17 May 2023
Why I’m Supporting the ‘Stick to 6’ Challenge and how you can get involved
Nearly half of Brits admit to having a ‘salt tooth’ rather than a ‘sweet tooth’, and with the average Brit exceeding the recommended 6g of salt a day, our advisor Dr Sarah Jarvis explains the importance of the new ‘Stick to 6 Challenge’ and how you can get involved.
What is the ‘Stick to 6 Challenge’?
There’s a host of evidence showing that too much sodium (mostly in the form of salt) in our diets increases the likelihood of high having blood pressure. It’s equally well proven that high blood pressure is a major risk factor for stroke. But despite all this, the average person still consumes 8.4g of salt a day, compared to the recommended 6g.
4 in 10 of us (43%) admit to having a ‘salt tooth’ rather than a ‘sweet tooth’, so we may need a little extra help to change our habits. It’s well worth doing – the Department of Health advises that if all of us cut one gram of salt from our average daily intake, it would save an estimated 4,147 premature deaths in the UK every year To help people track and if needed, cut down, on their salt intake, Season with Sense is launching a new initiative called ‘Stick to 6 Challenge’.
Launching during Salt Awareness Week (15th -21st May), the ‘Stick to 6 Challenge’ sees Season with Sense partner with leading nutrition app Nutracheck, to enable everyone to track how much salt they are consuming.
Users can access a free 7-day trial to get started and easily track their salt intake – with the goal being to stick to the recommended 6g a day.
What can you do to help reduce your salt intake?
During this challenge and beyond, you may be surprised just how much salt is hiding in your shopping staples, but thankfully there are ways to cut down. Here are a few tips and small changes you can make to help you stick to the recommended 6g a day.
- Read food labels and choose foods that are colour coded “green” for salt
- Limit your intake of processed foods (such as ready-made sauces, soups, condiments etc)
- Keep processed meats to a minimum – bacon, ham, gammon, salamis and sausages are all high in salt
- Cook from scratch where possible using plenty of herbs, spices or lemon juice to flavour your food
- And season with sense by using a reduced sodium salt
If you need ideas on easy and tasty recipe ideas using less salt, you can visit LoSalt recipes
How will you get on?
For more tips, and to see how names such as TV personality Lisa Snowden and nutritionist Rob Hobson find sticking to the recommended 6g per day, visit @SeasonwithSense on Instagram and Facebook.
We’d love to hear how you find taking part in the ‘Stick to 6 Challenge’ too!