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New study finds high salt diet to be good for health
By jeremyc | June 25, 2011
A new European research suggests that contrary to popular belief a high salt diet is actually good for our health. The researchers found that people on a high sodium diet were less likely to develop heart diseases.
The study led by Jan A. Staessen of the University of Leuven, Belgium had 3,681 participants. Each of the participants was aged near about 40 and was deemed clinically healthy at the start of the study. The researchers measured the urinary sodium levels of the participants and followed their health for the next eight years. The participants were divided into three groups: high sodium intake group, average sodium intake group and low sodium intake group.
It was found that the chances of developing blood vessel diseases or heart diseases were the same for all the three groups. However, surprisingly mortality rate from heart related diseases was found to be the highest among the low sodium intake group (4%) while the high sodium intake group had the lowest mortality rate (1%) in the eight years.
Another significant discovery was that the change in blood pressure as compared to change in salt intake. It was found that though systolic blood pressure increased with increase in salt intake, the change was not significant enough, i.e. salt intake had practically very little effect on blood pressure.
Though the study failed to find any evidence of dietary salt to affect blood pressure, Staeseen still considers it to be safe to reduce salt consumption for patients with high blood pressure. According to him, “It’s clear that one should be very careful in advocating generalized reduction in sodium intake in the population at large. There might be some benefits, but there might also be some adverse effects.”
Dr. Hillel Cohen, epidemiologist, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, however, warned people from changing their salt-eating behavior on the basis of limited studies. She also pointed out the potential risks of ordering low-sodium meals at restaurants. According to her by reducing the salt content the restaurants may add other harmful preservatives to make up for the taste.
On the other hand, the researchers have also pointed out that the findings of the result hold true for white Europeans only. They discourage generalization of the result as it may not hold true for other ethnicities.
Meanwhile, Salt Institute, the representative trade group of the salt industry in the United States, has lashed out at the American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines as well as the official US salt guidelines. The AHA recommends a daily sodium intake of 1,500 milligrams. The usual sodium intake of an average American is 3,500-4,800 milligrams a day.
President of the Salt Institute, Lori Roman, heralded the findings of the study and said, “We now know conclusively that the U.S. government’s war on salt consumption will cause harm. This study confirms previous research indicating that reductions in sodium lead to an increased risk of disease and death.”
However, Ralph L. Sacco, president of the AHA, dismissed Roman’s claims saying, “We need to take this article with a large grain of salt. There are major problems with it, and there is only this one article with these findings, which are contrary findings to what we and others have found.”
Topics: | General Health News |
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