Busting the medical mainstream’s biggest myth about sodium restriction
Salt freedom
You know those “gold standard” trials that medical mainstreamers are always talking about? They don’t want to hear any theories about how this or that might be good or bad for you unless the evidence comes from a double-blinded, placebo-controlled “gold standard” trial.
And yet, they’ll be the first to tell you to limit salt intake.
Well guess what… There’s never been a gold standard trial conducted to back up the widely accepted notion that high salt intake boosts blood pressure.
That’s right: none. As in ZERO.
Age-old myth hits the elderly hard
If you’re in your 70s or 80s and you confide in your doctor that you’re feeling fatigued, your balance isn’t so good anymore, and sometimes you’re easily confused, you know exactly what he’s going to tell you.
Something like… “These things are to be expected in advanced years.”
And that’s why doctors often miss a diagnosis for hyponatraemia–low blood levels of sodium.
Several years ago, German research showed that a surprising number of seniors suffer from hyponatraemia. The study reported that a large majority of the elderly subjects said they avoided salt based on the popular misconception that salt use causes high blood pressure.
The fact is, lowering sodium intake may actually INCREASE risk of heart attack and death.
In three different trials that tested low-sodium diets on patients with kidney disease and heart failure, results linked the special diets to higher risk of hospitalizations, cardiovascular events, and death.
Yeah–THAT wasn’t supposed to happen!
According to Dr. David McCarron–a nutritionist and University of California professor –there’s currently no reliable evidence that backs up the accepted recommendation to reduce sodium intake for heart health. Dr. McCarron says the recommendation is based only on opinion and the demonization of salt by health authorities, such as the CDC.
A few years ago, Dr. McCarron wrote, “My view is that it is very likely that low salt will ultimately prove to be another public health disaster. There is already sufficient evidence to suggest that low salt could actually result in increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
“But the reality is that the international community needs to commission controlled trials so that we have the evidence as to whether the current policy is safe and effective. To do anything less is irresponsible.”
So get to it, mainstreamers. Bring on those gold standard studies. Or stop risking patients’ health by telling them to reduce their salt intake based on nothing more than medical dogma.
Sources:
“Junk Science Week: Salt scare lacks solid evidence” David McCarron, Financial Post, 6/14/10, financialpost.com
“Can Dietary Sodium Intake Be Modified by Public Policy?” Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, Vol. 4, No. 11, 11/1/09, cjasn.asnjournals.org
“European Geriatrics Congress: Low Salt Diet a Danger for Elderly” European Geriatrics Congress News Release, 9/20/04, prnewswire.co.uk
“Salt policy could be ‘a disaster waiting to happen'” UKPRwire, 7/27/07, ukprwire.com
