Not high, but low salt intake can elevate your risk of heart attack, warn researchers!

New Delhi: Salt, known for its numerous healing properties, can also be a call of death if consumed without control, we have been told.

Many people have the habit of sprinkling extra salt on their food and have often been advised against it by doctors, since it increases blood pressure. Excessive salt can also exacerbate the symptoms of asthma, Ménière's disease and diabetes, they say.

Now, a team of researchers, led by one of Indian-orgin, have gone against the norms and meted out a warning saying that low salt intake can, in fact, increase one's chances of a heart attack.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has recommended an amount of less than five grams of salt a day for adults. However, the study carried out in Canada says that these guidelines need to be amended and the maximum salt intake guide requires an upward thrust, overturning conventional wisdom that says eating too much salt is a serious health risk.

"It is futile to target such low intakes and moreover, it may well be harmful. Studies show below three grammes of sodium per day increase mortality, heart attack and heart failure," Salim Yusuf, Professor at McMaster University in Canada, was quoted as saying to express.co.uk.

Reducing salt intake to overly low levels undermines the body's natural balance, Yusuf said.

The findings are detailed in a report published in the European Heart Journal by the joint working group of the World Heart Federation, the European Society of Hypertension and the European Public Health Association which also emphasised the potential dangers of lowering intake too much.

"Reaching sodium intake levels below 2.3 gm per day over a sustainable period of time is not feasible. There is no evidence that this is beneficial and there are concerns it could be harmful," the report said.

Instead an adult should take between 7.5 and 12.5 grams of salt a day, equivalent to three and five grams of sodium, Yusuf elaborated.

(With IANS inputs)