The CDC is helping promote one of the biggest health myths of all time

The dangerous anti-salt lie that could be deadly

Never a group to let go of any dogma, CDC officials asked three teams of researchers to “crunch some numbers” from sodium studies.

Obviously they were looking for bad news on salt. And the teams did their best to deliver.

Since they couldn’t give any actual results, they just came out with some made-up math and this insane recommendation:

Every American should cut sodium intake by more than half. In 10 years, this would prevent 1.2 million premature deaths.

I’m not sure where the 1.2 million number came from. It could either be fairy dust or out of thin air.

Salt to taste

This laser-focus on the dangers of salt actually risks making us LESS healthy.

In fact, these recommendations would be literally putting our lives in danger. And that’s especially true for the elderly.

We have real studies — not fantasy number crunching — to back this up.

1) A large 2011 study linked lower salt intake with higher heart disease mortality.

2) Three different trials tested low-sodium diets on patients with kidney disease and heart failure. Results linked the diets to higher risk of cardiovascular events and death.

3) German research shows that low blood levels of sodium is common among the elderly. Symptoms include fatigue, confusion, and poor balance. But doctors usually just dismiss these symptoms as problems of old age.

The late Robert C. Atkins, M.D., knew that high blood pressure wasn’t a high sodium problem.

In his “Dr. Atkins’ Diet Revolution” he cited numerous studies that came to this conclusion… You can lower blood pressure simply by increasing potassium intake. No reduction in sodium is necessary unless a patient’s intake is unreasonably high.

The CDC guys might be shocked to learn that a serious mainstream source backs up Dr. Atkins’ claim. According to The American Journal of Hypertension, there is no strong evidence that cutting salt intake reduces risk of heart attack or stroke.

Seems to me the only thing we need to cut in half is the amount of our tax dollars the CDC spends on junk medicine and junk advice.

Sources:
“Cutting salt could save hundreds of thousands of lives, study says” Melissa Healy, LA Times, 2/11/13, latimes.com

“European Geriatrics Congress: Low Salt Diet a Danger for Elderly” European Geriatrics Congress News Release, 9/20/04, prnewswire.co.uk

“Fatal and Nonfatal Outcomes, Incidence of Hypertension, and Blood Pressure Changes in Relation to Urinary Sodium Excretion” Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 305, No. 17, 5/4/11, jama.ama-assn.org