21 replies to this topic

[stocks]

Scientific American: It's Time to End the War on Salt

The zealous drive by politicians to limit our salt intake has little basis in science

This week a meta-analysis of seven studies involving a total of 6,250 subjects in the American Journal of Hypertension found no strong evidence that cutting salt intake reduces the risk for heart attacks, strokes or death in people with normal or high blood pressure. In May European researchers publishing in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that the less sodium that study subjects excreted in their urine—an excellent measure of prior consumption—the greater their risk was of dying from heart disease. These findings call into question the common wisdom that excess salt is bad for you, but the evidence linking salt to heart disease has always been tenuous.

In 2004 the Cochrane Collaboration, an international, independent, not-for-profit health care research organization funded in part by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, published a review of 11 salt-reduction trials. Over the long-term, low-salt diets, compared to normal diets, decreased systolic blood pressure (the top number in the blood pressure ratio) in healthy people by 1.1 millimeters of mercury (mmHg) and diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number) by 0.6 mmHg. That is like going from 120/80 to 119/79. The review concluded that "intensive interventions, unsuited to primary care or population prevention programs, provide only minimal reductions in blood pressure during long-term trials." A 2003 Cochrane review of 57 shorter-term trials similarly concluded that "there is little evidence for long-term benefit from reducing salt intake."


Salt

[Rogerdodger]

I've always avoided "EXTRA" salt and I've had a chronic problem with muscle cramps, as I tend to be very physically active and perspire heavily. Bananas and orange juice are part of my regular diet (along with lots of water) but unless I make a conscious effort to take salt daily, I get cramps. The salt helps me avoid cramps.

Edited by Rogerdodger, 11 July 2011 - 09:04 AM.

[stocks]

I've always avoided "EXTRA" salt and I've had a chronic problem with muscle cramps, as I tend to be very physically active and perspire heavily.
Bananas and orange juice are part of my regular diet (along with lots of water) but unless I make a conscious effort to take salt daily, I get cramps.
The salt helps me avoid cramps.

Roger,
Try magnesium. Works for me.

Cramps

[Rogerdodger]

Thanks. I'll try it too.

However this part must be Junk Science:

"- Cut the cocktails. Even a single drink containing alcohol may decrease the supply of magnesium in your body, says Lorraine Brilla, Ph.D., associate professor of exercise physiology at Western Washington University in Bellingham."

[stocks]

Salt, "Official Truth," and the New York Times

The New York Times recently published an interesting op-ed on the subject of salt. ... that there is now evidence suggesting that the "official advice" is not merely mistaken but dangerous,
that reducing salt consumption to the recommended level might well be bad for one's health.

What struck me about the piece was not mainly its contents—but its placement. .. my impression is that, in other contexts, it is sympathetic to arguments
from "official truth," arguments that start with some version of "all scientists agree that" and treat anyone who disagrees as either misinformed or in the pay of some interest group
that wants the truth suppressed. Global warming is the obvious example, but I think there are others.


http://daviddfriedma...york-times.html

[Rogerdodger]

Global warming has been going on since the Ice age. So any claims of "man-made" global warming should be taken "with a grain of salt". But no more than one grain because Mother Bloomberg is watching you.

[Echo]

Salt, "Official Truth," and the New York Times

The New York Times recently published an interesting op-ed on the subject of salt. ... that there is now evidence suggesting that the "official advice" is not merely mistaken but dangerous,
that reducing salt consumption to the recommended level might well be bad for one's health.

What struck me about the piece was not mainly its contents—but its placement. .. my impression is that, in other contexts, it is sympathetic to arguments
from "official truth," arguments that start with some version of "all scientists agree that" and treat anyone who disagrees as either misinformed or in the pay of some interest group
that wants the truth suppressed. Global warming is the obvious example, but I think there are others.


http://daviddfriedma...york-times.html

What struck me was the author's credentials:


<H2 class=sidebar-title>About Me</H2>Name: David Friedman Location: San Jose, California, United States I am an academic economist who teaches at a law school and has never taken a course for credit in either field. For more details, see my web page.

Edited by Echo, 09 June 2012 - 02:43 PM.

[stocks]

Salt, "Official Truth," and the New York Times

The New York Times recently published an interesting op-ed on the subject of salt. ... that there is now evidence suggesting that the "official advice" is not merely mistaken but dangerous,
that reducing salt consumption to the recommended level might well be bad for one's health.

What struck me about the piece was not mainly its contents—but its placement. .. my impression is that, in other contexts, it is sympathetic to arguments
from "official truth," arguments that start with some version of "all scientists agree that" and treat anyone who disagrees as either misinformed or in the pay of some interest group
that wants the truth suppressed. Global warming is the obvious example, but I think there are others.


http://daviddfriedma...york-times.html

Told You So

No Benefit Seen in Sharp Limits on Salt in Diet

In a report that undercuts years of public health warnings, a prestigious group convened by the government says there is no good reason based on health outcomes for many Americans to drive their sodium consumption down to the very low levels recommended in national dietary guidelines.

One 2008 study the committee examined, for example, randomly assigned 232 Italian patients with aggressively treated moderate to severe congestive heart failure to consume either 2,760 or 1,840 milligrams of sodium a day, but otherwise to consume the same diet. Those consuming the lower level of sodium had more than three times the number of hospital readmissions — 30 as compared with 9 in the higher-salt group — and more than twice as many deaths — 15 as compared with 6 in the higher-salt group.

Another study, published in 2011, followed 28,800 subjects with high blood pressure ages 55 and older for 4.7 years and analyzed their sodium consumption by urinalysis. The researchers reported that the risks of heart attacks, strokes, congestive heart failure and death from heart disease increased significantly for those consuming more than 7,000 milligrams of sodium a day and for those consuming fewer than 3,000 milligrams of sodium a day.

There are physiological consequences of consuming little sodium, said Dr. Michael H. Alderman, a dietary sodium expert at Albert Einstein College of Medicine who was not a member of the committee. As sodium levels plunge, triglyceride levels increase, insulin resistance increases, and the activity of the sympathetic nervous system increases. Each of these factors can increase the risk of heart disease.



http://www.nytimes.c...odium.html?_r=0

[Rogerdodger]

Moderation and balance is always the best course IMHO. I've been watching my salt intake and have seen a nice drop in blood pressure. I'm amazed by the amount of sodium in some of my usual suspects. Even canned vegetables contain a large amount of sodium. Don't even look at the salt and fat content of summer sausage.

[voltaire]

Moderation and balance is always the best course IMHO.
I've been watching my salt intake and have seen a nice drop in blood pressure.
I'm amazed by the amount of sodium in some of my usual suspects.
Even canned vegetables contain a large amount of sodium.
Don't even look at the salt and fat content of summer sausage.

For some time doctors have been encouraging salt intake for those with unstable blood pressure.

My missus was falling down on a regular basis but increased salt has solved that.

Avoid "sea salt" as it is usually iodine free and best avoided unless you want to end up an imbecile like many in Tibetan regions.