Study Suggests Reducing Sodium May Increase Unhealthy Blood Fats

Question

https://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/news/20111108/new-research-calls-salt-guidelines-into-question

sharpaction · Answer

https://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/news/20111108/new-research-calls-salt-guidelines-into-question

sharpaction · Answer

The analysis of data is from more than 167 studies of people with normal or high blood pressure. These people were randomly assigned to eat either low- or high-sodium diets. The study found that consuming less than 2,800 milligrams of sodium a day helped lower blood pressure though the reductions were very small.  The reductions were only an average of 1% for people who had normal blood pressure to begin with and 3.5% for people with high blood pressure. For example, if your BP is 140/90 then reducing salt will only bring it down to 138/89 which is insignificant. Another issue with the lower sodium diet is that it increased triglycerides by 7%, which is a unhealthy blood fat and when elevated increases risk of heart disease,  when compared with the people who were eating more than 3450mg of sodium which is about what the average American eats in a day.

HutchEmAll · Answer

My doctor told me 2,000 mg&#x27;s per day.

ClubDirt · Answer

i&#x27;ll be interested to read this.  i don&#x27;t worry about sodium at all.  i&#x27;ve actually been told i&#x27;ve had low blood pressure before.  but my dad&#x27;s doctor told him to try and cut out all sodium. basically, i&#x27;m not real sure one way or the other about sodium.

ClubDirt · Answer

how about this:Last week, in a news release, Michael F. Jacobson, executive director of&#xD;&#xA; the Center for Science in the Public Interest, called the high amounts &#xD;&#xA;of salt in processed foods "the single deadliest ingredient in the food &#xD;&#xA;supply, contributing to the premature deaths of tens of thousands of &#xD;&#xA;Americans each year."

sharpaction · Answer

Club - I wonder how he feels about sugar. Regardless, there are many scientists who lie and fake data due to grants, fame, funding and various other reasons. Here is an example of an article in which the author faked data in at least 30 publications. In one of them he concludes that eating meat makes people anti-social and selfish.

https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2011/10/tilburg_professor_faked_data_i.php

There is bad science out there everywhere. The low fat diet which has been pushed for the last 50 years or so was a result of bad science. We are now realizing the potential problems eating this way even though the low fat dogma is still being pushed by the food guide. In the seven countries study conducted by Ancel Keys in the 1950's he only used data that supported his claim- that elevated cholesterol levels and increase consumption in saturated fat cause heart disease. He ignored the countries in which high levels of saturated fat were consumed where there was less heart disease. Yes there was a correlation in his study but no causation.

There is a book called Bad Science by Ben Goldacre which is a good read if you are interested in that kind of thing.

I just read Barry Groves old article on salt and he says that high carbers retain more salt so it is important that high fat dieters need to make sure they are getting enough especially since they are more likely not to eat the highly processed and packaged foods. I would figure that a person who has elevated insulin levels would be more likely to have higher amounts of sodium and fluid retention and a high carber is more likely to have those elevated insulin levels.

ClubDirt · Answer

sharp, it really is amazing how much bad information there is about a topic that is so fundamental and important to every person- what he/she eats. every day it seems i hear someone talk about not wanting to eat this or that because of its fat content and then grab something high in carbs/sugar. rather than go into a full discussion, i usually just direct them to read good calories, bad calories.

thanks for the recommendation. i've added it to my long list of books i need to read. i'm always interested in reading books on the subject of bad science/bad information, especially as it relates to nutrition.

on a related note, i just found out a former classmate of mine wrote a book on this subject. i haven't read it yet but it looks promising- appetite for profit, how the food industry undermines our health and how to fight back, by michele simon.

KOAJ · Answer

reducing salt intake is a great way to lose weightsalt grabs and holds water so the less you eat, the less water you&#x27;ll need...you&#x27;ll shed pounds quick

sharpaction · Answer

There is no denying that if you stop eating salt you will lose weight quickly but you do not lose fat. The reason why a no salt diet makes you lose weight is because it dehydrates your body. Too little salt is more harmful than too much and excess salt is easily eliminated by the body by drinking more water.  Salt is water soluble so whatever your body does not need it will excrete through urine. A dehydrated body which is low in sodium is more prone to elevated insulin levels and this is one reason why it will have a more difficult time burning fat.

ClubDirt · Answer

the apocalypse is imminent.

Study Suggests Reducing Sodium May Increase Unhealthy Blood Fats

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