India has a long and complex history with salt. The most famous protest around it was the Salt Satyagraha led by MK Gandhi against colonial taxes and restrictions on salt production.
Today, the concern around salt in India has shifted. Excessive salt consumption has become a growing public health issue, silently affecting the kidneys. Noticing this trend in the early 2000s, nephrologist Dr Rajan Ravichandran, too, walked along the coastline, echoing the symbolism of India’s historic march, except raising awareness about the dangers of excessive salt intake.
Through his medical practice and the Sapiens Health Foundation, he has long supported patients suffering from kidney ailments. On Tuesday, the foundation marked its 29th anniversary, reaffirming its commitment to kidney health and public awareness.
Dr Rajan noted that his mission has remained unchanged: to prevent more people from walking into his clinic with kidney ailments. His advice to the young and the elderly is simple: keep your daily salt intake under five grams.
But the larger challenge today lies in the growing consumption of fast food and packaged or processed products. These often contain high levels of salt, but the warning is not always obvious to consumers, as labels typically list it under the term “sodium”. “The problem also lies with the conversion. One gram of sodium is equal to 2.5 grams of salt, and it is difficult for everyone to remember… A layman will know the correlation between high blood pressure and salt in India, but he might not know that sodium is salt, nor how to convert the levels,” he noted.
Dr Rajan illustrated this hidden risk with an example from his recent train journey, where they provided snacks. As his presentation slides, containing the labels of a small pickle packet, instant soup packet, papdi snack, juice, ketchup, and tea packets, were displayed on screen, he said, “This one meal and the snacks contain an entire day’s quota of salt,” adding that those with diabetes and high blood pressure should particularly be wary.
Dr T Balasubramaniyan, director, Institute of Nephrology at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital and Madras Medical College, touched upon this year’s World Kidney Day theme: Kidney Health for All – Caring for People, Protecting the Planet. In his address, he emphasised that kidney health today is deterred by environmental challenges. “Hot climates make us sweat, and when the water from the body keeps coming out, one will get dehydrated, and therefore is vulnerable to kidney issues. Water scarcity and the availability of clean water to drink is directly correlated to healthy kidneys. And as long as pollution is concerned, many believe it only affects the lungs. Recent studies from China have shown that exposure to small dust particles over a period of time can cause damage to the human kidney filters,” he said.
Calling for collective action from individuals as well as the government to address kidney ailments in India, which affects nearly 10% of the Indian population, were the doctors and chief guests at the event, including filmmaker Rajiv Menon and actor Maadhu Balaji.
The audience left with practical tools to act on the message, as each attendee received a goodie bag containing a spoon designed to measure salt intake and a set of recipes that can be prepared without salt.