A new study might make you think twice before reaching for the salt shaker at your next meal.
Nutritionists from the Public Health Center of the University of Vienna found that people in the United Kingdom who added salt to most of their meals were 41 percent more likely to develop stomach cancer than those who used the seasoning in moderation.
Previous studies in China, Japan and Korea have linked a salty diet to stomach cancer, but this is one of the first to show the link in Westerners.
Although the Austrian study was purely observational, older studies have suggested that excess salt could erode the protective layer of the stomach, causing damage to the tissue there and leading to cancerous mutations.
Adding salt to most foods is associated with a 41 percent increased risk of developing stomach cancer, the researchers found.
“Our research shows the connection between the frequency of added salt consumption and stomach cancer also in Western countries,” said lead author Selma Kronsteiner-Gicevic, a nutritionist at the University of Vienna.
For many people, the amount of salt they are supposed to consume may come as a surprise. The FDA recommends consuming no more than approximately 2,300 mg of sodium per day.
That’s about a teaspoon of table salt.
But because many foods contain more salt than people realize, and because they like to add salt on top, the average American eats about 3,400 mg a day, according to the agency.
For example, one can of Campbells chicken noodle soup contains approximately 890 mg of salt.
It may seem harmless to add a little salt for flavor, but constantly overdoing the salt could be harmful, the researchers wrote.
To reach these conclusions, researchers at the University of Vienna examined a database of 471,144 adults in the United Kingdom, called UK Biobank.
They found that over an 11-year period, people who ate a lot of salt were 41 percent more likely to develop stomach cancer than people who rarely added salt to their meals.
This finding held even when the researchers removed other variables, such as age, socioeconomic status, and other lifestyle choices, such as alcohol and tobacco use.
Some of the early symptoms of stomach cancer are easy to miss, such as bloating, gas, and an upset stomach.
Drinking alcohol and smoking tobacco have been shown to significantly contribute to the risk of developing stomach cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.
In 2024, about 26,890 new cases of stomach cancer will be diagnosed in the United States, the ACS predicts. Of them, they estimate that approximately 10,880 people will die.
When caught early, stomach cancer has a high survival rate: Someone with early stomach cancer is 75 percent more likely than someone without cancer to live five years, according to the NIH.
But if distributed, that rate drops sharply to 35 percent.
What’s worse, it’s easy for this disease to progress before you realize it, because many of its symptoms are easy to miss.
Some of the early symptoms include bloating, upset stomach, and indigestion. All the same characteristics you might feel after a particularly spicy or rich dinner.
That’s why researchers want to raise awareness about salt consumption, so that you can be aware of the risk of cancer, said Tilman Kühn, another researcher at the University of Vienna who contributed to the study.
“With our study we want to raise awareness about the negative effects of extremely high salt consumption and lay the foundation for preventive measures against stomach cancer,” said Professor Kühn.