It's Time To End The War On Salt

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How much salt is in your diet?

Since I can remember, I've been told not to eat too much salt... because it's bad for your heart health, right? You must've heard this too. In fact, I don't think there's one single person on the planet that isn't aware of this 'medical fact'...

Well, it turns out that this so-called fact is more of a myth... The reality is that almost 80 per cent of the salt most people consume is from processed foods... foods that we shouldn't eat to begin with because they contain MANY artificial ingredients that are bad for your health.

Salt taking the rap for sugar

Fears over the health risks of eating too much salt first surfaced in 1904 when French doctors reported that six of their patients who had high blood pressure — a known risk factor for heart disease — were salt fiends. Worries escalated in the 1970s when Brookhaven National Laboratory's Lewis Dahl claimed that he had "unequivocal" evidence that salt causes high blood pressure: he induced high blood pressure in rats by feeding them the human equivalent of 500 grams of sodium a day. (Now, that's just crazy if you ask me! 500 grams of salt! A day!)

However, the medical myth that salt contributes to heart disease, is based on the results of one single study (and it's not the rat experiment). The DASH-sodium study was conducted in 1997, to determine whether or not a low-salt diet would control high blood pressure.

The DASH diet (the diet used during the study) consisted largely of fresh vegetables and fruits, lean protein, whole grains, low-fat dairy, and a very low salt intake. But it was ALSO low in sugar/fructose. So, while people on DASH diets showed a reduction in high blood pressure, it was not as a result of low salt intake, but because they ate less sugar and refined carbohydrates!

Here's how the DASH-sodium researchers missed the point completely: Sugar and refined carbohydrates play much more havoc on your health than salt will ever do. They raise your insulin levels, which in turn raise your blood pressure. They also promote storage of body fat, causing obesity, diabetes and heart disease!

However, the researchers were so eager to prove their salt theory that they completely overlooked the real factors contributing to high blood pressure, which brought them to the wrong conclusion altogether.

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Salt, worth its weight in gold

In fact, 25 years of research has failed to show any benefit from following a low-salt diet. Earlier this year, a meta- analysis of seven studies involving a total of 6,250 subjects, published in the American Journal of Hypertension, found no strong evidence that cutting salt intake reduces the risk of heart attacks, strokes or death in people with normal or high blood pressure.

In May this year, European researchers who followed 3,681 middle-aged healthy Europeans for eight years, published the results of their study in the Journal of the American Medical Association and reported that the less sodium study subjects excreted in their urine — an excellent measure of prior consumption — the greater their risk was of dying from heart disease.

Now, if that doesn't debunk the salt myth then I don't know what will!

It only goes to show that bad science very often leads to common misconceptions, which in turn puts our health at risk.

There's a very good reason why the ancient Romans were paid their wages in salt, because unrefined natural salt is literally worth its weight in gold, especially when it comes to the role it plays in a number of biological processes:

** It's a component of your blood plasma, lymphatic fluid, extracellular fluid, and even amniotic fluid

** Natural salt carries nutrients into and out of your cells

** It maintains and regulates blood pressure

** It increases the glial cells in your brain, which are responsible for creative thinking and long- term planning

** Salt helps your brain communicate with your muscles

Not all salts are equal

So there you have it, the sodium myth debunked!

Given that salt is absolutely essential to good health, why not empty your food cupboards of any form of refined table salt and switch to a pure, unrefined salt, like all-natural Himalayan sea salt.

Himalayan sea salt has spent thousands of years maturing under extreme tectonic pressure, far away from impurities, so it's not polluted with the heavy metals and industrial toxins of today. It only consists of 85 per cent sodium chloride, the remaining 15 per cent contains 84 trace minerals that are important for, among other things, good bone health.

Season your food with natural salt to taste and if you are exercising heavily, or in the middle of a heat wave (if only!), you may require more salt than on a cool day when you're relaxing. Also keep in mind that if you are eating lots of processed foods, you are consuming the kind of salt your body doesn't need.

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Sources:

Fatal and Nonfatal Outcomes, Incidence of Hypertension, and Blood Pressure Changes in Relation to Urinary Sodium Excretion, published JAMA. 2011;305(17):1777-1785. doi: 10.1001/jama.2011.574

Low urinary sodium is associated with greater risk of myocardial infarction among treated hypertensive men, published Hypertension. 1995 Jun;25(6):1144-52.

It's Time to End the War on Salt, published online 08.07.2011, scientificamerican.com

Add This Seasoning to Your Food Daily - Despite What Your Doctor Says, published online 20.09.11, articles.mercola.com