Guest guest Posted March 16, 2006 Report Share Posted March 16, 2006 Salted Away Mar 16, 2006 11:57 PST Salted Away By Sally Squires Tuesday, March 8, 2005; Page HE01 While weight-conscious consumers often obsess about fat and carbohydrates, a lawsuit newly filed by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) puts another popular ingredient in the spotlight: salt. CSPI is suing the Food and Drug Administration to put more muscle into salt regulation. The lawsuit would change the status of salt from generally recognized as safe (GRAS) to an official food ingredient that would subject it to much stiffer regulation by the FDA. In issuing a report last week on the health dangers of salt, the consumer advocacy group noted that salt consumption has slowly risen over the past 30 years and, by its estimate, accounts for nearly 150,000 premature deaths annually in the United States. Most of those deaths are linked to complications of high blood pressure, or hypertension. " Americans spend more than $15 billion each year on drugs to treat hypertension, yet the government spends almost nothing to reduce salt consumption, " said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson, author of the report. The latest national nutritional surveys suggest that Americans consume about a third more than the 2,300 milligrams per day limit advised by the federal government's 2005 Dietary Guidelines for adults up to age 45. (Those older than 45, as well as African Americans and people who have already been diagnosed with elevated blood pressure, are advised to consume no more than 1,500 milligrams of sodium daily. That's the amount found in about a cup and a half of many canned soups.) And, no, removing the salt shaker from the dining table likely won't be enough. An expert committee that helped develop the revised guidelines reported in August that as much as 80 percent of sodium intake comes from processed and restaurant foods. " There's a tradeoff here, " concedes James O. Hill, director of the Clinical Nutrition Research Unit at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver, noting that salt is important for taste. In the meantime, here's what you can do to reduce your sodium intake: Don't bother doing the milligram math. The answers are already in plain sight on nutrition food labels. Pay attention to percent daily value of sodium. " The rule of thumb is to choose foods that have less than 5 percent of the daily value for sodium " per serving, said Eva Obarzanek, a research nutritionist at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) . Eat more fruit and vegetables . Studies suggest that these " potassium-rich " foods can help counter the effects of high sodium intake. DASH . No, not the 40-yard kind, but the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, an eating plan that has been proven to lower blood pressure as much as some medications. Get a free copy at www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/hbp/dash/ or from the NHLBI Health Information Center, P.O. Box 30105, Bethesda, MD 20824-0105, or by calling 301-592-8573. High sodium food sources: frozen food with sauces; macaroni and cheese with flavor or seasoning packets; salad dressings; condiments, snack foods, luncheon meats, hot dogs and processed tomato products, from juice and ketchup to salsa and sauce. Smart low-sodium choices include: oatmeal, plain organic shredded wheat, whole-wheat matzoh, brown rice as well as organic yogurt. Use vinegar and oil instead of prepared salad dressings. Choose herbs and spices for flavoring instead of . . . well, you know. • Share Your Tips or ask questions about healthy nutrition and activity when Sally Squires hosts the Lean Plate Club online chat, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. today, on washingtonpost.com. Can't join live? E-mail lean-. To learn more, and to our free e-newsletter, visitwww.washingtonpost.com/leanplateclub. ------------------------------ Post subject: Foods and Blood Pressure --- Foods and Blood Pressure http://www.pcrm.org/issues/Nutrition_Curriculum/nutr_curr_5.html Hypertension is among the most common problems that will confront your patients. One in every four American adults has, or is being treated for, high blood pressure, defined as a systolic pressure of 140 mm Hg or greater and/or a diastolic pressure of 90 mm Hg or greater. In 1992, medical treatment of hypertension cost $12.5 billion. The personal and social costs are many times higher. High blood pressure is dangerous. It increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, and other serious problems. While pharmacologic treatment is often necessary for controlling blood pressure, diet plays a central role, both in its cause and treatment. Reducing Sodium Dietary sodium is a well-known contributor to high blood pressure. Sodium holds water, and the increased water content in the vascular system increases blood pressure. The effect of reducing salt intake is often modest, but is nonetheless important. Patients often have little idea as to which foods contribute sodium to their diet. Aside from table salt, the highest-sodium foods by far are frozen meals and canned and snack products, due to the addition of salt during processing. Dairy products are the next highest in sodium, followed by meats. In their natural state, plant foods—grains, legumes, vegetables, and fruits—have almost no sodium. Patients should be encouraged to favor fresh or frozen vegetables and dried beans, rather than canned products, and reduced sodium products are also increasingly available. SODIUM AND POTASSIUM IN FOODS (milligrams) Apple (1 medium) 1 159 Banana (1 medium) 1 451 Skim milk (1 cup) 126 406 Black beans (1 cup*) 6 801 Broccoli (1 cup*) 44 332 Human milk (1 cup) 40 128 Cauliflower (1 cup) 8 400 Cream of Wheat (1 cup*) 748 Roast beef (4 oz.*) 51 377 Orange (1 medium) 1 250 Chicken breast (4 oz.*) 82 286 Haddock (4 oz.*) 98 447 Rice (1 cup*) 1 60 Swordfish (4 oz.*) 130 414 * Figures refer to cooked servings. Source: Pennington JAT. Bowes and Church's Food Values of Portions Commonly Used. 16th Edition, Philadelphia, J.B. Lippincott, 1994. -- " PROCESSING " ADDS SALT IN CANNED AND SNACK FOODS Source Sodium (mg) Tomato (1, raw) 11 Tomato soup (canned, 1 cup) 872 Boiled black beans (1 cup) 6 Canned black beans (1 cup) 922 Boiled green beans (1 cup) 4 Canned green beans (1 cup) 340 Potato (1 medium) 16 Potato chips (1 ounce) 168 SODIUM IN TYPICAL FROZEN PRODUCTS Fish 'n Chips (Swanson) 963 Pancakes with Blueberries (Swanson) 796 Pasta Trio (Tyson) 890 Source: Pennington JAT. Bowes and Church's Food Values of Portions Commonly Used. 16th Edition, Philadelphia, J.B. Lippincott, 1994. Reducing or Eliminating Meat Consumption Vegetarian diets are best known for their use in the reversal of atherosclerotic lesions in the coronary arteries. However, such diets are also invaluable for treating hypertension. Vegetarians have a much lower prevalence of hypertension compared to meat-eaters. The research establishing the differential effects of meat-based and vegetarian diets began with comparisons of religious groups following different dietary customs. For example, both Mormons and Seventh-day Adventist avoid coffee, alcohol, tea, and tobacco, but most Mormons are omnivores, while about half of all Adventists are vegetarians. Vegetarian Adventists were found to have systolic pressures that were 8-9 points lower and diastolic pressures that were 6-8 points lower, compared to Mormon omnivores.2 A study of Caucasian Adventists found hypertension in 22 percent of omnivores, but only 7 percent of vegetarians. Among African Americans, the prevalence was 44 percent for omnivores and 18 percent of vegetarians.3 Used clinically, a vegetarian diet reduces both systolic and diastolic blood pressure by as much as 10 percent, an effect that is independent of salt intake.4,5 The mechanism by which the diet change works is not clear. A vegetarian diet promotes weight loss, but the drop in blood pressure occurs before any substantial weight change. More likely, the change in blood pressure is due to the lower blood viscosity that follows a reduction in dietary fat.6,7 The vitamin C and omega-3 fatty acid content of vegetarian diets may also contribute to blood pressure lowering.8 For tips on helping patients to make a transition to a vegetarian diet, see Section 1 on reversing heart disease. References 1. Burt VL, Cutler JA, Higgins M, et al. Trends in the prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension in the adult US population. Data from the health examination surveys, 1960 to 1991. Hypertension 1995;26:60-9. 2. Rouse IL, Armstrong BK, Beilin LJ. Vegetarian diet, lifestyle and blood pressure in two religious populations. Clin Exp Pharmacol and Physiol 1982;9:327-30. 3. Melby CL, Goldflies DG, Hyner GC, Lyle RM. Relation between vegetarian/nonvegetarian diets and blood pressure in black and white adults. Am J Publ Health 1989;79:1283-8. 4. Rouse IL, Beilin LJ. Editorial review: vegetarian diet and blood pressure. J Hypertension 1984;2:231-40. 5. Anderson JW. Plant fiber and blood pressure. Ann Intern Med 1983;98(Part 2):842. --- ==================================================================== Post subject: Current " Healthy " Salt Recommendations Still Too High --- By Maureen Williams, ND Healthnotes Newswire (May 20, 2004)—A recent review of research shows that the recommended amount of salt in the diet may not lower risk of high blood pressure (hypertension), heart attack, and stroke as much as previously thought, according to Hypertension (2003;42:1093–9). This review suggests that more drastic salt reductions may be needed to protect people from these health risks. Sodium, a mineral nutrient found in nearly all foods, exists in a balance with potassium that is critical for the normal functioning of every living cell. Eating unprocessed fruits, vegetables and fish provides " all the sodium " the body needs (about 500 mg a day). Most people, however, get far more than they need due to the salt (sodium chloride) added during the processing or cooking of foods, and at the table. In fact, added salt is responsible for an estimated 95% of our sodium consumption. Excessive sodium intake unfavorably shifts the " potassium-to-sodium " balance and can lead to hypertension. Hypertension is the most common cardiovascular disease worldwide and increases the risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke. The average daily intake of salt varies in different parts of the world from 6 to 18 grams. The World Health Organization recommends restricting daily salt intake to 5 grams or less, and authorities in the United States recommend 6 grams or less. Studies have shown that salt restriction lowers blood pressure, and suggest that blood pressure will continue to drop as salt intake diminishes. The new review of the research on salt intake and blood pressure analyzed the results from 28 controlled studies involving a total of 2,954 people. Only studies that lasted at least four weeks and in which daily salt intake was reduced by at least 2.4 grams were included. The combined results were used to calculate the amount that blood pressure would be expected to drop for any given reduction in salt intake. For example, this analysis predicted that a 3-gram reduction in daily salt intake would reduce systolic blood pressure (the upper number in a blood pressure reading) by 3.6 mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number in a blood pressure reading) by 1.9 mm Hg in people with hypertension. It was predicted that a 6-gram reduction in daily salt intake would lower systolic and diastolic pressures by 7.1 and 3.9 mm Hg, respectively, and a 9-gram reduction would lower systolic and diastolic pressures by 10.7 and 5.8 mm Hg, respectively, in people with hypertension. In people with normal blood pressure, the predicted trend was similar but less pronounced. Two of the controlled studies comparing the effects of different levels of salt intake reduction were analyzed separately. These studies found a similar but more pronounced trend: they predicted that 3-, 6-, and 9-gram reductions in daily salt intake would lower systolic/diastolic pressures by 5.4/3.0, 10.6/6.0, and 16.3/9.1 mm Hg, respectively, in people with hypertension. The results of this review suggest that large reductions in salt intake might indeed lower blood pressure enough to significantly reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke, but that current dietary recommendations may not be low enough. Large and long-term studies examining the real effect of very low salt intake on blood pressure and incidence of heart attack and stroke are needed. Public health recommendations should be adjusted based on the findings of such studies. Maureen Williams, ND, received her bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania and her Doctorate of Naturopathic Medicine from Bastyr University in Seattle, WA. She has a private practice in Quechee, VT, and does extensive work with traditional herbal medicine in Guatemala and Honduras. Dr. Williams is a regular contributor to Healthnotes Newswire. _________________ JoAnn Guest mrsjo- www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Diets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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