Tom Bridgeland <[log in to unmask]> posted:
>>Salt is one of those funny things, everyone loves to hate it, but it
>>is not linked in any study to early death. The Japanese have the
highest salt consumption in the world, and the longest life spans. Who
knows? Another thing I don't worry about much.
My reply:
I don't suggest worrying, I suggest educating yourself about a subject that
is vital to health. Salt is a socially endorsed, highly addictive, and
highly profitable substance. Most of the highly processed foods consumed in
Industrialized nations contain salt; it sells more products and makes people
eat more, and eat things they might otherwise shun. Btw: The Japanese have
one of the highest rates of stroke in the world.
Here are some questions from a salt quiz I wrote this past summer (I'm a
freelance food and health writer, as well as a cooking instructor). I won't
print the entire quiz, you'll have to visit my web site for it, once it's
up:
#1: If you donıt have hypertension you donıt need to worry about your
sodium consumption. True or False?
(F) According to researchers, our love affair with salt could be putting us
at risk for asthma, ulcers, rheumatoid arthritis, kidney stones,
osteoporosis, memory decline and cataracts as you age, and erectile
dysfunction (if youıre male!). Further, what is considered ³normal² blood
pressure in America is merely an average of people consuming industrialized
diets; it is not indicative of what is healthy or ideal. (See The Salt
Solution for extensive references.)
#2: Some people are salt insensitive; reducing sodium does not affect
their blood pressure, so they can safely consume as much sodium as they
like. True or False?
(F) ³The vast majority of studies that have been done on dietary sodium
were very poorly designed, scientifically. They didnıt take into account
that this is not a one variable situation,² explains Moore. ³There are two
variables that must be taken into account together. ...You have to look at
them together if you are going to see a pattern.²
#3: Without exception, ethnic groups who do not add common salt to their
foods have life-long low blood pressure. True or False?
(T) No exceptions to this generalization have been found, according to
researchers H.C. Trowell and D.P. Burkitt, authors of Western Diseases and
Refined Carbohydrate and Disease.
Btw: Eskimos on their traditional diet consider salted food "u-eatable!"
#4. Among Primitive groups of people who ingest little or no salt, stroke
is remarkably rare. True or False?
(T) Among the Yanomano Indians of Brazil, the Bushman of the Kalahari, and
the Solom Islanders stroke is almost nonexistent.
#5. A high sodium diet increases your risk of developing osteoporosis. True
or False?
(T) ³ It is a well-established fact that salt ³steals² calcium from the
body. The more salt you eat, the more calcium your body loses in your
urine.²
A. Goulding, ³Fasting Urinary Sodium/Creatinine in Relation to
Calcium/Creatinine and Hydroxyproline/Creatinine in a General Population of
Women,² New Zealand Journal, 93 (1981): 294-297.
A. Devine, R.A., Criddle, I.M. Dick, D.A. Kerr, and R.L. Prince, ³A
longitudinal Study of the Effects of Sodium and Calcium Intakes on Regional
Bone Density in Post menopausal Women,² American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition 62 (1995): 740-745.
That's all I have time for today! Hope I've piqued your interest in two
fascinating and enlightening books on salt.
Rachel Matesz
The Healthy Cooking Coach
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