Salt reduction could save 92,000 U.S. lives a year

Reuters ^ | Jan 21, 2010 | Gene Emery

[decimon]

BOSTON (Reuters) – Shaving 3 grams off the daily salt intake of Americans could prevent up to 66,000 strokes, 99,000 heart attacks and 92,000 deaths in the United States, while saving $24 billion in health costs per year, researchers reported on Wednesday.

The benefit to the U.S. population would be comparable to cutting smoking by 50 percent, significantly lowering obesity rates and giving cholesterol drugs to virtually everyone to prevent heart attacks, said Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo of the University of California, San Francisco and colleagues.

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"Even if the federal government were to bear the entire cost of a regulatory program designed to reduce salt consumption, the government would still be expected to realize cost savings for Medicare, saving $6 to $12 in health expenditures for each dollar spent on the regulatory program," the researchers wrote.

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[decimon]

Read the whole thing. It's short but reveals salt to be a medical devil.

A search on "salt" will yield several articles on BWO (Bloomberg World Order).

[decimon]

The saline solution ping.

[jtal]

Well I guess I have to start hoarding salt now along with gold, ammunition and incandescent bulbs.

It’s only a matter of time before the statist bans it.

[driftdiver]

EPA will probably declare it a hazardous substance.

[Flintlock]

Go away.
Please.
Just go AWAY.

[RayChuang88]

Actually, with today's modern food packaging and refrigerator technology, we don't NEED so much salt in our foods to start with.

Historically, humans depended a LOT on salt because it was in effect the ONLY way to preserve food for longer shelf life (that's why vegetable pickling and meat jerky have such a very long history). That's why in ancient times, access to salt meant whoever controlled the access to salt would make a fortune. But now, with the food preservation improvements I mentioned above, we can dramatically cut back on the use of salt easily.

[Dr. Ursus]

Agreed.We get twice the amt of salt daily that we need.
There’s even salt in cereal.

[driftdiver]

What did I do to make you say that?

[driftdiver]

So you want the federal govt to have control of your salt shaker?

[Archon of the East]

Id like to see the studies they used. The whole salt-cardiovascular issue I thought was based on a bad study from years ago at least for people who have decent renal function.

[spacejunkie01]

This is SUCH BS. Good salt is GREAT for you.

Do not use refined, iodized salt. Use ‘Real Salt’ or some other sea salt that is not refined.

Full of minerals and very very good for you. And drink alot of water.

[RayChuang88]

On thing that the Campbell Soup Company has done recently is tremendously expand their line of Hearty Request versions of their soups, which has 50 to 66 percent less salt than their regular soups. The only reason why Campbell could do this is because with modern canning techniques, they can drastically cut the salt in the soup without affecting its shelf life.

[Archon of the East]

Id like to see the studies they used. The whole salt-cardiovascular issue I thought was based on a bad study from years ago at least for people who have decent renal function is not an issue.

[Haiku Guy]

Surely everybody knows that too much salt is not good for you.

Surely every food package has mgs of Sodium spelled out, right on the back, along with the percentage of the RDA.

What’s the problem here? People make their own choices. Some of those choices are bad. Some of those choices are fatal.

A box of salt costs two bucks. If you take it out of the food, some people will sprinkle it on top. They like the taste.

[jimmyo57]

Next time you eat anything “low-fat” check out how much salt is in it.

[Haiku Guy]

"Even if the federal government were to bear the entire cost of a regulatory program designed to reduce salt consumption, the government would still be expected to realize cost savings for Medicare, saving $6 to $12 in health expenditures for each dollar spent on the regulatory program," the researchers wrote.

Get used to this argument.

The government spends X amount on healthcare related to (fill-in-the-blank)

It would cost the government Y amount to eliminate (fill-in-the-blank)

X is greater than Y

Therefore, we must ban (fill-in-the-blank)

----------------

This argument works for a lot of things: Salt, french fries, parachutes, knitting needles, ice cream, breast milk, butter, bread, motorcycles, breathing... Almost anything!

[Manic_Episode]

We could save about 5 times that number of lives or more a year by banning saline injections.

[decimon]

Id like to see the studies they used. The whole salt-cardiovascular issue I thought was based on a bad study from years ago at least for people who have decent renal function.

What's in the article links salt to far more problems than that. Bloomberg's taking a lead in nutritional fascism may leave him seen as the Al Gore or Danny Glover of nutrition.

It's not that overdosing on salt is good for you but that they go way far overboard in demonizing it.

[1raider1]

Good point, but don’t call me Shirley.

[two23]

I come from a family of high blood pressure and back in the early 80’s I cut back on salt. I’m in my early 50’s.
I do not have high blood pressure and I personally cannot stand the taste of high sodium levels in most restaurant foods and pre-packaged foods.
Once you lower your sodium intake, you start to enjoy the real taste of food. Not just the sodium reaction in your mouth.
Just my 2c —to each his own!