One of the biggest problems we consumers have with nutrition, is the seemingly ever changing and conflicting advice dispensed to us from experts. Fat was once evil, now it’s not. Eggs were the devil, now they are not.
Will salt be the next nutrient to experience a renaissance?
Salt, or more precisely, the sodium in salt, is a required nutrient for proper bodily function. The problem is that we consume too much, to the point of deleterious health effects such as high blood pressure. For years, we’ve been told that our American diet is too high in sodium and that we must reduce consumption. The average American eats food with 3,400 milligram of sodium, while the recommended maximum level is 2,300 mg. For some populations (African Americans, people over the age of 50, people with chronic disease such as diabetes) the maximum level recommended is 1500 mg. These groups account for almost 50% of the population.
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) was recently commissioned by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), to review studies on the matter. The group found faults in study design and comparisons among the various studies that led to potentially wrong recommendations. An IOM report released yesterday, may have just thrown a wrench into current sodium intake guidelines:
“These new studies support previous findings that reducing sodium from very high intake levels to moderate levels improves health,” said [IOM] committee chair Brian Strom, George S. Pepper Professor of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.
Here’s the “wrench” part:
“But they also suggest that lowering sodium intake too much may actually increase a person’s risk of some health problems.”
More precisely, the IOM states:
The healthy, young population should reduce sodium intake to the 2,300mg level. Reduction to the 1,500mg level does not seem to have any positive or negative effects. Further research is required.
The subgroups (African American, those over 50, people with diabetes, heart issues, and kidney disease should reduce sodium intake to 2,300mg. Reduction to the 1,500mg level does not seem to have any positive or negative effects. Further research is required.
For only one specific subgroup – people with with mid- to late-stage heart failure who are receiving aggressive treatment for their disease – reduction below 2,300mg may have adverse health effects.
Bottom line: unless you are receiving aggressive treatment for advanced heart disease, you must reduce your sodium intake to the 2,300mg mark, and can reduce it further to 1,500mg. The easiest way to reduce sodium intake is to eat less processed foods. Cook at home.