A high intake of salt has long been blamed for high blood pressure and hypertension among Indians. Experts have now quantified the daily permissible dose of salt if one needs to keep hypertension at bay: 5 gm.
The Indian Council of Medical Research’s expert committee on new dietary guidelines recommends the daily salt dose at 1.1 gm to 3.3 gm. But in no case should it cross 5 gm if
Indians want to keep hypertension under check.
While fixing the upper limit for salt, the committee said scientific evidence showed that primitive Indians and other races did not use much salt and thus were free from the problem of hypertension. Salt intakes higher than 10 gm will definitely increase one’s blood pressure. In India, 10 per cent of attributable deaths are due to hypertension and the figure is rising. The ICMR’s dietary guidelines are being revised after almost two decades.