is an essential mineral that helps the body maintain fluid balance, nerve transmission and muscle activity. However, excess sodium compared to recommended needs causes increased permeability, increased vascular tone, water retention in cells, and increased peripheral resistance, causing increased blood pressure.

Dr. Phuong acknowledged that what is worrying is that hypertension caused by eating salty foods often happens silently over many years. Consuming high amounts of sodium (salt, spices, salt-containing foods…) over long periods of time increases blood pressure in most people and interacts with metabolic pathways related to obesity, insulin resistance and kidney damage.

Many people believe that the kidneys can eliminate excess salt on their own, so eating salty foods is not a concern if the body is healthy. In fact, when salt intake is too large for a long time, the kidneys have to work continuously to eliminate sodium and water. Prolonged overload causes kidney function to decline and increases the risk of high blood pressure.

Not only that, a high-salt diet also makes antihypertensive medications, especially diuretics, less effective. Prolonged high blood pressure damages blood vessel walls, promotes atherosclerosis, and increases the risk of stroke, heart failure and coronary artery disease.

According to a 2011 study, in the Vietnamese diet, about 80% of sodium comes from spices added when cooking and dipping directly such as fish sauce, soup powder, seasoning powder, shrimp paste, and soy sauce. About 20% comes from processed foods such as sausages, sausages, canned foods, snacks, instant noodles and foods that naturally contain salt. Many familiar dishes at restaurants also contain high amounts of salt due to their strong taste. This causes many people to accidentally exceed the recommended salt threshold every day without realizing it.

Research shows that if daily salt consumption is controlled at 5-6 g, blood pressure can be reduced by 2-8 mmHg. If you maintain a long-term bland diet, the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke is also significantly reduced.

Experts recommend that to prevent hypertension and cardiovascular disease, people need to change their eating habits early. The most important measure is to gradually reduce the amount of salt in cooking, limit processed foods and reduce the habit of adding fish sauce and sauce to meals. When buying packaged foods, be sure to read the sodium content on the nutrition label.

From May 11 to 17, World Salt Awareness Week takes place. This year’s campaign calls for reducing the amount of salt in processed and packaged foods.