The Center for Science in the Public Interest Michael Jacobson’s head is spinning after the Institute of Medicine exposed the junk science behind his call for dramatically reduced sodium intake.
In January 2011, CSPI said, for example:
The Center for Science in the Public Interest says that Americans should aim to consume no more than 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day—far less than either the 2,300 mg recommended by the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans, or the 4,000 mg of sodium that the average adult currently consumes. CSPI is supporting a new advisory from the American Heart Association, published in the journal Circulation, which calls on the “public, health professionals, the food industry, and the government to intensify efforts to reduce the amount of sodium (salt) Americans consume daily.” [Emphasis added]
But in a Huffington Post column today, Jacobson writes:
Why didn’t the IOM find evidence of benefit in people who ate less than 2,300 mg of sodium a day? The fact is that no good studies have been done.
It’s quite possible that mindless cutbacks in salt intake could cause health problems. Possibly the Food Police should arrest themselves.
This just in:
http://timworstall.com/2013/05/22/these-doctor-types-really-are-tossers-arent-they/
Adequate iodine consumption by pregnant women is critical. Iodized salt is a key source. The “experts” say, “Eat less salt.”
That, and even then it all depended on your sodium sensitivity (within reason obviously) but still completely salt-less was not advised. It’s here somewhere http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=genetic+salt+sensitivity&btnG=Submit&lr=
Don’t feed the troll.
I believe that the study you’re talking about Petrossa, or one similar, also said that until there is a BP problem there is no evidence to go on a low sodium diet.
Howdy eco-geek
That last sentence of yours is awfully sweeping. Nor do I believe that most of Western medicine is designed to gin up business.
Forgot where i have it, but there is this study that concluded that salt induced high blood pressure is not generic but individual dependent on genetic disposition. I remember a number of 30% of population being held as at risk, but it might as well be 10%. It was a marked minority in any case.
Much of Western medicine is based on deceitful junk science which is aimed at making people sick so the medical industry can profit. The salt scam is just one of many. It has been shown that very low salt intake is dangerous and can cause heart attacks as can statins (whereas high cholesterol prevents deaths from heart attacks). The biggest scam is the trans-fat scam. In the UK people are continually encouraged to eat unsaturated fat but are not told that most unsaturated fat has been passed through a hydrogenation plant (with the hydrogen switched off to maximize trans-isomer bond formation). Trans fats are the biggest cause of death in the UK and cause about 50% of cancers, 80% of CV disease, 90% of dementias, 95% of obesity and 100% of type 2 diabetes.
The CSPI has claimed to be about science and public interest but they have followed only two lines: anti-corporation and nanny-bullyism. This is a rare case of one of their spokespeople acknowledging that one of their hysteria items is built on sand. That leaves a LOT to go, nearly their entire history.