What does science say about the habit of adding fish sauce and salt to food?

Accordingly, people who always add fish sauce or sprinkle salt in their meals will have a 29% higher risk of kidney disease, according to health website Healthline .

Study author Dr. Lu Qi, Professor of Epidemiology at Tulane University (USA), said: Previous studies have also shown that consuming a lot of salt increases the risk of kidney disease. Now, this new study confirms that reducing the addition of fish sauce or salt to food at the table helps reduce the risk of kidney disease.

The team of authors from Tulane University used data from 465,288 people with an average age of 56, from the UK Biobank to conduct the study.

All participants were free of chronic kidney disease at the start of the study, and were followed for 12 years.

They were divided into four groups based on how much salt they added to their diet: "never or rarely", "occasionally", "often" and "always".

As a result, people who "always" add salt and fish sauce to food at the dining table have a 29% increased risk of chronic kidney disease, according to Healthline.

For the “regular” group, that number dropped to 12%. And those who “occasionally” added salt to their food at the table saw a 7% increase.

After controlling for confounding factors, these numbers dropped slightly.

Nutritionist Kristin Kirkpatrick, Cleveland Clinic (USA), said the research results are consistent with previous research and help people realize that giving up the habit of adding fish sauce and salt at the table will bring clear benefits.

Trials have shown that consuming less salt can reduce the risk of high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease, but more clinical trials are needed to test the impact on kidney disease, Dr. Qi said. The advice for everyone is to reduce the amount of fish sauce and salt added to food at the table, according to Healthline.