Dietary Salt and Health: UMAMI Seasoning as an Attempt to Reduce Salt Intake

Abstract

Sodium in salt is a major factor in various non-communicable diseases. These include high blood pressure, stroke, stomach cancer and others. In Japan before the 1970’s, salt intake was about 15 g/day/person and the leading cause of death was stroke, especially brain hemorrhage. Through various types of nutrition education designed to reduce salt intake, the prevalence of stroke has been decreasing dramatically; however, it is still one of the leading causes of death. The highest number of patients are those with illnesses related to high salt intake and themedical cost of these illnesses may be greater than 50% of all medical costs. Many other countries may have similar problems. To reduce salt intake, UMAMI is commonly recommended in Japan and this actually has favorable effects;however, this has not yet been fully supported by scientific evidence. Among UMAMI seasonings, glutamate from kelp, (a kind of seaweed) is common in Japan. Since the UMAMI in kelp was found to be monosodium glutamate,artificial production of it was developed and is now used world-wide. In this article, we would like to review the role of salt in the body, its effects on health and sickness, attempts to reduce salt intake, and effective reduction methods, especially those using monosodium glutamate.