Heart disease claims 18 million global lives a year

So let me get this straight, heart disease kills twice as many people as cancer?

Mad right? Heart disease quietly claims 18 million lives annually. That's nearly a third of all global deaths. Meanwhile, cancer claims just over half of that with 9.6 million. And right here in the UK, heart and circulatory diseases take 460 lives every single day, according to the British Heart Foundation.

Why are heart disease rates so different around the world?

Different places have different stories. Take Japan, for example. They have some of the lowest heart disease rates worldwide, thanks to their fish-heavy, veggie-loaded diet. Meanwhile, here in the UK, we're still loading up on processed foods and too much salt. The average UK adult downs about 8.4g of salt daily, way above the recommended 5g limit, and we top the Europe leaderboard with over 50% of our food being ultra-processed.

But haven't things got better over time?

Yes and no. Sure, UK heart disease deaths have dropped since the 1960s. Better healthcare, fewer smokers, you get the picture. But here's the kicker: rising obesity, diabetes, and our increasingly sofa-loving lifestyles are threatening to undo all that progress.

Smoking kills, but so does too much salt.

I'm a sucker for science. Can you crunch some numbers for me?

Glad you asked. The World Health Organisation (WHO) data paints a pretty stark picture:

Physical inactivity alone causes 3.2 million deaths annually
Over 1.28 billion adults worldwide have high blood pressure
Heart attacks and strokes make up 85% of cardiovascular disease deaths
Your family history can increase risk by up to 30%, but lifestyle changes can help beat those genetic odds

Okay, okay... enough about the problems. Got any solutions?

To be honest, there's not one easy fix. And to make a heart health change, we need a system change. The UK government is getting serious about foods high in Fat, Salt, and Sugar (HFSS). They've been pushing for reformulations and will be banning all price promotions and media advertising of HFSS products in October this year.

Cardiovascular disease loves diets high in fat, sugar and salt.

That’s all fine and dandy. But what are Pinchful doing?

When it comes to sodium, all food brands (ourselves included), be they big or small, need to do better and start bringing the public up to speed. It means helping people make healthier choices and innovating to create better-for-you alternatives.

We're all in this together, remember. The WHO recommends no more than 5 grams of salt daily, and cutting just 1 gram of salt from daily intake could prevent 4,147 premature UK deaths. Pinchful’s low-sodium alternatives make it easier to reduce salt without losing flavour, helping everyone take a small step towards better heart health. So wherever you can, swap out that processed snack for something fresh, get cooking from scratch, get off that sofa and exercise a little more, and get on top of stress, life’s too short as it is. If we can all make small changes, we can begin to see big impacts.

Less salt bae. 1 gram less salt makes a big difference.

Wow. Let’s go!

We can make 2025 the year we finally get serious about heart health! Together, with greater awareness, better innovations, and collective effort, we can turn the tide on the world's biggest killer. Pinchful is here to help, providing smarter options to make heart-healthy choices easier for everyone.