国外一项近期研究表明，减少盐分摄取量能够起到降低血压的作用，并由此降低罹患心脏病的可能。目前，美国政府考虑拟定规章条例，监控各类食品公司及餐饮机构和商家对食盐的用量。

    In a report that may bolster public policy efforts to get consumers to reduce the amount of salt in their diets, scientists writing in the New England Journal of Medicine conclude that lowering the amount of salt people eat by even a small amount could reduce cases of heart disease, stroke and heart attacks as much as reductions in smoking, obesity and cholesterol levels.

    If everyone consumed half a teaspoon less salt per day, there would be between significantly fewer heart attacks and fewer deaths each year, according to the study, which was conducted by scientists at University of California San Francisco, Stanford University Medical Center and Columbia University Medical Center.

    The report comes as health authorities at federal, state and municipal levels are considering policies that would have the effect of pressuring food companies to reduce salt in processed foods, which are considered to be the source of much of the salt Americans eat.

    The study involved a computerized model that analyzed previous studies to estimate the benefits of salt reduction on lowering blood pressure and the lowered blood pressure’s effect on decreasing heart disease, stroke and heart attacks. The researchers found that everyone would benefit from less salt, but people at higher risk for heart problems -- blacks, people with hypertension and people over 65 -- would benefit most.N P