10 Salt Shockers That Could Make Hypertension Worse

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Thanks for all of the information that disproves everything the scientific community collectively knows about the long term affects of high salt intake.
Your proof is just overwheleming. I have a hunch the reserach conducted was well funded by the salt and food industries.
Where I am from we call this ProfitGanda.
ProfitGanda is heavily used by special intesret groups, such as yours, to try and debunk actual science - and cofuse the general public. You put yourself on facebook, twitter and youtube and try to make yourselves look genuine, sincere and all caring for the health of mankind, but you seek one thing, and one thing only - PROFIT!!!!!!!!!
America is getting smarter!

ProfitGanda of FL 5:59AM August 26, 2009

Most meat from walmart is pre-tenderized, meaning at least a quadrupiling of the sodiom content. read the label

mike of MA 3:55AM August 26, 2009

When my children were young, I read a book which showed the negative results of too much salt, so I changed how I was cooking for them. I did not add salt to anything I cooked; rice, potatoes, meat. I never added salt to cakes or cookies. To this day, I really do not use salt. I have to admit, that I bought junk food for them once a week, Friday night. And that was it.
At the time of writing this, my children are all grown up in their late twenties and early thirties, and all are tall and slender. They are also very healthy eaters in their own homes.

S. Fast 10:33AM August 25, 2009

Perversely, "heart healthy" products usually trade between salt and fat. If the salt is reduced, the fat is increased; if the fat is reduced the salt is increased. There isn't a way for even the careful shopper to win. Of course, flavor has to come from somewhere.
And a search among "heart healthy" butter alternatives shows that they all contain salt. In fact, the best spread for avoiding salt is unsalted butter!
However, here's a tip for those who still want canned tuna: rinsing the tuna in cold water in a colander removes a great deal of the salt.

Marilyn of NY 9:22PM July 21, 2009

After reading the above entries and having read enormous articles relating to salt, we still don't know indisputably what is and what is not a fact.
However as a suggestion the following is a matter of record. Since some ethnic homosapiens metabolize foods in a different manner, the following may answer that century old question.
At private industry and or government supervision select a substantial number of Caucausians, Blacks, Asians, Hispanic, etc, and give them the same diet, same exercise, controlled amount of salt (NaCl), for x number of time. When measuring the systology and distology periodically, we can in time have imperical and statistical data to arrive at a firm conclusion.The larger the sample and the fewer the variables, always arrive at facts which results in truths.
I am a retired chief enmgineer from a large Aerospace company that has done many failure analysis and trend data to arrive at indisputable conclusions.

John Epperson of CO 6:40PM July 21, 2009

I've read that one-quarter of those with high bp are sodium sensigive. Do the studies do anything to contradict that? It is hard to tell from the reporting, which states the results only in terms of averages. How are these average changes in bp distributed across individuals?

Richard of DC 4:52PM July 21, 2009

Discussion of excessive sodium in the American diet is long overdue.As most know, along with utilization of the sun as a means of moisture extraction , subterranean keeps & glacial proximity for the long term storage of food,salt has added value by way of it's flavor enhancing qualities & as form of currency,literally.This will be a challenge to wean our Big Mac conditioned palates to incorporate the intriguing alternatives.There are downsides to consider,both from a nutritional perpective as well as an ecomomic one.The body's finely tuned balance of electrolytes can demonstrate it's displeasure in myriad ways as response to having an abrupt shut off of salt ,even for individuals being treated for hypertension.Persons with Bipolar disorders also can experience complications if such care is not taken with salt intake for reasons better explained by your physcian .As for the economic implication ,the retail food industry has come to rely on the timed movement of processed food on grocers shelves .Not to mention the dining & hospitality segments of the ecomonomy.Keeping it fresh,local & in season will figure increasingly in meeting this challenge.

Patrick of TX 5:14AM July 21, 2009

First of all I don't trust doctors or the scientist anymore. Health care is becoming almost comical unless you are ill,then its outrageous.
For years they report one thing then two years later completely reverse themselves on the same subject. Time and time again they've done this. Many times on the same subjects back and forth until they prove just how ridiculous they are. I don't know what is going on in labs that make them butcher findings and make so many dangerous drugs. I do know that practicing doctors are on drug company payrolls in many instances. Neurontin was one of those instances. The company paid doctors to say anything good about this drug. Write papers and make speeches about it. A seizure medication that is almost worthless for that but turns out it does work for nerve pain or neuropathy as its called. Surprised the dopey scientist and doctors.
Use your head and possibly you'll not have to see a crazy doctor with pills from an a scientist that who knows what he was thinking when he/her and their associates developed a medicine or took money from some company to write another article like this one.

Unknown of TN 10:43PM July 20, 2009

The raging debate on salt and health is decades old, that's true, but we have known of a salt/blood pressure relationship for about 4,000 years. The blood pressure question is resolved: lower salt can lower blood pressure in a minority of the population, but for an overall population blood pressure lowering effect.
Is that good? Does it make us healthier?
Blood pressure is an excellent indicator of cardiovascular risk. Those with lower BP have lower risk, so it certainly would seem that those who can use salt reduction to lower BP would have fewer heart attacks and strokes and improved cardiovascular mortality.
But the evidence does not find that benefit. Why not? Because OTHER things happen when salt is reduced. Insulin resistance increases. Plasma renin activity jumps. Aldosterone increases. All bad. These offset a BP benefit.
Lowering BP is good, but HOW one lowers BP is even more important. After all, donating a pint of blood lowers BP. It lowers BP and may increase a feeling of self-worth, but there is no health benefit.
The latest studies of health outcomes are the first clinical trials of lower salt and measuring the health effect. These two articles today don't do that; they measure only BP. Measuring mortality and hospital readmissions is a fairer, more relevant test. That's what Pantera et al did in examining patients with congestive heart failure (CHF). The first treatment of CHF for a half century has been to reduce salt. But the outcomes were never before tested.
They have been now. The result: those on the controlled low-salt diets died more frequently (and faster) and were readmitted to the hospital more frequently. Low-salt diets proved UNhealthy.
So, the media continues to obsess about BP, but the real question is health outcomes and those outcomes do not show a benefit of reducing dietary salt. Abstracts of the studies can be found at:
Paterna, S. et al, "Normal-sodium diet compared with low-sodium diet in compensated congestive heart failure: is sodium an old enemy or a new friend? " Clinical Science (2008) 114:221-230.
Paterna, S. et. al, "Medium term effects of different dosage of diuretic, sodium, and fluid administration on neurohormonal and clinical outcome in patients with recently compensated heart failure ." American Journal of Cardiology (2009); 103:93-102.
Beich, KR and Yancy, C., "The heart failure and sodium restriction controversy: challenging conventional practice ." Nutrition in Clinical Practice (2008) 23(5):477-486.
I'd add that the Cochrane Collaboration, inventors of "evidence-based medicine" also has concluded that there is isufficient evidence for a population salt reduction advisory (http://www.cochrane.org/reviews/en/ab003656.html).
Dick Hanneman
President
Salt Institute
http://www.saltinstitute.org