Salty Dogs

A bunch of do-gooders, who seem to think warning labels will keep people from buying sodium-laden pepperoni pizza and bags of Doritos, recently coaxed the FDA into hosting a hearing that allowed assorted “health” groups to present their case against salt.

The general tone of the meeting was summed up with this imaginary “statistic” from the AMA: 150,000 deaths could be prevented each year if the salt content in U.S. food products were cut in half.

Many health groups believe our mass salt intake could be significantly reduced with regulations that would require food manufacturers to prominently label their products’ sodium content along with a warning about high sodium intake.

If they actually think labels are going to keep a majority of Americans from consuming salty processed foods, they’re dreaming a sweet dream.

And more to the point, they’re completely on the wrong track.

The downside of dire warnings

Here’s something I’ll bet didn’t get mentioned at the November FDA hearing: Many people suffer health problems because they don’t get ENOUGH salt in their diets.

At the 2004 European Geriatrics Congress in Vienna, Professor Ingo Fusgen of the Department of Geriatrics at Germany’s University of Witten-Herdecke presented research showing that as much as 10 percent of seniors may suffer from hyponatraemia (low blood levels of sodium).

Hyponatraemia often goes undiagnosed because symptoms are so similar to some of the conditions that we associate with aging, such as fatigue, poor concentration, confusion, poor balance, and incontinence. When hyponatraemia becomes pronounced, hallucinations and even coma may result.

Prof. Fusgen also reported that 80 percent of the elderly subjects in his research told him they avoided salt based on the popular misconception that salt intake causes high blood pressure (HBP).

In a press release, Prof. Fusgen stated that many otherwise healthy older people might be in danger simply because of the widespread belief that a low-salt diet is healthy.

Sodium’s partner

I completely agree with Prof. Fusgen, but I’ll take it one step further. In most cases, sodium intake is not even a problem for people who already have HBP, provided they’re getting enough of another nutrient.

According to the late Robert C. Atkins, M.D., the problem for those with HBP isn’t sodium, it’s a lack of balance between sodium and potassium levels. In fact, more than 25 separate studies show how increasing potassium intake (without decreasing the sodium) is an effective way to lower blood pressure. And one of those studies demonstrated that with just one daily serving of a potassium-rich food the risk of death by stroke may be cut by as much as HALF.

Fortunately, it’s easy to increase the potassium in your diet. High potassium fruits include apricots, bananas, cantaloupe, honeydew melon and citrus fruits. Vegetables with good amounts of potassium are asparagus, potatoes, green beans, avocados, lima beans, winter squash, and cauliflower. Other foods high in potassium: grain products, red meat, poultry, seafood and dry beans, such as peas and lentils.

It would be difficult to get too much potassium from dietary sources alone. But if you’re already getting plenty of potassium in your diet, a potassium supplement would be unnecessary, and in some extreme cases could lead to kidney damage and other complications. Obviously, balance is called for. And as always, talk to your doctor, dietician or health care practitioner before using potassium supplements to help manage high blood pressure.

Going Celtic

In the e-Alert “Lower Your Blood Pressure Without Side Effects” (8/23/01), I told you about research indicating that severe sodium restriction actually increases the risk of premature death. On the other hand, excessive and long-term overindulgence in salt is dangerous as well, putting stress on the kidneys, which remove excess salt from the blood.

So if you love your salt, you might try using sea salt. According to some physicians, moderate use of Celtic Sea Salt has been shown to have no negative effects on blood pressure and actually provides the body with a number of helpful minerals (including magnesium), which are stripped from typical table salt during processing.

Sources:
“FDA Pressed for Tighter Salt Restrictions” Laura Crowley, NutraIngredients-USA, 11/30/07, nutraingredients-usa.com
“European Geriatrics Congress: Low Salt Diet a Danger for Elderly” European Geriatrics Congress News Release, 9/20/04, prnewswire.co.uk