New Delhi. A high-salt diet may increase the risk of developing gastric and duodenal ulcers. High concentrations of salt in the stomach can induce gene activity in the ulcer-causing Helicobacter pylori bacterium that causes it to become more virulent. Bacterial cells exposed to increased salt exhibit striking morphological changes. Cells become elongated and form long chains.

Salt restriction also reduces the diastolic blood pressure by 2-8 mmHg, said Dr. K K Aggarwal. A WHO report, said that reducing salt intake would be a cost-effective way to reduce the risk of developing high blood pressure directly and reducing the risk of heart attack and stroke indirectly. The report recommends people to reduce consumption of sodium to less than 2 gm per day for each person. Common salt is chemically called Sodium Chloride (NaCl). About 2.5 gm of table salt contains one gm of Sodium. This would mean that about 5 gm of table salt is the current recommended level of consumption per day.

According to a report published from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in the year 2000, the average intake of salt in India is 10 gm per day for each person. This would amount to about 4 gm of Sodium. The current recommendations suggest reducing this consumption by half.

A recent research study conducted by researchers at Harvard Medical School and published in the British Medical Journal, found that reducing salt intake by 25% reduced the risk of developing heart disease by 25% and reduced the chance of death from heart disease by 20%.

In 2002 WHO estimated that globally about 62% of strokes and about 50% of heart attacks were attributable to high blood pressure.

Adding a pinch of salt to milk will keep it fresh longer is a common Internet tip for the population but traditional Ayurveda teaching goes against it. As per charka samhita, too much of pipalli, alkali and salt are bad for the health. Ayurveda totally prohibits taking salt with the milk.