A recent research, conducted by British and Italian researchers, has revealed that cutting back people's salt intake by as little as one teaspoon a day could help save as many as 4 million lives around the world every year. While nearly 3 million deaths due to heart diseases can be prevented, around 1 million stroke related deaths could also be done away with.

It has been estimated that despite the WHO recommending a limited daily salt intake of 5g, or one teaspoon, a day, most people in Britain and other Western nations, on an average, end up consuming double the amount, i. e., 10g of salt everyday. The FSA has revealed that in the UK, as many as 26 million people eat too much salt each day.

For the sake of study, researchers analyzed data collected by 13 different studies, involving over 170,000 people, and uncovered a direct and strong links between salt intake and risk of strokes or heart troubles. All the studies were conducted between 1996 and 2008, and led the researchers to conclude that too much salt intake (over 5g every day), exposed takers to a 23% increased risk of suffering a stroke, and 17% more risk of developing heart conditions.

Details of the research have been published online in the British Medical Journal.