The latest on too much salt
The British Medical Journal has a new meta-analysis of 13 studies of the health effects of high salt intake. Its conclusion:
High salt intake is associated with significantly increased risk of stroke and total cardiovascular disease. Because of imprecision in measurement of salt intake, these effect sizes are likely to be underestimated. These results support the role of a substantial population reduction in salt intake for the prevention of cardiovascular disease.
In commentary, the authors insist that regulation is needed. The effects of salt are large:
a 5 g reduction in salt intake at the population is associated with a 23 per cent difference in stroke rates, and a 17 per cent difference in total cardiovascular disease….eating less salt could avert 1.25 million deaths from stroke and almost 3m deaths from cardiovascular disease – and these projections are…conservative because of imprecision in assessing salt intake.
Why regulation? Because nearly 80% of salt enters the diet through processed and pre-prepared foods. The rest is about equally divided between naturally occurring salt in foods and salt added at the table. To reduce salt, food manufacturers and restaurants need to cut down, and all of them have to do it.
This is because the taste for salt depends on how much is eaten. On a low salt diet, even lightly salted foods taste salty. But if you are used to eating a lot of salt, it takes even more to taste salty. So the object needs to be to reduce salt in the diet across the board.
I’m hearing a lot these days about how federal agencies are getting interested in the salt issue. Stay tuned on this one.
And have a safe, healthy, delicious, and lightly salted thanksgiving!
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by nyusteinhardt: The latest on too much salt http://ff.im/-c16HZ...
There is a huge margin of salt and sodium that can be taken out of the processed food chain, *period*. It does not need to be there. A mass market has been trained and conditioned over the years to crave and demand a satiating diet of sweet and salty, and mostly fatty foods. Spread the word, demand better, or just shy away from commodity processed foods as much as you can
My father-in-law was ordered onto a low-salt diet and told to quit eating red meat as well. So my dutiful mother-in-law dumped out all the salt shakers and wouldn’t even put a pinch in the water for pasta–but, she then went and bought a bunch of (highly processed and very salty) turkey foodstuffs to substitute for the red meat!
Read the labels!
The answer is getting back to real food. We know the kind. It comes out of the ground instead of out of a box or a can or a fast food restaurant.
And why is it that some canned products have a “low sodium” label? There should be no need for this. The amounts in the low sodium should be the amounts in the regular can. They are way too salty.
Salt is a preservative so maybe part of it is to expand product shelf life.
Was the study done with regular table salt or sea salt? I’ve read “anecdotal”evidence where people with high blood pressure could use a good quality sea salt without it elevating their blood pressure. Could be attributed to the trace minerals in the sea salt and not present in table salt.
And of course moderation in all things.
[...] – Marion Nestlé, The latest on too much salt. [...]
I’m curious about this 80% number. I know processed foods have a lot of salt, but I imagine a frighteningly high percentage of calories enter the body from processed and prepackaged foods. As far as I can see, most of what the population consumes is processed, so this number isn’t too surprising.
I imagine my diet is overloaded with salt despite the fact that I seldom eat processed foods. I am learning to cook most of my diet from whole foods (as per the abundant advice found here and otherwise) and I’m finding that I can improve most dishes simply by adding more salt. When I scrimp, an otherwise pretty inspiring dish falls flat. Watching the pros and reading their recipes reveals that they’re more spendthrift than I am with the salt.
[...] Further scientific proof that we are a lot like slugs: http://www.foodpolitics.com/2009/11/the-latest-on-too-much-salt/ [...]
most americans taste only salt,sugar & fat. our taste buds hav been bludgeoned in2 submission due 2 our overall lousy eatin habits. we hav no idea what the actual food tastes like. the food producers kno our weaknesses & exploit them 2 their financial benefits. we get kicked in the pants by food companies & the advertisers & say ” thanks, kick me again ! ” we r so pathetic & unwillin 2 change, like children, that we r treated like children. yea , sea salt has minerals,its stil salt ! just like organic evaporated cane juice is stil sugar ! all things in moderation is a cop out & the last refuge of the noncommited. regulation or nonregulation, makes no difference,those who care about their health & fitness wil continue 2 research & learn ,eat rite & exercise while the rest of the heard is justifying all the so called healthy food bein pushed, as they wait 4 yet another inane law 2 b passed tellin them its ok 2 eat this or that. we hav lost the ability 2 think 4 ourselves. this eatin rite thing is not rocket science.dont fall 4 all the bs ! eliminate ALL added salt,sugar & transfats-no moderation here-just determination !
I just gave a cursory glance over the BMJ meta-analysis. I’m seeing a large amount of variability across the data where the relative risk of stroke is calculated as a function of sodium intake. In fact, the relative risk in four of the studies would suggest that increased sodium intake actually PREVENTS stroke. The authors acknowledged this; however, they were unable to account for the variability by analyzing any of the obvious variables (age, gender, method used to measure sodium, etc.). Thus, it could be possible that (for whatever reason) only a subset of the population is sodium-sensitive when it comes to stroke risk. Also, the possibility exists that some simple polymorphism (e.g. like in the aquaporin gene) in a subset of humans is responsible for both salt metabolism and risk of ischemia. In this case, the sodium intake and stroke risk wouldn’t be in a cause-effect relationship, but simply correlated. If either/both turns out to be true, than federal regulations would serve to punish the masses for the “pathology” of a few. That’s not really fair.
[...] at Food Politics, Marion Nestle points to the study’s commentary which calls for more regulation in the food industry. Since “nearly 80% of salt enters the [...]
Interesting note from Dr. Saul, but IMO since most processed foods contain added salt ONLY to create a heightened “flavor” experience (which the consumer could easily, and more to his/her specific taste, create by adding salt or other seasonings at the end point) there is no good reason for food processors to add it at all.
And since we don’t know whether high salt/high stroke is simply a correlative or a causative relationship, but we do know that reducing dietary sodium seems to help reduce stroke rates, arguing that reducing salt in processed foods would be a “punishment” for “the masses” is … just weird.
@ Drew, if you should happen to check back, do look into the magic of herbs and spices. Salt isn’t actually a very interesting flavor, once you get used to others. You may have to go “cold turkey,” though, if you habitually use only salt as a seasoning … you won’t be able to taste other flavors until your brain stops wanting salt.
[...] at Food Politics, Marion Nestle points to the study’s commentary which calls for more regulation in the food industry. Since “nearly 80 percent of salt enters [...]
I’m wondering where the statistic comes from: “nearly 80% of salt enters the diet through processed and pre-prepared foods”? Though I appreciate the notion that processed food is saltier than home-cooked food, I find this statistic ambiguous. One could interpret it to mean that 80% of salt enters the diet when processed food accounts for 80% of one’s diet? In other words, the statistic doesn’t account for the variability of different diets. Perhaps a better comparison would be to compare the salt content of two diets composed of the same foods, one processed/pre-prepared and the other home-cooked.