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This article references salt consumption multiple times. I thought that was a myth of the past. Salt consumption has almost zero to do with blood pressure. II

This article references salt consumption multiple times. I thought that was a myth of the past. Salt consumption has almost zero to do with blood pressure. IIRC, it's primarily based on eating more calories than one burns. As always, eat less, move more. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/its-time-to-end-the-war-on-salt/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/its-time-to-end-t...

legitster 4y ago
There are at least some studies that link salt to increased appetite. Which shouldn't be a shock - eating tasty things makes you want to eat more. But in this case journalists like padding out lists of unhealthy ingredients.
PuppyTailWags 4y ago
I'm actually curious about this: if that's true, why do hospitals still do low-salt diets for critical heart disease patients?
- xboxnolifes 4y ago
  Because salt is fine for the normal person. Someone in the hospital with critical heart disease issues is not normal.
- henry2023 4y ago
  Bad habits are hard to break
  - cactusplant7374 4y ago
    What if a diet high in salt is fine for healthy patients but dangerous for patients with heart disease? You can make the same argument for a diet high in sugar for healthy active individuals. It wouldn't be good for those with diabetes.
    - ashwagary 4y ago
      The difference is, a diet high in (refined) sugar is terrible for all humans, both healthy and unhealthy.
- justinator 4y ago
  Because if you are a critical heart patient, salt then can matter a lot. Unfortunately a lot of people suffer from being per-diabetic, which really just means, "you have diabetes, we don't want to say that because: denial" and a lot of guidelines used for "healthy" people don't apply to you, because you're not healthy.
  - connicpu 4y ago
    Well there is one aspect where pre-diabetes differs from being fully diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, and that's the fact that you're not at the point of no return. Pre-diabetics, if they make appropriate lifestyle changes, still have a chance at reversing course and not living with diabetes for the rest of their life.
    - frumper 4y ago
      Another aspect that differs is that pre-diabetics bodies are still functioning. They are closer to not being able to keep up, but if they couldn't, then they'd be diabetic.
      - justinator 4y ago
        True, but being tested correctly as "pre-diabetic" isn't so straightforward, as getting sugar/glucose levels at rest doesn't tell the whole story - ie: there's no such thing as having a mild case of diabetes. Take this with a grain of... of salt, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zZBiTfIp4Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zZBiTfIp4Q I think he makes a good point that the proper tests for diabetes is much more involved than what most people get prescribed, or what they will tolerate, as it can take the entire day. (he says a lot more - I'm not standing by everything he's saying) Easy access to almost over the counter and cheap continual glucose monitors may reveal better patterns to catch pre-diabetic symptoms faster (my hope).
    - justinator 4y ago
      I don't disagree with you, but being pre-dabetic is an uphill battle to then get healthy again, as you are most likely trying to reverse many years of lifestyle habits that have lead you down the road towards diabetes. A car crash in slow-motion. That takes an incredible amount of will power and I applaud anyone that's on that journey, especially since you have to go well against the status quo. I've at least heard that T2D is somewhat reversible given drastic diet changes, fasting, bariatric surgery - but a moon-shot for sure.
- zaltekk 4y ago
  You could be sued for doing something that was potentially considered unsafe by some studies. Business wise it's better to just "play it safe" here with low sodium meals.
  - jeltz 4y ago
    Since they also do it in countries where lawsuits are not a risk you need to care about I doubt this is the reason.
- chongli 4y ago
  Salt is how your kidneys generate osmotic pressure to regulate the water levels in your blood. Critical heart disease patients are very sensitive to changes in blood pressure. Healthy people are much less so.
- wutbrodo 4y ago
  Hospitals and the medical system in general are always the last to get a memo about health. I wouldn't touch a good chunk of hospital meals with a ten-foot pole even when I'm in perfect health; the fact that any hospital is feeding patients shit like this[1][2][many such examples] borders on malpractice. [1] https://twitter.com/DrBenRodgers/status/1508084691269738503 https://twitter.com/DrBenRodgers/status/1508084691269738503 (someone having a diabetic emergency, no less!) [2] https://twitter.com/moreyraortho/status/1635779523651473409 https://twitter.com/moreyraortho/status/1635779523651473409
- pdpi 4y ago
  My understanding is that salt leading to high blood pressure is a problem that affects some people, but not all.
Supermancho 4y ago
> I thought that was a myth of the past. When in heart failure, a low-salt diet is optimal for long-term survival. This has little (but some) to do with blood pressure and lot more to do with water retention when your circulation is already failing.
algoatecorn 4y ago
Agreed. The anti-sodium crowd has done some real damage to nutritional education IMO. People who train intensely wind up with a sodium deficiency due to this propaganda. You can welcome 6-10g/day into your diet if you just sweat through exercise. Problem is, most aren't doing that.
Alex3917 4y ago
> I thought that was a myth of the past. Salt consumption has almost zero to do with blood pressure. Not accurate. Salt affects different people differently. But for many people, it raises their blood pressure substantially, but only transiently, much like caffeine. For most people the root cause of high blood pressure is going to be weight or lack of exercise, absent other risk factors. So if your morning blood is normally 100 / 60, then reasonable quantities of salt aren't going to raise your blood pressure enough for long enough to cause vascular damage. But if your baseline blood pressure is closer to pre-hypertensive or worse, then eating too much salt is going to raise your blood pressure enough to cause artery damage, and eventually heart disease.

legitster 4y ago

There are at least some studies that link salt to increased appetite. Which shouldn't be a shock - eating tasty things makes you want to eat more. But in this case journalists like padding out lists of unhealthy ingredients.

PuppyTailWags 4y ago

I'm actually curious about this: if that's true, why do hospitals still do low-salt diets for critical heart disease patients?

xboxnolifes 4y ago
Because salt is fine for the normal person. Someone in the hospital with critical heart disease issues is not normal.
henry2023 4y ago
Bad habits are hard to break
- cactusplant7374 4y ago
  What if a diet high in salt is fine for healthy patients but dangerous for patients with heart disease? You can make the same argument for a diet high in sugar for healthy active individuals. It wouldn't be good for those with diabetes.
  - ashwagary 4y ago
    The difference is, a diet high in (refined) sugar is terrible for all humans, both healthy and unhealthy.
justinator 4y ago
Because if you are a critical heart patient, salt then can matter a lot. Unfortunately a lot of people suffer from being per-diabetic, which really just means, "you have diabetes, we don't want to say that because: denial" and a lot of guidelines used for "healthy" people don't apply to you, because you're not healthy.
- connicpu 4y ago
  Well there is one aspect where pre-diabetes differs from being fully diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, and that's the fact that you're not at the point of no return. Pre-diabetics, if they make appropriate lifestyle changes, still have a chance at reversing course and not living with diabetes for the rest of their life.
  - frumper 4y ago
    Another aspect that differs is that pre-diabetics bodies are still functioning. They are closer to not being able to keep up, but if they couldn't, then they'd be diabetic.
    - justinator 4y ago
      True, but being tested correctly as "pre-diabetic" isn't so straightforward, as getting sugar/glucose levels at rest doesn't tell the whole story - ie: there's no such thing as having a mild case of diabetes. Take this with a grain of... of salt, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zZBiTfIp4Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zZBiTfIp4Q I think he makes a good point that the proper tests for diabetes is much more involved than what most people get prescribed, or what they will tolerate, as it can take the entire day. (he says a lot more - I'm not standing by everything he's saying) Easy access to almost over the counter and cheap continual glucose monitors may reveal better patterns to catch pre-diabetic symptoms faster (my hope).
  - justinator 4y ago
    I don't disagree with you, but being pre-dabetic is an uphill battle to then get healthy again, as you are most likely trying to reverse many years of lifestyle habits that have lead you down the road towards diabetes. A car crash in slow-motion. That takes an incredible amount of will power and I applaud anyone that's on that journey, especially since you have to go well against the status quo. I've at least heard that T2D is somewhat reversible given drastic diet changes, fasting, bariatric surgery - but a moon-shot for sure.
zaltekk 4y ago
You could be sued for doing something that was potentially considered unsafe by some studies. Business wise it's better to just "play it safe" here with low sodium meals.
- jeltz 4y ago
  Since they also do it in countries where lawsuits are not a risk you need to care about I doubt this is the reason.
chongli 4y ago
Salt is how your kidneys generate osmotic pressure to regulate the water levels in your blood. Critical heart disease patients are very sensitive to changes in blood pressure. Healthy people are much less so.
wutbrodo 4y ago
Hospitals and the medical system in general are always the last to get a memo about health. I wouldn't touch a good chunk of hospital meals with a ten-foot pole even when I'm in perfect health; the fact that any hospital is feeding patients shit like this[1][2][many such examples] borders on malpractice. [1] https://twitter.com/DrBenRodgers/status/1508084691269738503 https://twitter.com/DrBenRodgers/status/1508084691269738503 (someone having a diabetic emergency, no less!) [2] https://twitter.com/moreyraortho/status/1635779523651473409 https://twitter.com/moreyraortho/status/1635779523651473409
pdpi 4y ago
My understanding is that salt leading to high blood pressure is a problem that affects some people, but not all.

Supermancho 4y ago

> I thought that was a myth of the past. When in heart failure, a low-salt diet is optimal for long-term survival. This has little (but some) to do with blood pressure and lot more to do with water retention when your circulation is already failing.

algoatecorn 4y ago

Agreed. The anti-sodium crowd has done some real damage to nutritional education IMO. People who train intensely wind up with a sodium deficiency due to this propaganda. You can welcome 6-10g/day into your diet if you just sweat through exercise. Problem is, most aren't doing that.

Alex3917 4y ago

> I thought that was a myth of the past. Salt consumption has almost zero to do with blood pressure. Not accurate. Salt affects different people differently. But for many people, it raises their blood pressure substantially, but only transiently, much like caffeine. For most people the root cause of high blood pressure is going to be weight or lack of exercise, absent other risk factors. So if your morning blood is normally 100 / 60, then reasonable quantities of salt aren't going to raise your blood pressure enough for long enough to cause vascular damage. But if your baseline blood pressure is closer to pre-hypertensive or worse, then eating too much salt is going to raise your blood pressure enough to cause artery damage, and eventually heart disease.