Posted on 06/07/2013 10:33:05 PM PDT by neverdem
How much time do you spend reading every day?
The effects of sodium intake depend on one’s diet. On a high carb diet (like the so-called healthy food pyramid) one retains excess sodium, hence the warnings to restrict sodium intake. On a lower carb diet this is not an issue.
This is another Atkins myth. The harmful effects of excess sodium intake do not vary by diet. Carbohydrate consumption is not a factor.
Unless you have certain genetic factors “harmful effects of excess sodium intake” is what is a myth.
Just based on my individual experience, sodium is by far the worst chemical which affects my body negatively. Sugar I can burn up by lots of activity, but excess sodium is hard to get rid of, especially in cool climate such as here in Seattle area. NaCl most certainly raises my BP which then has cascading bad effects on other issues.
Often, a lot, but there can be wide variations.
“This is another Atkins myth. The harmful effects of excess sodium intake do not vary by diet. Carbohydrate consumption is not a factor.”
I dont know what Atkins said about salt. All I know is about more recent research which my own doctor seems to be familiar with, and which has led me into trying to up my sodium intake in spite of the fact that I just dont like the taste of salt I prefer the taste of food without it. For the record, I ended up with very high blood pressure in spite of very limited sodium intake. Since going lower carb never particularly high to start with my blood pressure meds have been reduced along with hypothyroid meds (born defective ;-) and ditched 8kg.
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ditto! Didn't know about the carb thing, thanks!
And I’m just the opposite. Sodium seems to get flushed out of my system rapidly, but sugar sticks around and causes weight gain in very little time.
Bravo! Not many people or doctors know this.
A couple articles.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=what-science-on-hypertension-really-shows
Interesting exerpts:
"Indeed, research doesn't always support the notion that salt causes high blood pressure: A large, multicenter study known as INTERSALT compared urinary sodium levelsan accurate indicator of prior sodium consumptionwith hypertension in more than 10,000 people in 1988 and found no statistically significant association between them. In fact, the population that ate the most sodium had a lower median blood pressure than the population that ate the least."
"They found, surprisingly, that the more sodium their subjects ate, the less likely they were to die. In particular, the death rate among those eating the least sodium was 4.1 percent, but it was only 0.8 percent among avid salt consumers."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22639013
The conclusion:
"Taken together, these data provide strong support for a "J-shaped" relation of sodium to cardiovascular outcomes. Sodium intakes above and below the range of 2.5 to 6.0 grams/day are associated with increased cardiovascular risk. This robust body of evidence does not support universal reduction of sodium intake."
About 25 years ago, I was administered a 24 hour urine renin test at the Cornell Hospital hypertension clinic. It consisted of my having to collect my urine for 24 hours and take it to Cornell for analysis. Based on that test (I actually took it twice), I was told that I was not “salt sensitive,” and that I did not need to restrict my salt intake.
The physicians there also told me that the majority of people do not need to restrict salt intake, but because there are a small number of people who do, and the 24 test is unwieldy and expensive, it’s easier, from a public health standpoint to simply advise people to reduce their salt intake.
My doctor has never mentioned restricitng salt intake in spite of the fact as I have aged my blood pressure has risen.
My semianual blood work measures the sodium level. It is always comfortably below the upper limit. Rather than try to measure consumption, it is easier to measure the effect, blood sodium level. When it passed the limit over a 6 monyh interval he medicated
Unlike you, I crave salt and unlike my wife who is like you, add salt to most food
When I was in football we took salt tablets daily, when in the Army we did the same thing when on patrol. The A Shau would suck the water out of a man in short order, salt tabs helped to retain fluids. You couldn’t carry enough water if you didn’t.
I wonder what the effects would be if the “total salt” levels in food were allowed to remain as they are, but for that total level to be a combination of sodium and potassium chloride with the ratio set to what is the optimum for good health.
And there's the money quote.
You are spot on correct. I do not eat carbs (sub 30g per day), and need to supplement my sodium daily by consuming broth made from bullion cubes.
here was a study done a few years ago that found that people tended to unconsciously self regulate salt intake as the level fluctuated in their bodies. If things taste salty to you I’d say that’s a good indication that you don’t need anymore.
Excess sodium intake has a high correlation to cardiovascular disease, according to every major medical research hospital.
Those, like Atkins, who preach yo-yo low carb diets, while ignoring the dangers of sodium, are pandering to our addiction to salt and doing a disservice to us all, to sell books and services.
No one, however, including Bloomberg, should dictate what we eat, or smoke. Caveat vorator.
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