Could a low-salt diet hurt your health?
A controversial new study contends that a low-salt diet could be dangerous for your heart health.
Restricting dietary salt to below 3,000 milligrams a day appears to increase the risk for heart disease similar to that of high blood pressure patients who eat too much salt, said lead researcher Andrew Mente.
Having neither too high nor too low levels of sodium [salt] is optimal for health, said Mente, an associate professor of clinical epidemiology and biostatistics at McMaster University, in Ontario, Canada.
The American Heart Association is highly critical of Mentes study. The AHA says the study relies on incorrect estimates of sodium intake, and should not lead anyone to relax concerns over excess salt in the average U.S. diet.
This is an extremely flawed analysis that doesnt provide new information, and it should not be used to guide public policy, said Dr. Elliott Antman, immediate past president of the AHA and an associate dean for clinical and translational research at Harvard Medical School.
The American Heart Association continues to recommend less than 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day from all sources, he said.
Most Americans consume about 3,400 milligrams of sodium a day, more than twice the recommended amount, according to the heart association.
Mente said, based on his analysis, only people with high blood pressure need to worry about reducing salt intake.
HealthDay
