The FDA’s Unhealthy Salt Obsession

The Volokh Conspiracy (h/t Instapundit)

excerpt:

Is too much salt bad for you?  That used to be the conventional wisdom, but more recent scientific research has suggested the emphasis on salt is misplaced.

Comment:
I am going to follow the thread from the links provided above.  Starting with the first link:

It's Time to End the War on Salt

excerpts:

•  found no relationship between sodium intake and the prevalence of hypertension
• The review concluded that "intensive interventions, unsuited to primary care or population prevention programs, provide only minimal reductions in blood pressure during long-term trials.
• 2007 study published in the European Journal of Epidemiology followed 1,500 older people for five years and found no association between urinary sodium levels and the risk of coronary vascular disease or death
• Part of the problem is that individuals vary in how they respond to salt.
• a small percentage of the population, including some African-Americans and elderly individuals, seem to be hypersensitive to salt
• Hillel Cohen propose that the government sponsor a large, controlled clinical trial to see what happens to people who follow low-salt diets over time

Comment:  What does this mean for the average person?  What should you do?  It appears that you can't just change your habits based upon this alone.  It would seem that there needs to be a way to judge your sensitivity to salt.  Not everybody responds the same way, it says, so finding what your sensitivity is and acting accordingly appears to be the way to go.

The next link from the beginning of the post:

New review questions benefit of cutting down on salt

excerpts:

• "I can't really see, if you look at the total evidence, that there is any reason to believe there is a net benefit of decreasing sodium intake in the general population," said Niels Graudal of Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark
• "The question is not 'should' we reduce salt intake, but 'how'," said Graham MacGregor, a professor of cardiovascular medicine and chairman of the World Action on Salt campaign group, who said he strongly disagreed with Graudal's findings.
• MacGregor disputed Graudal's conclusion about the lack of a net benefit and said the review "clearly shows once again that decreasing salt intake lowers blood pressure."
  

Comment: Once again, we see the folly of following the latest fad. It is not a good idea to drastically change what you are doing provided that what you are doing is yielding a benefit. On the other hand, if there is not a benefit, one could look at a study like this and conclude that it may well have some merit. The point is not to overreact to everything.

NOTE:

I have decided to write more about health issues. The blog is about me and my life as much as anything. Although I write about public policies and such, it is within the framework of my own interests and concerns. Health is a concern to me, even more than before. Hence, I will write more about it. This will also be a sidebar entry, which purpose is to trace the history of the blog.