War on Salt...

[Rockhopper]

From the Scientific American.

For decades, policy makers have tried and failed to get Americans to eat less salt. In April 2010 the Institute of Medicine urged the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to regulate the amount of salt that food manufacturers put into products; New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has already convinced 16 companies to do so voluntarily. But if the U.S. does conquer salt, what will we gain? Bland french fries, for sure. But a healthy nation? Not necessarily.

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.

From Here.

Tim.

[Agartha]

"Globally, 1.65 million annual deaths from cardiovascular causes (95% uncertainty interval [confidence interval], 1.10 million to 2.22 million) were attributed to sodium intake above the reference level; 61.9% of these deaths occurred in men and 38.1% occurred in women. These deaths accounted for nearly 1 of every 10 deaths from cardiovascular causes (9.5%)."
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1304127

^^ different studies = different results.

I have seen hypertensive patients suffer increased blood pressure when they reduced their salt intake.

I think hypertension is the result of many factors: smoking, being overweight, stress, junk food, lack of exercise, etc.

[Monk (in hiding)]

It's a U shaped curve.

I think hypertension is the result of many factors: smoking, being overweight, stress, junk food, lack of exercise, etc.

You left out heredity.

[Rockhopper]

Both of you are correct.

Lifestyle does play an important part of hypertension.

Tim.

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