NEW DELHI: Potassium salt may provide a good alternative to sodium, and must be promoted, said experts on Wednesday while welcoming a new recommendation by the World Health Organization (WHO) on potassium-enriched salt to combat hypertension and related heart risks.
The WHO, in its recent guideline, suggests using K-salt or potassium chloride instead of regular table salt, rich in sodium. It may reduce noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and chronic kidney disease by lowering blood pressure.
It also lowers the risks of other conditions associated with high sodium intake, such as gastric cancer. As per the WHO, every year 80 Lakh people die due to poor diet. Of these, 19 lakh deaths are attributable to high sodium intake.
“High sodium concentration is associated with higher blood pressure level. Long-term impact leads to hypertension and heart disease, ” Dr. Harshal R Salve, Additional professor, Centre for community medicine at AIIMS, New Delhi, told IANS.
The WHO guidelines reiterated to reduce sodium intake to less than 2 grams per day -- equivalent to about 5 grams of salt. It also recommended doing away with table salt as it continues to cut down sodium intake. And it also urged people to partially replace table salt with potassium.
The guideline also provides evidence-informed guidance on the use of lower-sodium salt substitutes (LSSS). LSSS are alternatives to regular salt both for discretionary use as salt added to foods by the consumer during cooking or when eating and for non-discretionary use as an ingredient present in manufactured foods and foods served at restaurants and other out-of-home settings.
These are also used in sodium-containing condiments, such as soy sauce and fish sauce, which are common discretionary sources of dietary sodium in some countries. These alternative salts contain less sodium than regular salt and often include potassium chloride (KCl), with or without other agents, to achieve a flavour similar to regular salt.
The replacement of some of the Sodium by KCl may provide advantages, compared with regular salt, in addition to the sodium-lowering effect, because WHO recommends increasing potassium intake from food sources to reduce blood pressure and risk of CVDs.
“LSSC like potassium may provide good alternative should be promoted, ” Salve said, adding that “scaling up needs a more regulatory approach, particularly for packaged food items”.
The new recommendation, however, does not apply to women, children, or people living with kidney impairments. There wasn’t enough data to suggest the use of potassium-based salts in these groups.
Prof. Vivekanand Jha, Executive Director, The George Institute for Global Health India urged to “make the low-sodium, potassium-enriched salts affordable and easily available”.
This will help “fight the growing problem of hypertension and heart and kidney disease in India, especially in rural areas”, he added.
Jha also emphasised the need to generate evidence on the safety and efficacy of salt substitutes in special populations, such as those with kidney diseases.
Concerns have been raised about the safety of LSSS that contain potassium, because too high a level of blood potassium (hyperkalaemia) may be harmful, especially to individuals with impaired kidney function.
The WHO noted that “it is important to systematically review existing evidence on the health effects of LSSS intake".