1 in 10 U.S. Deaths Blamed on Salt

[OverVolt]

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2013/03/21/1-in-10-u-s-deaths-blamed-on-salt/

So I saw this article on drudge (read it) and it got me thinking.

If you consume excess sodium, can't you just drink more water and get rid of it that way? Because I've always had a high sodium diet but I also drink alot of water. My blood pressure has always been good. So just curious how it works.

We have a doctor in the family and he was appalled at stuff I eat like olives, with all the sodium. I know nurses are taught about how sodium increases blood pressure by increasing blood volume.

Essentially your body has only receptors for salt, and not for blood volume. So when you are dehydrated OR if you consume salt, it makes you thirsty and your sodium level rises above 0.9%. When you then drink fluid, you retain it and it increases your blood pressure and with it your risk of a heart attack, so the theory goes.

What do you guys think?

 

[Rakehellion]

1 in 10 U.S. Deaths Blamed on Salt

I knew MD5 was a security risk, but now it's a health risk too?

 

[The Boston Dangler]

what's a drudge?

 

[PenguinPower]

Japanese people...explain.

 

[OverVolt]

what's a drudge?

The place that like 80% of the news articles on ATOT actually come from :awe:

 

[nehalem256]

http://www.saltinstitute.org/

The salt institute disagrees with this.

Personally I think this is part of the liberal conspiracy to ban anything that tastes good: sugar, meat, salt, etc.

They are probably making way for their "green" utopia where we are only allowed to eat equality-mush.

 

[exdeath]

Assault salt or regular salt?

 

[lxskllr]

I think the salt risk is overstated. I eat a fair amount of salt and I'm doing fine, as is my 80 year old mother who loves salt.

 

[nehalem256]

Scientific American: "It’s Time to End the War on Salt"

Scientific American, the most authoritative publication explaining science for a broad audience, has analyzed recent medical studies on salt and reviewed more than a century of previous research to conclude, “It’s time to end the war on salt.”

An article written by award-winning science and health writer Melinda Wenner Moyer examines the history of hyped health fears about salt, dating back to 1904. A headline says, “The zealous drive by politicians to limit our salt intake has little basis in science.

”The magazine says often-quoted projections of saving as many as 44,000 lives per year if Americans would dramatically cut their salt intake “are not evidence” but “conjecture.”

Unfortunately, the federal government is using such speculative data to justify expensive efforts to reduce salt intake for the entire population, without knowing what negative health impacts that might have.Wenner Moyer explains “low-salt diets could have side effects: when salt intake is cut, the body responds by releasing renin and aldosterone, an enzyme and a hormone, respectively, that increase blood pressure."

The government, the article says, is creating “drastic salt policies based on conflicting data.”Citing medical experts who have done extensive research on the subject, the article suggests a better approach would have “the government sponsor a large, controlled clinical trial to see what happens to people who follow low-salt diets over time,” a move the Salt Institute has supported for years.

http://www.saltinstitute.org/

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Just think if they could invent a cost effective way to remove salt from sea water. There would be enough salt for everyone.

 

[SagaLore]

No, drinking all that water just gets retained because of the sodium, takes awhile to flush out.

Really there are 2 problems with modern salt intake. First, table salt is iodized, and although doing a great job of preventing iodine deficiencies and associated diseases, a lot of people now get too much iodine with affects how the thyroid and immune system react. Second, sodium chloride is not balanced - we also need other salts, including potassium. So then our sodium/potassium ratios are off, affecting our nervous system.

OP, switch to a combo of sea salt and "lite salt" which has a balanced mix of iodized sodium and potassium salts. Then you're all set.

 

[bradley]

No, drinking all that water just gets retained because of the sodium, takes awhile to flush out.

Really there are 2 problems with modern salt intake. First, table salt is iodized, and although doing a great job of preventing iodine deficiencies and associated diseases, a lot of people now get too much iodine with affects how the thyroid and immune system react. Second, sodium chloride is not balanced - we also need other salts, including potassium. So then our sodium/potassium ratios are off, affecting our nervous system.

OP, switch to a combo of sea salt and "lite salt" which has a balanced mix of iodized sodium and potassium salts. Then you're all set.

We actually don't get enough iodine, along with: magnesium, selenium and potassium. What does it take to synthesize and convert thyroid hormones? tyrosine, selenium and iodine... among other things. The science is all there and decades old, for anyone caring to look.

The thyroid gland alone can hold 50mg of iodine at full saturation. At an RDA of 200mcg, it would take more than 8 months to become iodine sufficient.

But yeah, sodium and potassium have a very antagonistic inverse relationship. The problem isn't too much sodium (and it isn't the bad guy) it's too little potassium.

 

[SunnyD]

I knew MD5 was a security risk, but now it's a health risk too?

Use SHA256. It's healthier.

 

[Cattlegod]

I totally avoid salt in everything. Not because of diet but just because I don't like it much.

 

[bradley]

The place that like 80% of the news articles on ATOT actually come from :awe:

Undeniably correct.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I read somewhere that here in Canada we're known as the biggest salt eaters, I think we're even worse than Americans though probably not that far behind. Our eating habits are probably simiar. Probably mostly all from fast food. Why does the unhealthy fast food have to be so tasty and convenient? Seriously I could eat that stuff every single day if I really wanted to, I have to stop myself because of the fact that it's really bad for me.

 

[akahoovy]

I thought this was going to be about bath salts. I hear they're pretty bad ass.

 

[Spungo]

Use SHA256. It's healthier.

Or DMT. That documentary with joe rogan really opened my eyes.

 

[phucheneh]

Just think if they could invent a cost effective way to remove salt from sea water. There would be enough salt for everyone.

If only it were a byproduct of some other process. Like desalination.

Oh well. A man can dream.

 

[CycloWizard]

Sodium uptake by cardiovascular endothelial cells triggers unfavorable changes in the mechanical and geometric properties of blood vessels. Uptake increases as concentration increases. Do the math.

 

[Berryracer]

what's a drudge???

 

[phucheneh]

Am I missing a joke or do some people actually not know what 'drudge report' is?

 

[Berryracer]

no seriously never heard of it

 

[CZroe]

Ugh. THIS again. "Linked to salt." Yup. Very carefully worded to continue the salt = bad myth.

Correct me if I am wrong, but high blood pressure doesn't cause heart attacks. Arterial plaques cause heart attacks. Arterial plaques constrain the blood vessels and, therefore, increase blood pressure, which is the only reason why the risk correlates with high blood pressure. Salt also increases blood pressure, but only coincidentally correlates because high-cholesterol lifestyles correlate with high sodium lifestyle (processed/junk foods with various sodium-based preservatives).

Salt isn't really that bad. It's the bad cholesterol that gets you. Wording it that way is disingenuous. It's like the people telling you that diet cola is causes heart attacks purely because those who drink it as a substitution in a poor diet are every bit as much at risk (of course: high sugar diets only correlate and do not cause heart attacks). I watched as the reports changed from "no effect on heart attacks" to "why would I switch my kid if there is no benefit?" (stated by an idiot newsperson ignoring the main reasons for replacing sugar: obesity and diabetes) to "Diet Coke causes heart attacks the same as regular soda!" to "See! I Keep telling you that diet is worse for you! Diet Coke causes heart attacks!"

 

[Berryracer]

well I have a thing, when I order my fries for example or any other food, if I don't visually see the specs of salt on it I have to add salt...even before tasting the food