15 votes

This Anti-Salt Narrative Needs a Shakeup

Tags: diet, health

4 comments

  1. Petril
    Link
    Regarding sugar consumption: this is something my mother has said for years. The alternative (read: crazy) nutrition/medicine she half buys into has been touting the evils of sugar and that salt...

    Salt may play a role, but hypertension has also been linked to genes, obesity, heavy drinking, lead exposure, sugar consumption and stress.

    Regarding sugar consumption: this is something my mother has said for years. The alternative (read: crazy) nutrition/medicine she half buys into has been touting the evils of sugar and that salt is OK for a long time. My mom believes in science; we were vaccinated, she takes medicine to control her hypothyroidism and my dad takes heavy drugs for his RA, but they are both a little whack-a-doo when it comes to supplemental "medicine" e.g. magnet bracelets, supplements, essential oils, healing touch, etc.

    It's very interesting that we're slowly finding out the things they said that were true. Fat doesn't necessarily make you fat, eating cholesterol rich foods doesn't necessarily give you high cholesterol, sugar can cause cirrhosis of the liver, salt hasn't been proven to increase the risk of hypertension too much... I will never put stock in the magnets thing, but another thing my mom has been known to say is "if it works, even if it's all in your head, why not do it?" Aka: the placebo effect is real science.

    3 votes
  2. [3]
    hookertime
    Link
    As the article suggests, there are numerous other factors contributing to blood pressure and heart health, many of which are less tangible to deal with. Managing your stress at work and home or...

    As the article suggests, there are numerous other factors contributing to blood pressure and heart health, many of which are less tangible to deal with. Managing your stress at work and home or starting an exercise regime is much more demanding than reducing your salt intake.

    2 votes
    1. [2]
      Tetizeraz
      Link Parent
      Well, you definitely need to drink a lot of water if you're in a diet with a high salt intake. I eat ramen sometimes, and boy, that stuff is really salty. I drink at least 500ml of water after eating.

      Well, you definitely need to drink a lot of water if you're in a diet with a high salt intake. I eat ramen sometimes, and boy, that stuff is really salty. I drink at least 500ml of water after eating.

      1. hookertime
        Link Parent
        Absolutely. I am feeling a bit too lazy to find specifics, but many Americans are quite underhydrated. Proper hydration would help solve the problem as the excess ions from salt would come out in...

        Absolutely. I am feeling a bit too lazy to find specifics, but many Americans are quite underhydrated. Proper hydration would help solve the problem as the excess ions from salt would come out in your urine. My point was that while salt intake does effect our blood pressure and heart health, stress and activity level are more important than salt levels. They're also harder to manage, from a lot of people's perspective, anyway

        2 votes