A major meta-analysis study looks at the relationship between salt consumption and heart problems. They found that there was a slight mean positive relationship between salt in the diet and blood pressure, but could find no evidence that salt caused heart problems.
A controversial new study is questioning the oft-repeated connection between the consumption of too much salt and the development of cardiovascular disease. The meta-analysis, published online today in the American Journal of Hypertension, examined the results of seven clinical studies and found no solid proof that reducing salt consumption prevents heart conditions.
Furthermore, there is evidence that a low salt diet caused it's own problems which may offset the reductions in blood pressure:
Michael Alderman, an emeritus epidemiologist at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, believes the study adds to growing evidence that cutting salt does not help people who consume modest amounts of the stuff. Public policies aimed at forcing salt reductions are misguided and potentially dangerous, he says. Eating less salt may reduce blood pressure, which is beneficial for the heart, but it could also increase insulin resistance, triglyceride levels and sympathetic-nerve activity — all risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
In any event, it appears that the evidence for a negative health effect from dietary salt is quite weak and contradictory. While government should not be foisting their food preferences on people for health reasons, they certainly should not be foisting them on us for no reason at all (except that they can).
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