Betty Guyer wrote:
>Guys, Have'nt you ever noticed that an animal will travel for miles to
>get to a salt lick.  Salt in some form can be necessary for life.

And since humans sometimes strive hard to get candy or whisky, these can
also be necessary for life,
I presume? :-)

Western populations eat 100-200 times more salt than the Yanomamo indians
of the Amazone and obviously far, far more than they need.

Aaron Wieland wrote:
>...The same friend who cited Dr. Price's study also claimed that American
>studies tend to show that salt is unhealthy, whereas the English studies
>indicate that it is safe.

I don't think this is true. There is a lack of consensus in both countries.
And the issue will never be solved because a double-blind
placebo-controlled trial is impossible. But the evidence is rather strong
that a typical western salt intake increases the risk of high blood
pressure, stroke, heart failure, stomach cancer, osteoporosis, renal stones
and possibly asthma.

>...I'm a little concerned that most studies use sodium excretion to
>estimate sodium intake, and that it is sodium excretion which is correlated
>with hypertension, etc.

This is the best method to estimate sodium intake.

>How could a study detect cases where an individual
>eats a lot of salt, but doesn't excrete much (because he needs it)?

Sodium is not being continuously stored in the body - at steady state the
same amount that is eaten is excreted in the urine.

>Also,
>most of our salt is found in processed foods, so a high-sodium diet is
>correlated with junk food consumption, unless the subjects' diets are
>controlled by the researchers.

Correct. This is another reason why the issue cannot be solved.

>By the way, how do we know that our paleolithic ancestors didn't eat much
>salt?

We will never know if some of them added sea water to their food.

>Does anyone know whether blood is saltier than meat?

Yes, 2-3 times saltier than raw game. And about 20 times more than the
average for raw vegetables.

>This could be important, since hunter-gatherers frequently drank blood.

You think so? Well, if my calculations are correct, in order to get as much
sodium as typical westerners they would need to drink around one liter of
blood every day.

>Personally, I have learned that a high salt consumption is a critical
>component of my diet.  I dramatically increased my salt consumption at the
>same time that I switched from a vegetarian to a hunter-gatherer diet.  If I
>don't eat large amounts of sea salt with every meal, I quickly become sodium
>deficient and have trouble retaining water.

If you excuse me, this sounds like home made speculations. How could you
know you're deficient?

Best wishes, Staffan

Staffan Lindeberg, M.D. Ph.D.
Dept of Community Health Sciences, Lund University, Mailing address:
Primary Health Care Centre, Sjobo, S-22738 Sweden, +46 416 28140, Fax +46
416 18395 <[log in to unmask]>
http://www.panix.com/~paleodiet/lindeberg/