Unless you have certain genetic factors “harmful effects of excess sodium intake” is what is a myth.
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 levels—an accurate indicator of prior sodium consumption—with 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."
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.