Salt study 'flawed' claims professor

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Salt study 'flawed' claims professor

http://www.foodnavigator.com/news/ng.asp?n=67422 & m=1fne503 & c=xeiqgoegavfxtla

03/05/2006- A Finnish professor of pharmacology has questioned the

findings behind a study that suggests that lowering the salt content of

food could be bad for people's health.

Dr Hillel Cohen and colleagues from the Albert Einstein College of

Medicine in New York, along with Dr Alderman, president of the

International Society of Hypertension, recently suggested that people

who reported eating less salt than is recommended by UK and US

government guidelines were 37 per cent more likely to die from

cardiovascular causes than those who ate more.

The study, published in the American Journal of Medicine, was compiled

from data from the National Health & Nutrition Examination Surveys in

the US, and was discussed in FoodNavigator back in March.

But Heikki Karppanen, professor of pharmacology at the University of

Helsinki, is less than impressed.

" With a single study with obvious flaws, Drs. Cohen and Alderman are

causing confusion among consumers, " he told FoodNavigator.

" Even though I'm a medical doctor and professor of pharmacology in the

medical faculty of the University of Helsinki and a strong believer in

the benefits of modern drugs, we have found that appropriate food

changes have been, and are, much more effective in reducing the overall

burden of cardiovascular and other diseases in the population than the

modern drug or other medical therapies.

" One of the most powerful of such changes has proved to be the reduction

of sodium content of foods. "

The scientists behind the new study however claim that there is no

concrete proof that lower salt diets protect against death from heart

and artery disease. But this has not stopped European governments making

this a key dietary objective.

The new UK voluntary salt reduction targets for example are designed to

help bring down the average UK salt intake to 6g a day.

Karppanen for one believes this is the correct strategy to take. Having

studied the relationship between sodium, potassium, calcium, and

magnesium on one hand and blood pressure and cardiovascular and other

diseases on the other, he is certain that that improving the mineral

levels of food can turn products into 'functional foods' or

'nutraceuticals', with remarkable beneficial effects on blood pressure.

" The beneficial effects can be further enhanced by simultaneous

enrichments with certain active compounds, particularly plant sterols

and fish-type (omega-3) fatty acids. "

The problem though, is that decreasing salt levels would mean huge

decreases in the consumption of, say, beverages and, consequently, huge

economical losses. But Karppanen claims that recent evidence shows that

humans are genetically programmed to eat 'natural' food compositions,

i.e. foods with their natural high levels of potassium, calcium,

magnesium, plant sterols etc. and without any artificial additions, such

as salt.

To remain healthy therefore, we should get the nutrients in

approximately the same amounts and proportions as our ancestors before

any experience of salt use or food processing, he says.

" However, it is possible to manufacture modern foods so that they are

remarkably healthier than now by taking care of the appropriate levels

of the compounds, which are most critical for our health, " he concluded.

The salt industry however disagrees. The Salt Manufacturers' Association

for example says that the conclusions of the Cohen study should raise

major questions over the safety of current UK policy to encourage

population-wide salt reduction.

FoodNavigator will report later this week on the European Salt Producers

Association's first Salt and Pregnancy Workshop.

--

ne Holden, MS, RD < fivestar@... >

" Ask the Parkinson Dietitian " http://www.parkinson.org/

" Eat well, stay well with Parkinson's disease "

" Parkinson's disease: Guidelines for Medical Nutrition Therapy "

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