26 Jun 2011
Eating less salt doesn't cut heart risks: study

Wait a second: you mean I might have been onto something all along?

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.

(link) [Reuters]

18:34 /Politics | 2 comments | permanent link

12 Mar 2009
Consuming a little less salt could mean fewer deaths

Are we still trying to throw the book at salt? But wait: this was not a study of salt use at all:

These results were derived from a validated computer-simulation of heart disease among U.S. adults.

Where did the data used in this computer simulation come from?

For years, ample evidence has linked salt intake to high blood pressure and heart disease.

What evidence? I personally participated in a salt study in the 1980's that showed no evidence of any such thing! I've called bullshit on this before. And I'll keep calling it until they show me the data. But I must confess to being a bit puzzled: why on earth are these folks so obsessed over salt? Especially when so many studies have shown there's no real cause for alarm? What's the deal?

A moderate decrease in daily salt intake could benefit the US population and reduce the rates of heart disease and deaths. All segments of the US population would be expected to benefit, with the largest health benefits experienced by African Americans who are more likely to have hypertension and whose blood pressure may be more sensitive to salt.

(link) [EurekAlert!]

Update: This came across the wire this morning: salt is now an addictive drug!

Scientists suggest we add salt to our food, even though we know it is bad for us, because it is a natural antidepressant

(link) [BBC News]

08:34 /Politics | 1 comment | permanent link

01 Dec 2007
The Great Cholesterol Myth

Seems as though cholesterol may be following salt.

Scientific hypotheses don’t get much simpler than this: the cholesterol, or diet-heart, hypothesis, which has broken free from the ivory towers of academia to impact with massive force on society.

(link) [Spiked]

08:57 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

06 Aug 2006
Americans should shake salty food habit

I'm calling Bullshit!

And I'm not alone ... Stossel's report highlights the many studies showing absolutely no correlation between salt intake and high blood pressure or heart disease. And I must regale you with a personal tale at this point - because I have a bit of a dog in this fight.

I say a bit of a dog because, while I have no economic interest in salt whatsoever, I was a participant in a salt study. It was conducted in 1982, at IU Hospital in Indianapolis. And it was pretty comprehensive.

Our salt "input/output" was measured for three weeks, while the hospital varied the amount of sale in our diets. The measured the salt in our blood, and we carried plastic liter bottles which we used for urination 24 hours a day. Every meal was taken at the hospital. I was selected because I have "naturally" high blood pressure, others in the study had naturally low and normal blood pressures. There were over a thousand participants, if I recall correctly, of all races and from all walks of life.

The food was miserable, too. The first week was a no salt diet. Miserable doesn't describe this. The second week was a "normal" salt diet, and was by far the best of the bunch. The third week had so much salt in the diet that they gave us glasses of veggie juice to help wash it down. I was peeing over nine liters a day that week, and had to carry the bottles in buckets.

A year later the results were released - unfortunately they're not on the web - but they showed no relationship whatsoever between blood pressure (which we had measured before and after every meal) and salt intake.

In fact, the Salt Institute, who admittedly do have a real dog in this fight, have a link page on their site with eight studies showing no relationship between salt and hypertension.

I'm not a big fan of iodized, industrial salt: I think it lacks many of the trace minerals that are most easily delivered in salt, and I eat kosher or sea salt myself, but nonetheless I find the evidence clear and compelling that there is no link between salt and high blood pressure. None at all.

So why do we keep seeing articles like this? Stossel's observation seems most likely:

Scientific communication is very stilted, as if to convey impartiality. Scientists are happy to have non-scientists view them as uniquely unbiased, and reporters fall into the trap of believing them. But supposedly "dispassionate" scientists are as passionate about their ideas as any entrepreneur. They have all sorts of reasons to lose perspective and get carried away with hope and excitement. If they discover something, they may be famous. If they don't, they may have spent years in some windowless laboratory for little good. So if they can convince themselves their theory is right, they are eager for the public to hear about it.

This whole phenomena is the reason I was skeptical on global warming for so long: but I've reviewed the evidence myself, and rather carefully, and now think there's a good deal to the theory. Salt intake, on the other hand, is politically correct "science" run amok. Which is why this article is posted to my "Politics" section - because that's all it is...take it with a grain of salt!

AP - When it comes to seasoning food, there's no shortage of salt options. But when it comes to health, it doesn't matter if it was mined in Kansas, solar-evaporated from the Mediterranean Sea or hand-harvested in French marshes. Salt is salt, the experts say, and it's bad for your health. Chances are you're eating way too much of it.

(link) [Yahoo! News: Top Stories]

11:47 /Politics | 7 comments | permanent link

19 Aug 2005
Pass the salt

This isn't a Study in Stupidity - it's studied lying.

There is no correlation between sodium intake and blood pressure or cardiovascular disease in the general population.

I have some personal experience in this area, as I was involved in a salt study at Indiana University several years ago. The results: varying intake of sodium had absolutely no effect on the blood pressure of any of the study participants in any meaningful way.

If all of this hasn't convinced you, here's another link to some of the bullshit surrounding salt intake. The only thing I haven't really figured out yet is why these folks persist in this: they managed to reverse themselves on trans-fatty acids, why can't they admit they were wrong on salt?

If you are trying to avoid salt, you can't trust your taste buds. That's the message from a new report by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which is trying to refocus attention on the dangers of salt hidden in packaged and restaurant food.

(link) [U.S. News & World Report]

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link