Debate Over U.S. Plan to Cut Salt in Diet
Debate Over U.S. Plan to Cut Salt in Diet
May 19, 2010 -- Government and industry efforts to cut the amount of salt in the American diet amount to a giant "national experiment" with no guarantee of success, one scientist is warning.
Most public health experts were ecstatic last month when the FDA announced it would embark on a decade-long program to gradually scale back the amount of salt in restaurant and packaged foods. Those foods contribute more than 70% of the salt consumed by Americans, who also have high rates of high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.
The cuts are intended to put a dent in what most public health experts see as America's national sodium overdose. According to the CDC, Americans consume an average of 3,436 milligrams of sodium per day, though dietary guidelines for adults suggest limits of 2,300 milligrams daily as a general recommendation and less than 1,500 milligrams daily for individuals who are 40 years of age or older, African-American, or have a history of high blood pressure.
Sodium is known to increase blood pressure, and high blood pressure is a known risk factor for heart attacks, strokes, and other serious health problems.
But one expert is calling the program a leap of faith, likening it to "shooting first and asking questions later" in the fight to get Americans' blood pressure down.
"What we're involved in here is an experiment to see what's going to happen," says Michael Alderman, MD, chair of department of epidemiology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.
Alderman acknowledges that sodium reductions lower blood pressure and that elevated blood pressure is related to cardiovascular disease. But controlled studies have failed to consistently show that cutting sodium actually cuts the risk of an early death or the risk of disease.
"We do not have evidence that reducing sodium is going to increase the quality or the duration of our lives," he said at a symposium on salt reductions sponsored by the American Society for Nutrition in Washington.
Other experts disagree. Many nutrition researchers and epidemiologists consider it a safe assumption: Americans' sodium intake is out of control, and gradually but substantially reducing the amount of salt in processed foods will save thousands of lives through population-wide reductions in blood pressure.
Salt Shockers: High-Sodium Surprises
Debate Over U.S. Plan to Cut Salt in Diet
Expert Says Nationwide Salt Reduction to Reduce Hypertension Is Short on Evidence
May 19, 2010 -- Government and industry efforts to cut the amount of salt in the American diet amount to a giant "national experiment" with no guarantee of success, one scientist is warning.
Most public health experts were ecstatic last month when the FDA announced it would embark on a decade-long program to gradually scale back the amount of salt in restaurant and packaged foods. Those foods contribute more than 70% of the salt consumed by Americans, who also have high rates of high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.
The cuts are intended to put a dent in what most public health experts see as America's national sodium overdose. According to the CDC, Americans consume an average of 3,436 milligrams of sodium per day, though dietary guidelines for adults suggest limits of 2,300 milligrams daily as a general recommendation and less than 1,500 milligrams daily for individuals who are 40 years of age or older, African-American, or have a history of high blood pressure.
Sodium is known to increase blood pressure, and high blood pressure is a known risk factor for heart attacks, strokes, and other serious health problems.
But one expert is calling the program a leap of faith, likening it to "shooting first and asking questions later" in the fight to get Americans' blood pressure down.
"What we're involved in here is an experiment to see what's going to happen," says Michael Alderman, MD, chair of department of epidemiology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.
Alderman acknowledges that sodium reductions lower blood pressure and that elevated blood pressure is related to cardiovascular disease. But controlled studies have failed to consistently show that cutting sodium actually cuts the risk of an early death or the risk of disease.
"We do not have evidence that reducing sodium is going to increase the quality or the duration of our lives," he said at a symposium on salt reductions sponsored by the American Society for Nutrition in Washington.
Other experts disagree. Many nutrition researchers and epidemiologists consider it a safe assumption: Americans' sodium intake is out of control, and gradually but substantially reducing the amount of salt in processed foods will save thousands of lives through population-wide reductions in blood pressure.
Salt Shockers: High-Sodium Surprises
