Study shows link between salt and stomach cancer
Nutritionists from the University of Vienna's Center for Public Health have found that people in the UK who added extra salt to most of their diets were 41 percent more likely to develop stomach cancer than those who consumed moderate or little salt.
The study confirms previous scientific research that excess salt can erode the protective layer on the stomach, causing tissue damage there and thus cancerous mutations.
To reach these conclusions, researchers from the University of Vienna examined a database of 471,144 adults in the UK, over an 11-year period.
The study found that people who consumed a lot or a lot of salt were 41 percent more likely to develop stomach cancer than people who rarely added salt to their meals.
This finding remained true even when researchers excluded other variables, such as age, socioeconomic status and other lifestyle choices, such as drinking alcohol and smoking, according to the British newspaper "Daily Mail".
Commenting on the study, lead author Selma Kronsteiner-Jesewicz, a nutritionist at the University of Vienna, said: “Our research shows a relationship between the frequency of adding salt and stomach cancer. Our study will raise awareness of the negative effects of very high salt consumption and provide a basis for stomach cancer prevention measures.”