Low salt diet benefits debunked

Public health advice to minimise salt consumption to lower blood pressure is based on spurious science and does not recognise the complex role of sodium in the body, say scientists whose study attacks the basis of dietary guidelines. As Australian authorities consider slashing salt recommendations to even lower levels, the most comprehensive survey of salt intake in the US found consumption there had not changed in more than 40 years, despite the recent rise of low-sodium foods, and the average was at least 50 per cent higher than the recommended maximum. As well, there was relatively little difference between the high and low ends of the salt intake spectrum - suggesting people naturally gravitate towards a similar amount of dietary salt, regardless of changes in food processing. The research, led by the eminent Harvard researcher Walter Willett, re-analysed all studies between 1957 and 2003 that measured sodium levels in urine - a more accurate method than asking people what foods they ate. Professor Willett said the finding that salt intake had not changed, while the prevalence of high blood pressure had risen, suggested the ''epidemic of obesity may be a more plausible determinant'' of high blood pressure rates than salt. His study, published yesterday in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, joins an international survey released last year with similar findings. Full article here.