Headlines & features
Podcast: Pass the Salt!
05/24/2011 9:47 am
The Nanny State: Another forced feeding
05/20/2011 2:36 pm
School nutrition regulations come under fire
05/16/2011 12:09 pm
The Federal Government's Killer Salt Advice
05/10/2011 10:16 am
Warning: Lack Of Salt Hazardous To Your Health
05/07/2011 12:52 pm
Audrey Baker became light-headed. Her heart raced, her chest pounded. She called 911 and was rushed to an emergency room. The problem: hyponatremia, a more-common-than-you-might-think condition in which the blood level of salt (sodium) in your body becomes abnormally low. "That's when I realized my body does need salt," says Baker. A May 2011 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) confirmed that cutting back on salt can indeed be hazardous to your health. More specifically, the study found that even modest reductions in salt intake are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and death.
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New Study Contradicts Government Warnings About Salt
05/05/2011 10:18 am
Combined with the findings of a groundbreaking 2009 UC Davis study—which concluded that salt intake "is unlikely to be malleable by public policy initiatives" due to certain well-understood neurological mechanisms that control our appetites for salt—a new study published in JAMA casts still further doubt on the advisability of New York City Mayor Bloomberg’s and the FDA’s salt-slashing plans.
FDA Salt Initiative Leaves Bitter Aftertaste
05/05/2011 10:07 am
A few months ago, the Bloomberg Administration in New York City unrolled a campaign aimed at working with food manufacturers to voluntarily add less salt . The FDA’s current anti-salt initiative takes the Bloomberg plan to the extreme by employing the force of law to achieve the same end. Neither Mayor Bloomberg’s softball approach nor the FDA’s hardball approach will work and the nation-wide plan will be exponentially more costly than the Bloomberg plan. It would be yet another colossal waste of taxpayer funds.
Reducing Salt Does Not Lower Risk Of High Blood Pressure Or Deaths
05/04/2011 12:45 pm
Should we reduce our salt intake to prevent hypertension? According to a European study that measured salt levels in people's urine over an eight-year period, there are more cardiovascular deaths among people with low salt, than high salt. The authors from the University of Leuven, Belgium, who published their findings in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association), found absolutely no link between higher salt intake and hypertension risk or complications caused by cardiovascular disease.
Iodized salt usage up by 20 percent in rural India households
05/04/2011 12:25 pm
Use of iodized salt has increased by 20 percent in rural households, a study released Monday said, reflecting the success of India’s iodine programme. India is one of the few Asian countries which has recognized the importance of addressing iodine deficiency diseases by supplying iodized salt.According to a statement from Micronutrient International, Iodine Deficiency Disorder (IDD) is the leading cause of mental retardation worldwide.