A little less salt won't stave off heart attack say experts

CUTTING down a little on salt may not be enough to prevent heart disease, research suggests.

Moderate reductions in salt intake make no difference to the risk of dying or suffering heart attacks or strokes, say experts.

A review of data from seven studies including 6,489 participants found lowering salt consumption did lead to a "small reduction" in blood pressure after more than six months.

But the research, published in the latest edition of the Cochrane Library, failed to show an impact on rates of death or cardiovascular events.

Most experts agree that consuming too much salt is bad for health, and reducing intake can benefit people with both normal and high blood pressure.

"We believe that we didn't see big benefits in this study because the people in the trials only reduced their salt intake by a moderate amount, so the effect on blood pressure and heart disease was not large," said Professor Rod Taylor of the Exeter University, who led the study.

Guidelines from the National Institute of health and Clinical Excellence have called for predicted maximum daily salt consumption to be halved from 6g in 2015 to 3g by 2025.