Salt Is Not the Enemy. Guess What Actually Ruins Your Health Instead?

[madokie]

Salt, we may have done you wrong.

Just the other day I purchased a bag of roasted peanuts, sensing my mouth water in ancipation of the salty goodness. Wrong! I had accidentally bought the unsalted version. Folks, there are few things less tasty than an unsalted peanut, unless it's unsalted grits (yep, I'm southern). The reason I was subjected to such a monstrosity is that for years, the medical profession has been telling us that salt is bad and will cause high blood pressure and other health woes if we don't watch our intake.

But is that really true? A new study in the American Journal of Cardiology was conducted by Saint Luke's cardiologist James O'Keefe of the Mid-America Heart Institute and James DiNicolantonio, also of the Mid-America Heart Institute. The researchers found that sugar, not salt, is the true enemy of heart health.

O'Keefe stated that "the number one demon in our diet that's making us sick and overweight and depressed and unhealthy is sugar, added sugar." The reason he gave is that sugar makes us hungry all the time and tends to boost our craving for more sweets. "If I could say one of the simple things people can radically do to improve their health is to don't eat anything with added sugar,” O'Keefe said.

So how did salt get fingered as the culprit?

http://www.alternet.org/food/salt-not-enemy-guess-what-actually-ruins-your-health-instead

[djean111]

1. If I was cynical, I would think it is because it is more difficult and more expensive

to make/sell sugarless products. Plus they still have all that HFCS to get rid of.
I do think too much salt might make one retain water, which is hard on one's body.
When I was pregnant, if I ate salty foods, my feet swelled up like balloons.

I don't use sugar at all, I use pure stevia. Accidentally drinking something with sugar - my mouth feels coated in goo.

[Feral Child]

6. The Sugar Industry

is one of America's 1st and strongest lobbyist-using, influence peddling conglomerates.

They've fought like Comanches to protect their profits, derived primarily from near-slave labor in 3rd world countries.

[Atman]

25. Correct. The sugar industry is nearly as bad as the oil industry.

Seriously. Not only are they destroying the Everglades, they're ruthless. Just a few families (cartels?) own most of the world's sugar production and they invest LOTS of money in lobbying. They protect their turf the way the drug lords protect theirs.

[Feral Child]

31. That's my understanding.

My SO did a dissertation on the Industry for her Anthro degree. Sugar was one of our 1st Conglomerates and rivaled cotton as a primary cash crop.

[KittyWampus]

48. it also gives us chemical reactions which become addictive.

[chervilant]

78. And, there's no irony here:

Sugar is a drug, of sorts, when one considers how addictive and unhealthy is refined sugar. Refined sugar consumption is directly linked to diabetes, obesity and heart disease--a fact that most sugar addicts will work hard to deny.

[NYC_SKP]

60. Please look into corn syrup, corn products, and where they are grown...

Actually, Mexico is our biggest foreign supplier, but corn and cane grows throughout our nation.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-16/u-s-can-t-get-enough-sugar-for-dum-dums-with-import-curb.html

http://public.wsu.edu/~hallagan/EconS327/weeks/week5/Sugar/Sugarquota301.html

[dixiegrrrrl]

68. I cringed when I read that sugar beets are GMO.

Beet sugar comes from Cal. and other places out West.
We do use regular sugar, but now I have to make sure it is cane.


Cane syrup is readily available in stores down here, btw.

[NYC_SKP]

82. It is really hard to find products that use cane.

More often than not it's just corn syrup, or HFCS, and it's in everything, yougurt, soups, it's hard because labeling laws are lax.

Tiny damned print!

[Feral Child]

90. Why?

Not being a smart ass, but I don't understand the point you are making. Have I misspoken?

[NYC_SKP]

95. "near-slave labor in 3rd world countries." We produce ~3X what we import.

And most of the imports are from Mexico, which I wouldn't call a third world country.

http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/third_world.htm





http://www.americanboondoggle.com/

[Feral Child]

102. Apologies for misspeaking.

I never claimed to be an authority.

In reflection, my mention of slaves in 3rd world countries was historic; native Hawaiians and the American south particularly, although the DR/Haiti and Cuba, if memory serves, were essentially countries-that-amounted-to sugar-plantations at the time.

I parroted, apparently incorrectly, my spouse's research and qualified my statements as such.

Have I offended you as a Sugar Patriarch? What's your interest in this matter?

Or do you just want to correct me to satisfy some private frustration? Perhaps some post I've made recently hurt your feelings.


It remains that Sugar, as an industry, is a vast political entity that has a track record of interfering in politics and media reports to scrub their image and protect their interests. As has been pointed out by another poster, they are a close-knit collection of a very small number of extremely wealthy families that control a monopoly of production and distribution of sugar products.

If you don't mind, I've wasted enough time on your hasty Google research. I have better things to do and more pleasant people to speak to. Good day.

[Califa]

105. Also,

Sugar was America's first war for a resource (as we recently did for oil) along with America's first occupation on foreign soil and while claiming to bring democracy interfered with the electoral process.

It was a "Splendid little war" and by ousting the Spanish from Cuba the 1898 Spanish-American War was America's debut as a imperialistic world power.

As a side note, the S-A War was the first conflict since the Civil War and supposedly healed old wounds and animosities and completed reunion of the North and South. Hmmmm, how well did that work?

[Feral Child]

107. That's an important addition.

Thanks for the history lesson.

[tanyev]

2. Awesome if true. My cravings are usually for salty things, not sugary things.

[ProfessorGAC]

92. Same Here

Although salty sweet is pretty good too.

That being said, i never actually put salt on ANYTHING. So the small daily salty snack still keeps my NaCl intake pretty low i would guess.

[tanyev]

121. Yeah, the recent trend to put sea salt on sweets does blur the line a bit.

**drool**

[BrotherIvan]

122. A craving for salt and sweet & salty things is usually a sign of adrenal issues

Worth looking into. Usually high potassium and vitamin C foods help to balance it out.

[CTyankee]

3. Um, I landed in the hospital with out of control blood pressure six weeks ago...

I had been eating too many frozen prepared foods that were insanely high in sodium. I stopped that and started a very low sodium diet and my blood pressure is back to normal (altho I do take regular meds for it).

Obviously, I can't speak for everyone, but for me sodium is a potential killer...

[Feral Child]

15. Or

you've been convinced of that. It's quite possible that the medications alone is responsible for your B/P drop.

I have a crazy diet; vegetarian due to my experiences in Viet Nam; hence, my carbohydrate intake is very high. Bread, potatoes, and rice are the staples that provide ballast.

I've always had a high-sodium intake just due to personal taste.

My blood-triglyceride levels are off the scale.

I haven't been able to drop my carb-intake significantly, although I've 'turkeyed out on my cola-addiction. My PC and I are juggling various meds to try to lower the triglycerides.

My blood pressure is quite stable, dropping from levels like 160/90 to a more reasonable 124/80. I have not changed my sodium intake at all. Other adjustments (tobacco-cessation and carb reduction) have taken preference.

My stabilized blood pressure has been controlled only by 86ing tobacco and the medication I take.


Anecdotal evidence has limited validity and for every situation like yours there is a corresponding story like mine.

I'm willing to bet that if you quit taking your meds and still maintained control of your sodium intake, your B/P would surge like ragweed in the Fall.


That's just my take and I am not advising any changes to a system that seems to be working for you, nor am I finding fault. Your assessment of the situation may be more correct than mine, but there are too many other factors that affect blood-pressure to make any assessment solely on personal experience.

[CTyankee]

24. No, I've been on these meds all along. The surge in bp was a direct result of eating those

processed foods. My bp readings went down to 130/70.

I would never dream of stopping my bp meds. I have had great results and they don't cause me any discomfort. However, for that brief time after I was hospitalized I was taking some extra meds which were making me dizzy and didn't do that much. On my last dr.'s visit my doc said I could stop with the new meds. I did and the readings were just fine (with the old meds and dietary change).

[Feral Child]

37. As I mentioned, my readings might not be accurate

since they're based on my own anecdotal experience.
Def, stay with what works for you.

To partially justify my conclusions (just for discussion's sake, not to argue w/you) I'll add that processed foods are also loaded down with sugar (even savory dishes) or, worse in my opinion, HFCS.

[CTyankee]

46. Oh, I check the labels of lots of things and if I find HFCS I don't buy the product.

It's one hell of a struggle to find bottled BBQ sauce, tho...I know, I know, I should make my own but I'm really lazy...

[dixiegrrrrl]

67. Yankee....I have a FAST recipe for terrific homemade BBQ sauce

.I make a batch and freeze it, so it always on hand.
No canning, just 5 minutes from start to finish.
Lemme know if you want the recipe.

[dionysus]

76. if he doesnt i do....

[hibbing]

86. I would like it

Hi, I would like the recipe too please.

Peace

[Ino]

94. I would like the recipe, please!

I've been on a healthy food kick since July. Gave up refined sugars, wheat, dairy, processed foods. Eat lots of vegetables & fruit, a little fish & chicken, natural sugar on occasion as part of a recipe. Make my own salad dressings. I've lost 25 lbs so far and feel great!

[CTyankee]

97. I SO want that recipe! thanks...

[dixiegrrrrl]

104. I DU mailed to you and the others who asked for it.

One of the few recipes I have that I have not needed to adjust for taste.
It thickens as it cools, and tastes great on any kind of meat.

[CTyankee]

106. Oh, my...thanks so much!

I adore it on spare ribs...mmm...

[dixiegrrrrl]

110. This is a thinner sauce than store bought

but one could, perhaps, thicken it by using a bit of cornstrach.
It ages well, in the fridge or freezer.
And Hunt's ketchup no longer uses HFCS,

[CTyankee]

112. good idea. when I use a thin bbq sauce on chicken it slides off too easily...

[Jazzgirl]

124. Dixie I would love it too!

[Dream Girl]

111. Yes please

Could you post or send to me? Thx

[chervilant]

80. Annie's makes a good BBQ sauce.

Try at your local health food store. I make a great veggie loaf with it.

[PumpkinAle]

41. Exactly same with my SO

While this article may be good news for some, the old adage "everything in moderation" is probably the best way to go.

[Rozlee]

91. Your meds, your medical condition or other factors might have contributed.

My niece was morbidly obese and had skyrocketing blood pressure, uncontrollable diabetes and other health problems. When she got gastric bypass surgery and lost over half her weight, she lost the diabetes, the high BP and the 'female problems' she'd been having. She coats her food with salt these days and her BP doesn't budge anywhere near the danger zone. It's an occupational hazard in a family that dumps so much salt on their food, you can barely see what's under it.

[CTyankee]

99. I'm not obese and haven't been told to drop a few pounds to decrease bp...

altho a few years ago I was really sick and lost 30 lbs and the bp meds were making me loopy so I can see how that can happen. Now that my normal weight is back I could go back to my old dosage.

[no1uno]

50. WELL......

said, Feral Child! Some medications will in fact cause fluid retention....so here's another pill to get rid of that. Pregnancy can be the cause of fluid retention not necessarily the salt. But what works for one may or may not work for another. I have congestive heart failure not because of my life style but because a rare heart infection following wisdom teeth removal. Blood pressure elevation has never been an issue but fluid retention is for me. Sugar is not a high desire in my diet but sodium is. So point here....I use salt often, balanced moderation seems to be the key. Sugar causes one to become FAT and fat causes one to retain fluid...leave out the sugar and moderate the sodium.

[Feral Child]

70. In addition to my B/P meds

I'm on a diuretic to also lower fluid retention.

Makes for a gigantic pee-episode about mid-morning!

[tridim]

16. Don't you think maybe the nasty carbs in those frozen dinners had at least some effect?

It makes sense since carbs (not sodium) cause inflammation and thus high blood pressure.

[CTyankee]

28. Yes, I avoid highly processed carb foods, too, and the frozen stuff often is full of that.

fresh fruits and vegetables should be the centerpiece of our diets. I do eat high fiber, whole grain, low sugar/low sodium breakfast cereal with fresh fruit atop. Whole grains taste better, too...

[femmocrat]

30. That happened to my son, too. Ended up in the ICU.

He cut out the sodium (mostly from luncheon meats, and processed foods) and started walking. He lost weight and doesn't need BP meds now. He is an almost-vegetarian; changed his life.

[840high]

47. Same for me. Watch

my salt intake - BP went from high to normal.

[daleanime]

69. Agreed....

if I blow my salt diet definitely feel it the next day, and friends can tell just by looking at me. If my sugar goes up, I just don't lose weight as quickly.

[Warren Stupidity]

4. Um, uh, salt intake should still be limited.

Just because sugar is worse doesn't mean you should start loading up on salt.

Oh and unsalted nuts, once you stop eating them for the salt, start to taste like the individual foods that they are.

[tridim]

10. Why? It is an essential element that we can't live without.

You should eat as much as your body requires. Following arbitrary guidelines is a huge health mistake.

[Feral Child]

20. Yes. n/t

[femmocrat]

32. How much is that though?

If you read the nutrition labels, processed foods are loaded with hidden sodium, way more than one needs.

[Demit]

44. Right. So that makes processed food the culprit, no?

[tridim]

63. Don't eat processed foods or any other poisons for any reason.

Practice listening to your body, it tells you exactly what it needs.

[DebJ]

57. Because sodium is present in almost everything, and you will get enough without going overboard

which is what happens with, for example, meals out in restaurants, and processed foods. American restaurants have helped to create
a salt palate in America that is way, way overboard, above and beyond, and into the severely overloaded area.

I have been keeping my husband's sodium below 1500 mg a day for 2.5 years now. His BP is now completely under control without medications.


He, like many citizens in the US, was eating ENORMOUS amounts of sodium. He'd put salt on pizza. Salt on spaghetti sauce from a jar.
Salt on everything without ever tasting it.

Water is also an essential of life. However, there have been cases where people with some psychiatric issues literally drowned themselves
by ingesting so much water that their lungs exploded.

Just because something is good for you, doesn't mean that there aren't limits.

[Warren Stupidity]

75. "limit" does not mean "eliminate".

The link between hypertension and high salt intake remains in place. You might not have a heart attack, just a stroke

"as much as your body requires" is not "as much as you crave". We crave salt, perhaps not as much as we crave sugar.

[NJCher]

109. my experience is

the cravings go away.

It's great.

Yesterday at our faculty meeting, they had a table out with all kinds of cookies, brownies, cakes, and other sweets. Fortunately there were 3 fruit trays. I only had some melon, but I couldn't believe how many people were eating as many as 3-4 cookies and a piece of cake.

And these are older people, too!

I know if I had a cookie or whatever, it would not taste good to me. My taste buds have been acclimated.


Cher

[CTyankee]

11. I notice a distinct difference in my taste buds now that I have drastically reduced sodium.

I didn't taste it before, when I was eating all the sodium. I do eat unsalted nuts and they are very good, at least to me.

The other night I sauteed shrimp in olive oil, with a white wine reduction, and added fresh flat leaf parsley over plain pasta. No added salt whatsoever. It was incredibly tasty.

[Phentex]

27. Many people think salt equals flavor...

but you are right. When you cut back on salt, you can really taste the flavors of the food. (Grits aside, as the author points out.)

[CTyankee]

35. I ate grits as a kid growing up in Texas and I dearly loved them.

Alas, when I found out their zero nutritional value and potential harm, I stopped and started eating whole grains. Why eat wasted carbs when you can eat good tasting, high value carbs?

[Phentex]

38. True!

I feel the same about corn. I like corn on the cob on occasion but I prefer most other vegetables.

[CTyankee]

40. I gave into the corn on the cob summer thing. Paired with fresh tomato slices, they are

super wonderful. But no salt, just pepper, on them. And only once a week for the season.

[sendero]

5. more flip flopping..

.... courtesy of something that is called science, but simply is not.

[Schema Thing]

12. right. it's called media attention whoring

Sugar being implicated means absolutely nothing wrt salt. So why are they even being talked about in the same headline?

[malaise]

7. I like a touch of salt but am not fond of too salty

We don't use much sugar at all - and when we use it, it's pure brown sugar.

[Lochloosa]

23. But you get the good shit there...

The pure brown sugar...

[malaise]

33. Yes indeed

We're lucky that way

[robbob]

56. Just to clarify the sarcasm...

Most brown sugar is actually just white sugar with molasses whipped in to give it color. But pure raw sugar is available, and it can also be brown. Important to make sure you are getting the real raw sugar.

For me, it's maple syrup (again, real maple syrup, not some sugary flavoured concoction), which is WAY healthier (and tastier) then refined white sugar.

[KurtNYC]

8. A recent study showed that for the small percentage of the population which is

salt sensitive, changes in overall diet are more effective than the reduction in salt intake. For the general population the relationship between salt intake and blood pressure is "weak":

High dietary sodium has been adduced as a cause of hypertension and its target organ damage for millennia; yet careful observations using sophisticated techniques have revealed only a weak relationship between sodium intake/excretion and blood pressure in the general population. Further, studies of the effects of dietary sodium reduction on blood pressure have revealed minimal achieved reductions in blood pressure, no relationship between the magnitude of reduction in sodium intake/excretion and the blood pressure effect, and no evidence of an effect of sodium reduction on death or cardiovascular events.

While blood pressure in the population as a whole is only modestly responsive to alterations in sodium intake, some individuals manifest large blood pressure changes in response to acute or chronic salt depletion or repletion, and are termed "salt sensitive". Salt sensitivity and resistance have a large variety of determinants, including genetic factors, race/ethnicity, age, body mass and diet (overall diet quality, macro- and micronutrient content), as well as associated disease states, e.g. hypertension, diabetes and renal dysfunction. Salt sensitivity can be modulated by improving the quality of the diet, e.g. the DASH diet reduced salt sensitivity by increasing the slope of the pressure-natriuresis curve. Mechanisms that appear to contribute to salt sensitivity include blunted activity of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, deficiency in atrial natriuretic peptide expression, and blunted arterial baroreflex sensitivity. Salt sensitivity in both normotensive and hypertensive persons has been associated with increased cardiovascular disease events and reduced survival. Increased attention to strategies that reduce salt sensitivity, i.e. improvement in diet quality and weight loss, particularly in high risk persons, is urgently needed.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16772636

[CTyankee]

19. I'm in that small percentage I guess.

But now that I switched over to fresher foods with natural seasonings I will never go back to high sodium foods. I can't. They taste over sallted to me now.

I also check the sugar content of the food I eat, such as breakfast cereal. I can't eat anything with too much sugar now, either.

I like it this way.

[daleanime]

72. What! For the first time in my life....

I'm in the minority?

[Chathamization]

74. This more recent metastudy found that “High salt intake is associated with significantly increased

risk of stroke and total cardiovascular disease. Because of imprecision in measurement of salt intake, these effect sizes are likely to be underestimated. These results support the role of a substantial population reduction in salt intake for the prevention of cardiovascular disease.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2782060/

[randome]

9. The only path to real health is to not give in to your cravings. Period.

We are all addicted to the siren call of our taste buds but there is a sense of accomplishment when you learn to ignore them.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]All things in moderation, including moderation.[/center][/font][hr]

[Stuart G]

14. Not giving in to cravings.........??? not easy for many, very hard for some...

[randome]

22. It's never easy but then neither is staying sober for some.

I view food cravings to be on that same level.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]All things in moderation, including moderation.[/center][/font][hr]

[Stuart G]

26. They are, I think you are correct.

But there is one difference.

You got to eat, you don't got to drink alcohol ...(yes, we need water to live)

[randome]

34. Sure, but morphine is not essential, either. But it's very much desired when you're in pain.

And it's easy to get addicted to it, too. You CAN be addicted to something that's essential.

I gave up daily coffee more than a year ago and passed through the withdrawal symptoms. Once I knew I could do that, I started eliminating other non-essential foods from my diet. I feel great but of course that's just me.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]"If you're bored then you're boring." -Harvey Danger[/center][/font][hr]

[CTyankee]

49. I'll have to stay addicted to caffeine. I had the worst headache of my life when I stopped

drinking coffee. No meds could touch it.

I drink two cups a day and that's fine.

Wine is good for you. Esp. red wine. I have a glass every evening with dinner.

One thing I really stopped easily was diet soda. I switched to ice water (new fridge has door dispenser of ice and water and that helps).

[randome]

54. Different people react to wine differently, though.

I wish I could drink it more frequently but after a while, it interferes with my sleep and then I start to feel miserable. So, like coffee, I restrict wine to weekends only.

And I reject the idea that it's 'good' for you. That sounds too much like this study, which is basically designed to make people feel less guilty. Including the author.

Let's be honest, the only food and drink that's 'good' for you is vegetables, fruit, bread, milk and water. Everything else is non-essential with potentially long-term effects that are not good.

I'm not perfect, by any stretch of the imagination. I still have an occasional Imo's pizza. I eat out with my daughters. But I won't try to convince myself that any of it is 'good' for me.

And yeah, diet soda will kill you. Just about anything labeled 'diet' should be avoided. As Yoda might have said, "There is no 'diet'. There is only 'lifestyle change'."
[hr][font color="blue"][center]"If you're bored then you're boring." -Harvey Danger[/center][/font][hr]

[Stuart G]

71. Yes!!!!!!!!!! DIET SODA WILL KILL YOU ...GREAT POINT

That died stuff is very very bad for all of us. Strangely, sugar in fruits and verggies is actually very good for you and tastes..great...like watermelon..sweet?...But the fake sugar, from what I have read, is a destructive chemical that does indeed upset the body in dangerous ways..Although regular coke and pepsi are bad..diet coke and pepsi are truly destructive..

[randome]

83. The same for 'low fat', IMO. Although I'm not all that conversant with any of it.

The surest way to lower fat intake is to...lower your fat intake. Not eat the same amount and hope it somehow magically lowers your intake.

It's always simpler than it sounds, though, isn't it? I know first-hand by quitting cigarettes 25 years ago, then daily coffee, then daily wine. I think I could quit breathing now if I wanted! Maybe not.

But the surest way to a goal is always a direct line.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]"If you're bored then you're boring." -Harvey Danger[/center][/font][hr]

[CTyankee]

100. Red wine definitely has health benefits.

The French do very well, thank you very much, with their wine intake, ditto the Italians. And they've been drinking it for a really long time!

If you've had the red wine in Europe you'll notice you don't have a problem with it, as you describe. That is because they don't put sulfites in their wine the way we do. I've never had any wine problems in Europe (I go every year)...

[randome]

118. I still reject the idea that wine is 'good' on its own.

Maybe in conjunction with a lifetime of full meals and meats but the very best way to health is to eat less and avoid meats and all liquids but water. Or milk. I don't even like tea any longer, not since I quit coffee.

I know you're right about the sulfates. I personally haven't put that to the test.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]You have to play the game to find out why you're playing the game. -Existenz[/center][/font][hr]

[Dream Girl]

113. Dairy and bread are not "good" for you and hardly considered essential

We should be avoiding processed grains, particularly wheat and corn and we don't need dairy. Although full disclosure I partake in both and drink red wine too!

[randome]

116. Sure, dairy isn't needed. Especially if one is lactose intolerant.

Better still, as you say, is to avoid anything that's processed, but that's not so easy to do. Or convenient, at any rate. But you can usually find a middle ground. I buy bread and flax seed crackers from Trader Joe's. Neither is essential but if I'm going to eat something that's not essential, I may as well make it a little closer to 'safe'.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]You have to play the game to find out why you're playing the game. -Existenz[/center][/font][hr]

[orwell]

13. If you like salt...

...drink plenty of water. No problemo...

Sugar is the real bad guy for most people...

[supernova]

17. It's not just sugar it's all fast metabolizing carb-

ohydrates in the diet that essentially convert to sugar immediately upon entering the body: breads, pasta, white potatoes, grits... all processed or highly processed carbs, of which sugar is just one.

Over time, the body can become desensitized to the insulin needed to metabolize those foods, needing ever more insulin to cover the same food. The constant insulin ride becomes an irritant in the body, causing inflammation and eventually the chronic diseases of aging we've all come to know and love: clogged arteries, heart disease, diabetes, etc.

The only way to reverse that trend is to learn to control carbohydrates in your diet. Eat your veggies, whether cooked or in a salad, preferably with butter or a creamy dressing. Eat adequate protein. Fill up on good fats, mono and saturated: olive oil (not cooked), coconut oil, grass fed butter, incidental fat attached to your protein.


This is the extreme end of the deal, for people who can't get control of their intake, but it works and does improve labwork extremely well. http://amzn.to/1sunlVE

[CTyankee]

51. We should learn from the French and the Italian cuisines. Their food is very fresh and

very nutritious. Also, use extra virgin olive oil. I had some in Florence a few years ago that I wanted to pour in a glass and drink! It was heavenly...

[supernova]

87. MD eating is pretty good, just stay away

from the breads, pastas, beans an desserts. Do eat the non-starchy veggies, the meats, the pate, and the fabulous EVOO and an fish!

[GliderGuider]

18. Excess salt in conjunction with a high-carbohydrate diet is devastating.

Last edited Thu Sep 18, 2014, 10:25 AM - Edit history (1)

High carbohydrate diets tend to be sodium-sparing, meaning the body holds onto it. Carbohydrates and dietary salt work together to enhance fluid retention, which causes high blood pressure and eventually heart problems. Thus the recommendation for most people - who are normally on high carb diets - to be cautious in their salt intake.

Low carb or paleo diets, on the other hand, tend to result in fluid loss due to natriuresis - an increased excretion of sodium. This leads to the reduction in edema and lower blood pressure typically seen on low-carb diets. In contrast to the standard dietary advice, many low-carbers find that they need to increase their salt intake in order to avoid an electrolyte imbalance.

[freshwest]

21. I've avoided salt most of my life, still do. Spring greens have a variety of tastes, including salt.

IMO, plant foods with mineral salts in them are perfectly healthy. I get sick from added salt and MSG. The taste is not worth the nausea and headaches.

But many people do fine with salty foods and I enjoy them on occasion, but try to substitute what are called 'savories.'

I prefer to actually taste real food, I think a lot that is added is to hide the taste of processed food, because when you remove the salt, it's like eating rubber, cardboard, whatever. It is not food.

I agree about the sugar, as it mutates the cells, so to speak, and is said to cause adult diabetes, from which come certain circulation issues that salt aggravates.

That's anecdotal, nothing more as I'm not a doctor. And never wanted to be.

[frazzled]

66. A diet too low in sodium is even riskier than one too high

Americans consume, on average, 3.4 grams of sodium per day, or about the equivalent of three and a half tablespoons of soy sauce. This is on the low end of the “safe zone” of 3-6 grams in the study. The United States Food and Drug Administration thinks that’s not low enough. It recommends 2.3 grams per day. The World Health Organization says it should be 2.0 grams. The American Heart Association goes even further and recommends we consume no more than 1.5 grams.

Why? There’s surprisingly little rationale for this belief. Last year, experts convened by the Institute of Medicine assessed the evidence concerning sodium intake around the world. They agreed that efforts to reduce excessive sodium were warranted. But they cautioned that no such evidence existed to recommend a very low salt diet. They hoped that future research would assess the potential benefits of a diet where sodium intake was 1.5 to 2.3 grams per day.

The second New England Journal of Medicine study did just that. In addition to looking at high sodium diets, it compared the health outcomes of those who had very low sodium diets. What they found was worrisome. When compared with those who consumed 3-6 grams per day, people who consumed less than 3 grams of sodium per day had an even higher risk of death or cardiovascular incidents than those who consumed more than 7 grams per day.

This result would be shocking if we in the medical community hadn’t seen it before. But we have. In 2011, researchers published a study in the Journal of the American Medical Asssociation after following 3,681 people over almost a decade. They, too, found that excessive salt intake was associated with high blood pressure. They also found that a low-sodium diet was associated with higher mortality from cardiovascular causes.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/26/upshot/dash-of-salt-does-no-harm-extremes-are-the-enemy.html?_r=0&abt=0002&abg=1

This article is well worth a read. It ends with the proviso: "It’s a cliché but true: In so many things moderation is our best bet."

And by the way, sugar does not cause diabetes. That's just wrong and misguided. (Because type 2 diabetes runs in my family, I once asked a specialist in dietary diabetes: she was adamant: avoiding sugar will not lead to lowering your risk for diabetes, and has nothing to do with it.) Indeed, as the above article suggests, going to extremes by using artificial sweeteners to avoid sugar may well cause diabetes. Just in today's NYT: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/09/17/artificial-sweeteners-may-disrupt-bodys-blood-sugar-controls/?ref=us

[Dont call me Shirley]

29. Boiled peanuts?

[Dont call me Shirley]

36. Along with the dangers of added sugars, other added chemicals, gmos, processed grains

are causing our health problems.

Also poisoned water and constantly poisoned air contain many estrogenic mimicking chemicals throwing our endocrine system out of whack.

So listening to Naomi Klein right now, we must stop the deregulation madness.

Reregulate, Reregulate, Reregulate!!!

[knightmaar]

39. That includes "Fruit juices"

When you make a list of things with "added sugars", you should also include things like fruit juices which are, basically, nothing but the sugar and water extracted from the fruit.

"Taking away everything but the sugar" works out to the same "added sugar".

[CTyankee]

53. I stopped drinking a full glass of orange juice every morning...now I have just enough to

wash down my bp meds...about 1/4 cup...I do love it but...

[NCarolinawoman]

119. I add water to my orange juice, ice and a twist of lemon.

Use to love orange aid--the real kind, so now I make my own. Very refreshing and not so sweet.

[CTyankee]

120. Nice...I'll try that...

[NJCher]

42. I dropped both salt and sugar

Don't miss either of them, except on rare occasions, salt.

I kept careful track of my blood pressure. I noticed that anytime I had anything high in sodium, it took days for it to get back to normal.

I even have college kids in my classes that have high blood pressure from eating things like potato chips, cafeteria food, and prepared meals from the store. Twenty-year olds!



Cher

[Cleita]

43. Salt does raise your blood pressure if your organs, kidneys and liver, that ordinarily filter

it into waste product start underperforming. My husband suffered from kidney failure so I know this to be true. When he went on dialysis, sometimes his BP was brought down too low, so we raised it with salty broth. So I agree with you about sugar and heart health, but people who need to limit their salt intake should push away the salt shaker too, especially the elderly.

[MannyGoldstein]

45. Even worse: low-salt diets usually cause harm

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/05/15/health/panel-finds-no-benefit-in-sharply-restricting-sodium.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

[madokie]

52. One of my cousins wife was put on a no salt diet

Have no idea what lead up to that being the case but it wasn't too long before she had a heart attack in the middle of the night and died. she seemed to me to be as healthy as a horse shortly before she was put on this no salt diet. Her doctor is quite the QUACK though, if you get my drift
I have high blood pressure, not extremely high and my Cholesterol numbers are right where the charts say they should be yet I have PAD, had one DVT, spent a week in the hospital with heparin flowing in my veins to dissolve it. My doctor has never suggested me changing my diet at all. I use salt pretty much like I have all my life, just a little but not much. I asked my doctor why I have PAD, and had a DVT with Cholesterol numbers like I have and he just shrugged his shoulders and said nothing is cast in stone or something to that effect. I take 5 mg of Lisinopril once a day at bed time

[eShirl]

114. it probably should have been a low-salt, not a no-salt, diet

when they put my husband on a restricted-salt diet, they warned us not to go too far the other way... they gave him a 2,000 mg/day upper limit, and said it was a good idea to keep it above 1,000 mg/day

[Iggo]

55. According to the spam in my inbox recently, it's water and salads that're killin' me.

[lunasun]

93. Potassium rich food like greens and tomatoes actually should be added to balance sodium intake

Last edited Thu Sep 18, 2014, 12:32 PM - Edit history (1)

They work together and a potassium rich diet balanced along with sodium keeps away high bp
Potassium-rich foods include:

Sweet potatoes
Potatoes
Greens
Spinach
Mushrooms
Lima beans
Peas
Bananas
Tomatoes

Oh and stress
do not ignore stress and it's relation to high bp. Seems like 'no salt will help you' is a blanket to cover up any need for a person to explore further or look at other factors that may contribute or be lacking

[LynneSin]

58. Rarely I buy things that are low-salt but I do not add extra salt to my diet

that seems to help

But for someone who eats a diet high in processed foods they will have a diet high in salt because salt is a common preservative.

Consider this when eating veggies

Fresh is better than Frozen which is better than Canned. Most canned veggies are oozing with salt (although to be fair there are some canned veggies out there marked low-salt but even those tend to be higher than salt)

[DebJ]

59. Why the false dichotomy, the either/or? Too much of anything can be dangerous. n/t

[dilby]

61. The problem I see is that there is already plenty of salt in everything.

So there is no need to add it unless you are cooking with raw whole foods. My father who has heart disease and high blood pressure still adds salt to everything, not sure if it's just habit but go to a restaurant and he throws salt on his food. Opens a can of spaghetti sauce and he is adding salt to it in the pot, then he adds salt to the spaghetti on his plate. Now I don't know if his salt intake has anything to do with his heart disease or high blood pressure but I do know that if I eat his cooking I am bloated for a week do water retention.

[L0oniX]

62. This has the overtones of being woo ...but I agree with sugar being the worse thing for us.

[Blue_Tires]

64. "Doctor" James O'Keefe??

Not believing a single word uttered by *anyone* of that name

[riverbendviewgal]

65. walk down your local grocery store's cereal aisle

I am amazed at the huge quantity of sugar filled "food". No wonder so many children are obese.
My kids grew up with only oatmeal, cream of wheat, wheaties, cheerios, rice krispies, and shredded wheat allowed for their breakfast cearels. And even those have some sugar or frutose in them

Carbs and sugar mixed cause obesity. That is what
cereal consists of.

There is research that indicates cancer feeds on sugar.

Be aware of what you eat. Read labels. Even healthy juices have alot of sugar.

[closeupready]

73. Something many of us knew years ago - refined carbs of any kind

are bad for the health when consumed any more frequently than rarely.

[Dopers_Greed]

77. I see a hidden war between the salt and sugar industries.

Where operatives from both sides lobby compete to run hit pieces in health publications on which is worse.

Maybe both are bad in excess?

[valerief]

79. Remember when they tried to get us to hate oil? The edible kind, not the Koch kind.

How do you digest food without oil?

[christx30]

81. I eat salty stuff all the time.

The afore mentioned peanuts, the odd tortilla chip or two. I always feel good. But I went to my mom's for dinner the other night, and she uses a rediculous amount of sugar in her iced tea. Goes through a pound or two in a week. After just 2 glasses, my kidneys hurt for 3 days. I'll never touch it again.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

84. Misleading headline...

The actual study concluded that sugar, IN ADDITION TO salt, is a leading cause of hypertension. Excess salt is still bad for you. Same with excess sugar. Both are essential for health, but as with everything, it's all about quantity. Moderation is key.

I try to avoid anything with high amounts of sugars or salts, and when I cook fresh (which is how I usually cook), sea salt gets added by the pinch, not teaspoon.

[WinkyDink]

85. Ha! To all my salt-naggers retroactively: Pbbbbbt!

[Bonhomme Richard]

88. I have realized that sugar is bad,bad,bad and, from experience,.....

find that sweeteners only continue the craving for sweets.
This is not new and, sadly enough, I just finished reading a book called The Common Soldier written by a union private during the Civil War and he was saying, way back then, that the troops sugar allotment was the cause of many of the illnesses the troops were suffering from and he stopped eating it.
I am a struggling sweetaholic.

[cbdo2007]

89. Why can't salt and sugar both be the problem??

It's weird that there are so many people saying it's one or the other, when clearly BOTH can be a problem, given their prevelance in certain diets.

[Koch Ebola]

96. I did not know that...

thank you

[Ratty]

98. Salt cannot be linked to mortality

I read a fascinating article a few months ago. It's well-known salt intake is related to high blood pressure but when researchers carried their research much further they could find no link between salt and actual mortality. In other words people with larger sodium intakes had higher blood pressure but didn't seem to be dying an sooner than everyone else.

I have blood pressure problems and am careful to control my salt intake. It's mostly pretty easy for me because I have never been one to crave the so-called "salty food" like pretzels, chips, etc. And I simply don't like the taste of a lot of salt in foods. Haven't bought a can of soup in years - it's uneatable to me. And when I have a lot of salt I feel all "blood-pressury" as I put it. My skin is red and I feel a sensation of pressure in my head and face. Plus I have a thirst which I can't satisfy. I can drink half a gallon of water until my stomach is tight and I hear the water sloshing around in their when I move and I'm STILL thirsty.

It's a few insidious packaged foods I have to watch out for - the ones that don't even taste particularly salty. Safeway makes a potato salad I like a lot and I don't even notice it as being particularly salty - but read the label and it's a full day's sodium allotment and I have that unquenchable thirst for hours afterward.

BTW, I lost a great deal of weight when I cut down on salt and did nothing else. I didn't crave sodas anymore or sugary fruit juices. No hardships or learning to say no or anything like that. I just wasn't thirsty for them anymore.

[lunasun]

101. Food companies often charge more for dietary special need items

Betcha if they charge more for the low sodium items, then they are all about perpetuating thi$ myth niche too!

[marle35]

103. Salted peanuts are not the problem

even if you believe a high sodium diet is harmful.

Many of the products we consider salty, like peanuts and potato chips often do not have a great amount of sodium. In fact, if you look at the nutrition facts of a single-serving package of Planters salted peanuts, it contains only 100mg of sodium. In fact, that qualifies it as a low sodium food.

It's the soups and sauces that are packed with sodium, easily containing 2g of sodium without even tasting salty.

As far as the health issues of sodium, I basically agree with the article. Some people are extra sensitive to sodium. I'm one of those people. It's important to remember that - you should be aware of your blood pressure, and determine for yourself if you're sensitive. I agree that sugar is a much bigger issue.

[killbotfactory]

108. The following are the benefits of refined sugar to human health:

[RobinA]

115. So...

sugar is the new salt. I wonder what's next.

[pansypoo53219]

117. i have been ignoring 'experts' for decades. i eat NATURAL. nothing fake. i use BUTTER.

i use RAW SUGAR or syrup. i am cheap. i use C&H brown sugar. pure cane sugar. cream is CREAM. i cook. i like this new sea salt.

[RebelOne]

123. I have high blood pressure and use low-sodium salt,

and since diabetes runs in my family and most of the relatives on my mother's side had diabetes, I watch my sugar consumption. I try to buy foods that are sugar free. In fact, I do not even have sugar in my house, only Splenda. I am 75 years old and my blood sugar is normal, according to a blood test I had in March.

[ChiciB1]

125. Well, IMO I've Always Thought It Was Sugar!

Won't go into all of it, but there's hardly ANYTHING you eat that doesn't have sugar in it. I live in FL and the Sugar Lobby is HUGE!!!