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> Absolutely, too much sodium, sugar, etc etc is unhealthy, and this absolutely not nonsense. But "too much is unhealthy" is a tautology. There are a number of

• AnimalMuppet 11y ago
  > But "too much" is a totality. There are a number of studies that show that sodium-restricted diets may increase all-cause mortality. So "too much sodium...is unhealthy" is not nonsense but completely meaningless and unhelpful as advice. You seem to be arguing that, because too little is harmful, saying that too much is harmful is meaningless. That seems... less than logically sound. Or have I misunderstood you?
  • travisp 11y ago
    You may have been misled by my autocorrect. I meant "tautology" not "totality". Saying that "too much" is bad for you will always be true because by definition "too much" is more than you should have. The problem is that, in nutrition, we usually don't know how much is too much (outside of absurd levels that aren't commonly reached). We know that reducing sodium may be harmful. It's possible that attempting to reduce sodium below what the average person consumes may be harmful (or may be harmful for some portion of the population). We don't know what is the "ideal" level or range of sodium. So, yes, it is true that "too much" sodium is bad for you, but we don't really know how much is too much, or even if the amounts that people eat today are actually too much for the typical person.
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• OrwellianChild 11y ago
  @AnimalMuppet - I think he means that "too much" is un-bounded, and since anything will kill you in quantity (oxygen, sugar, whatever), it loses its meaning. The nuance required for an actionable claim sounds more like "more than x but less than y based on metabolic factors a, b, and c is the healthy range". This is difficult to construct based on existing research, thus we need to learn more before making blanket statements.