Taiwanese male and female adults are consuming 1.9 times and 1.5 times, respectively, the upper limit (UL) of daily sodium intake as recommended by the Department of Health (DOH), according to a survey result released by the DOH yesterday.

The survey, tracking sodium consumption by Taiwanese people 19 to 64 years of age in the period between 2005 and 2008, found that the average daily sodium intake was 4,580 mg for men and 3,568 mg for women, said Pan Wen-harn, a researcher with the Institute of Biomedical Sciences at the Academia Sinica. The numbers equal to 1.9 times and 1.5 times, respectively, of the UL of 2,400 mg of sodium intake per day as recommended by the DOH.

2,400 mg of sodium is contained in roughly 6g (about one teaspoonful) of salt or 7 1/5 teaspoonfuls of soy sauce, Pan pointed out.

The study found increasing trends of sodium intake in all male age groups while females below 30-year-old are found to have consumed substantially higher amount of sodium.

Taiwanese consume sodium mainly from processed or seasoned food as well as from salt or seasonings added while cooking or eating, Pan said. Taiwanese people are more likely to consume extra sodium from staple local food such as rice noodles, yellow noodles, steamed stuffed buns, dumplings, pickled products, instant noodles and breads, etc.

A person could consume over half of the UL of sodium intake simply by eating a cup of instant noodles, said Chiou Shu-ti, head of DOH's Bureau of Health Promotion. Chiou recommended Taiwanese people take advantage of different cooking styles to preserve the natural flavor of the ingredients or use alternative flavoring such as white vinegar, fruit vinegar or Chinese herbs to substitute salt.

Chiou estimated that by reducing salt consumption to below 6g per day the country can save as much as NT$20 billion in National Health Insurance expenses on anti-hypertensives alone.

A meta-analysis released by the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology October 2009 found that the range of sodium intake by 19,151 individuals from 33 countries collected via 62 previously published test to be the 2,700-4,900 mg.

The analysis, conducted by the University of California, Davis, and Washington University in St. Louis, found strong evidence pointing to the possible fact that salt intake is a physiologic parameter, making it hard for government policy to limit sodium consumption. -China Post/ANN