Eating less salt doesn't cut heart risks: study

[kristopher]

Source: Reuters

Eating less salt doesn't cut heart risks: study

By Genevra Pittman

NEW YORK | Tue May 3, 2011 5:45pm EDT

(Reuters Health) - People who ate lots of salt were not more likely to get high blood pressure, and were less likely to die of heart disease than those with a low salt intake, in a new European study.

The findings "certainly do not support the current recommendation to lower salt intake in the general population," study author Dr. Jan Staessen, of the University of Leuven in Belgium, told Reuters Health.

Current salt guidelines, including those released by the U.S. government in January, are based on data from short-term studies of people who volunteered to be assigned to a low-salt or high-salt diet, Staessen said.

The U.S. guidelines recommend that Americans consume less than 2,300 milligrams of salt daily - 1,500 mg in certain people who are more at risk for high blood pressure or heart disease...

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/03/us-eating-less-salt-doesnt-cut-heart-ris-idUSTRE7427AG20110503

[Hissyspit]

1. Important:

"The researchers did find that one measure of blood pressure, systolic blood pressure, increased as salt intake increased over time - but the change was very small, so it may not be important to health outcomes, Staessen said.

Reducing salt may still be a good idea for people who already have high blood pressure or who have had heart problems in the past, he added, but the study found no evidence that dietary salt causes those conditions to arise."

That makes the headline none too accurate.

[kristopher]

3. I think the headline is accurate

The current accepted medical view of the role of salt in heart disease appears to be completely unfounded.

[Zorra]

18. Maybe, but I'm gonna take it with a grain of salt. nt

[No Elephants]

21. LOL!

[kwassa]

35. One study means next to nothing.

If these findings are replicated in many more studies, then it has real signifigance.

Until then .... not so much.

[kristopher]

41. How do you compare it to the earlier studies it refutes? nt

[kwassa]

49. You compare it, and as I said ...

you attempt to replicate it. If you can't, then there was some error or anomaly in it's methodology or execution.

[shraby]

2. I know my Dad always has put an ungodly amount of salt

on his food, so much that Mom quit salting while cooking to cut back how much he got. He has no high blood pressure and is now 90 years old.

[No Elephants]

25. Please see Reply 24.

[tridim]

4. I have always thought the salt warnings were overblown.

Especially if you drink enough water, which is an issue with lots of people.

It's an essential mineral.

[onehandle]

5. I know for a fact that my blood pressure goes up with salt intake, and that's bad for you.

So I will still watch my salt intake, thank you very much.

[qanda]

6. When my son had a seizure last year

The heart doctor recommended that my son continue his habit of putting too much salt on his food. I had tried to restrict his intake of salt. I guess his body knew what it needed.

[Paradoxical]

7. Salt is an electrolyte responsible for regulating heart rate, brain function...

etc.

A lot of salt is not good. But no salt is just as bad.

[KittyWampus]

48. IMO, salt intake must be balanced with other nutrients. It's not x amount of salt

It's more like x salt + y water + z nutrients that either help your body pee and poop efficiently or hind your bodies metabolism.

[Blacksheep214]

8. I salt my butter

before putting on the bacon. :crazy:

[diane in sf]

9. How much salt you need depends on your genetics. If your ancestors lived near the sea and ate

a lot of seafood and seaweed you are probably pretty salt tolerant.

[Odin2005]

16. DOH, I missed your post and said the same thing.

[MannyGoldstein]

10. Wow! Low-salt group 500% more likely to die during study!

As compared to the high-salt group.

Deaths during the study, from the http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/305/17/1777.abstract">JAMA abstract:

One-third who ate the least salt: 4.1%
One-third who ate the most salt: 0.8%
One-third in the middle: 1.9%

That's pretty dramatic!

And it's in JAMA, so it should be a solid study.

I have a suspicion that I know what's going on, but it would get me branded on DU as a nut (think: General Jack D. Ripper), so PM me if you want my two cents.

[Odin2005]

17. LOL, you think fluoridated water is killing people? LOL!!!

:rofl:

[KurtNYC]

32. is this perhaps like the BMI thing where they left in data on people who

were ill long enough for it to reduce their weight.

Hospitals serve low salt food.

[izquierdista]

11. I'll have my bacalao straight up then

Maybe some pickle brine to wash it down. :beer:

[high density]

12. My grandfather pours about 2lbs of salt on each meal and finally

had a heart attack and then double bypass in his mid 80s.

[No Elephants]

24. Some heavy cigarette smokers live to ripe old ages, too, but I don't recommend

taking that risk.

[WatsonT]

34. Link between tobacco use and cancer is well established however

I think this will turn out to be an issue of correlation: foods that are sold already heavily salted don't tend to be the healthiest to begin with. So the high salt was correlated to high BP in that way, but not causing it.

[kristopher]

42. That's an interesting thought. Look forward to seeing more research to nail it down. nt

[defendandprotect]

13. Haven't we gotten used to our government agencies lies yet ... lies for the benefit

of corporations -- and certainly for the fast food industry?


Salt is addictive -- that is processed salt --

NOT the salt you get from fresh vegetables.


Salt from animal products is especially dangerous --

The salt in animal bodies passed thru milk of cows, for instance, is there to

cause the calf's vein system to expand quickly to allow for growth.

That's what salt doees -- it expands your veins allowing more blood to flow thru,

more rapidly. If that's what you want, dump that salt shaker on your food!!

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[defendandprotect]

19. ... and you are so on "ignore" -- bye!!

[Mojorabbit]

20. can you back up with a link the statement that salt

expands your veins? Thanks!

[No Elephants]

23. I'm no scientist, but I googled and a number of such links do exist.

Do I know if the info at those links is solid? No. I know only that the links exist.

[defendandprotect]

38. There is a great deal of health info on salt on the internet --

However, one of the reasons for the addiction to CHEESE here in America is

that it is "salty" -- !!

Of course, whether the mother's milk is from an animal or a human, there will be

a limit as to how long the baby will be taking mother's milk --

Iow, there is a limit as to how much "expansion" of the vein systems is desirable

for children. Obviously, the point comes when it is no longer desirable.


When you have a craving for salt -- seek out natural vegetation.

Same with "sugar" or "fat" -- processed sugars and fat from animals are unhealthful.

Fructose from fruits -- or the "fat" of an avacado are healthful.




I think you could check Physicians for Responsible Medicine

http://pcrm.org/


and/or a book which every library has --

Our Bodies - Ourselves by the Boston Women's Health Book Collective

http://www.ourbodiesourselves.org/

[No Elephants]

26. U.S. government recommends limiting salt intake. The OP study is Univ. of Leuven, Belgium.

No one I can think of makes money by telling us to limit salt. Many people make money by making us feel comfortable about ingesting salt.

From OPartile:

"Current salt guidelines, including those released by the U.S. government in January, are based on data from short-term studies of people who volunteered to be assigned to a low-salt or high-salt diet, Staessen said.

The U.S. guidelines recommend that Americans consume less than 2,300 milligrams of salt daily - 1,500 mg in certain people who are more at risk for high blood pressure or heart disease."

[Thor_MN]

28. "processed salt"?

:rofl: Sodium Chloride is Sodium Chloride.

The woo is stong in this one.

[Javaman]

29. maybe the poster was referring to "Iodized" salt?

:shrug:

[defendandprotect]

37. OK -- maybe you just throw the ocean on your food?

Evidently you don't know that salt is "processed"?

Even with sea water all around us most salt production on the British Isles is either mined or extracted from brine using a vacuum method. The UK is amongst the industry’s world leaders in terms of technology yet we produce only about 4% of the
world’s total ouput.

Salt Production

In 2006, more than 200 million tons of salt were produced in the world. China is the largest producer, with 48 million tons, followed closely by the United States, with 46 million tons . Salt is generally produced one of three ways: deep-shaft mining, solution mining or solar evaporation.

http://www.maldonsalt.co.uk/Where-does-salt-come-from.html


MEANWHILE, what I'm talking about is salt in vegetables -- like cabbage -- natural salt.

[NickB79]

40. The method of extraction doesn't change the chemical composition of the salt

"Processed" implies that the salt is altered somehow, when the link you posted shows that's clearly not the case. The salt in every example given in the link was concentrated from sea water by evaporation, either the day of extraction (modern evaporative techniques) or millions of years ago (that's how those salt and brine formations they mine were formed).

It's like saying that milking a cow by hand vs. milking it with a machine will somehow physically change the milk it puts out, or that chopping that head of cabbage with a ceramic vs. steel knife now means the cabbage has been "processed".

BTW, I'd reconsider recommending cabbage for "natural" salt; it appears fairly LOW in salt compared to most vegetables out there: http://www.dietbites.com/Sodium-in-Foods/sodium-in-vegetables.html

[defendandprotect]

43. There is a difference between processed salt and natural salt in foods ....

just as there is a difference between processed sugar and sugar

you get from fruits/vegetables --

or processed vs any other substance you get naturally from vegetation/plants --

plants are our medicines -- each nourishes a different part of your body --


And, btw, many of our sugars are processed by using animal fats!!

[NickB79]

47. According to you, with no evidence to back it up.

That pretty much describes most of this thread, now that i think about it.

Can you describe HOW the chemical composition of "processed" salt differs from natural salt?

[Thor_MN]

46. The ocean contains unntatural salt?

Woo!!!! Wooo!! BE very afraid of everything!!!!

Sodium chloride is sodium chloride. Period. Doesn't matter where it comes from, it's the same exact thing. Just like glucose is glucose and fructose is fructose and sucrose is one of each. Just because some evil corporation "made" it, doesn't always mean that the product is somehow tainted.

As I get older, it depresses me how bad people have become at judging relative risks. People incessantly worry about the stupidest things, while ignoring things that pose a much greater danger to them.

[Odin2005]

15. Interesting that the "if it tastes good it will kill you" notions keep on getting dispoved.

As if those notions were based more on puritanical ideology rather than real science.

I think there is also a ethnic genetic background aspect tho it, people whose ancestors lived in hot climates (like African Americans) tend to retain salt so it's not lost in sweat. people in cold climates don't have that problem, and folks in cool coastal climates (like Europe) have to deal with getting rid of excess salt.

[Javaman]

30. I keep thinking of the classic Woody Allen Film "Sleeper"...

Dr. Melik: This morning for breakfast he requested something called "wheat germ, organic honey and tiger's milk."

Dr. Aragon: Oh, yes. Those are the charmed substances that some years ago were thought to contain life-preserving properties.

Dr. Melik: You mean there was no deep fat? No steak or cream pies or... hot fudge?

Dr. Aragon: Those were thought to be unhealthy... precisely the opposite of what we now know to be true.

Dr. Melik: Incredible.

[No Elephants]

22. What about kidney problems, though? Think I'll wait for more than one study.

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=6&oq=high+sodium&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGHP_enUS414US414&q=high+sodium+risks

I eat too many salty snacks as it is anyway.

[KurtNYC]

33. salt can be a factor in other problems -- such as kidney stones

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/28/health/28kidn.html

[Hannah Bell]

27. i'm skeptical.

[Yo_Mama]

31. Low salt diets may be correlated with poorer health

It's hard to say with this type of study.

In western society, lower salt intake usually denotes an attempt to "eat healthy", and those who have other conditions are more likely to make the attempt.

People who have high blood pressure should watch their sodium intake, because sodium raises blood pressures. If your BP is low, it's hard to figure out why salt intake would be a problem. Your body normally just gets rid of the excess.

[defendandprotect]

39. IF you don't get natural salt from vegetation . . . however, they are not

noting differences between natural salts in vegetables like Cabbage --

and "table salt" -- !!

[Zoeisright]

36. That's a pretty small sample.

And it was only white Europeans, which means the study is of limited use. I'll keep limiting salt intake until some more definitive studies come along.

[Odin2005]

45. Good point. People of European background would be adapted to high salt from seafood.

traditionally fish was preserved by drying and salting.

[Imajika]

44. Oh, the health nazi's aren't going to like this one bit...

Good thing Bloomberg is wasting time, energy and money on anti-salt campaigns!