Standing up for science against politically-correct mythology
Choose a few minutes when you want a pick-me-up -- and bookmark the URL for future reference; you'll want to read a new Junk Food Science blog post "Traffic tickets for salt -- does healthy eating mean low salt? "
In a word, "no." But here is author Sandy Szwarc's lead to give you the flavor:
Salt makes food taste good. Therefore, it must be bad for us. Enjoying food means people might eat too much and get fat.
Believe it or not, that is the logic behind beliefs that everyone - from children to adults - should reduce their salt intake as an important part of 'healthy' eating.
Fears of salt have become so widespread, even little kids are being told it's bad for them and given low-salt diets.
She quickly moves to explain why this matters:
But salt is another food ingredient where the science and the voices of medical experts have had a hard time breaking through myths, fears and pop ideologies.
What may seem inconceivable, given the Red Lights being given to salt, is that there is no credible evidence low-salt diets can help prevent heart disease, high blood pressure or premature death. Nor is there any sound evidence to support fears that we're eating too much salt and that high salt diets increase our risks for cardiovascular disease and deaths. Nor can we assume that putting everyone on low-salt diets "can't hurt" and are benign. In fact, the medical research suggests the very opposite.
She continues at length (more than 2,250 words) to explain the NHANES research results from the Albert Einstein Medical College as well as the just-reissued Cochrane Review on "Advice to reduce dietary sodium for prevention of cardiovascular disease." The advice, of course, is: don't bother; there's no evidence of a a heath benefit.
Significantly, Szwarc recounts the multiple risks for those who follow political convention and curtail their salt. Our short post cannot do it justice. You need to read it yourself.
She concludes with this warning:
There are a lot of urban legends about salt, from "salt kills" to "cutting salt can add years to your life." The scariest thing isn't salt, though. It's that scare-based legends and myths, rather than good science, are guiding public health policies, the "nutrition" education being given children, and the public health messages teaching everyone to fear salt. Agendas that are not about health.
We can see why the blog was a finalist for the best new medical blog. Happy reading.
