Study challenges benefits of low-sodium diets

[Celebration]

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060226/NEWS06/602260413/1012

For years, Americans have been cautioned about the potential risks of consuming too much salt. But a team of New York scientists has concluded that a low-sodium diet may do more cardiovascular harm than good for people who are not at high risk for hypertension.

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx say healthy participants in a large government-sponsored clinical trial who restricted daily salt intake to less than 2,300 milligrams were 37 percent more likely to die of cardiovascular disease.

The finding, reported in the American Journal of Medicine, is at loggerheads with prevailing medical wisdom and government recommendations.

Lead researcher Dr. Hillel Cohen theorizes that low-sodium diets raise the kidney's levels of renin, a protein involved with increasing blood pressure when sodium levels are low. Cohen also theorizes that low-sodium diets set the stage for diabetes by encouraging insulin resistance.

[panader0]

1. This news is a relief for me

I'm a bricklayer in So. Az., and I sweat alot, especially in the summer. I crave salt at these times. I remain in good health at age 55 after 35 years in the trade.

[acmejack]

2. Damned if you do, damned if you don't!

I suppose the message here is we all gotta go sometime, so what the heck...

[no_hypocrisy]

3. This may be a bit on the tinfoil hat side, but don't you find it

interesting, if not a coincidence, that during the past month, "empirical" scientific studies have debunked commonly accepted premises of good health?

1. Calcium doesn't build lost bone mass for postmenopausal women.
2. Natural supplements such as glucosamine and chondroitin don't offer pain relief to inflamed joints.
3. A low-fat diet will not add years to your life.
4. And today, a low-salt diet will not offer you lower blood pressure.

Now, what if, just what if these diets and remedies were actually doing the jobs that have been currently disclaimed? And in response to the disclaimers, otherwise healthy people started consuming diets that resemble "Supersize This!"? And went to the physicians (assuming that they could afford health insurance) looking for guidance? What would be Plan B: PRESCRIPTIONS!! Magic pills to reduce hypertension, put bone back in the aerated skeletons, to reduce arthritis pain.

I get the feeling all this PR is being sponsored by the drug companies as they see potential customers gravitate toward alternative medicine and remedies. Until the corporations can effectively ban the right to ingest nettles and St. John's Wort, this campaign will have to do.

Your thoughts?

[acmejack]

4. In my own case the evidence suggests otherwise.

Low salt did reduce my blood pressure, low fat resulted in weight loss and huge health benefits and the Gluco sure does help my joints be it all "in my head" or not.

Your theory about Pharma has merit, after the drug bill I am willing to believe just about anything in that arena!

[valerief]

6. That's what I think, too

It's too difficult for the layman to make intelligent health decisions with conflicting health recommendations flooding the MSM year after year. However, since the pharmies have an interest in the unhealth (how Orwellian!) of its customers, one could conclude that they would use their propaganda machine, the MSM, to keep their customers dependent on them (keep them sick) via disinformation.

[trotsky]

5. Sounds a lot like the old "moderation is the key" maxim.

Too much or too little of just about everything is gonna be bad for you.