Dreamstime
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend…
…that everyone age 2 and up should consume less than 2,300 milligrams (mg) of sodium each day. Some groups of people should further limit sodium intake to 1,500 mg per day, including:
Adults age 51 or older.
All African Americans.
Anyone who has high blood pressure, diabetes, or chronic kidney disease.
As it happens, 2,300 milligrams of sodium comes to just over the amount found in a teaspoon-full of salt (sodium chloride) per day.
A new study in JAMA Internal Medicine is adding to the evidence the CDC's sodium advice is basically a superstition, that is to say, a belief or practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance, or a false conception of causation. In this case, the CDC and lots of physicians are buying into what has turned out to be a false conception of causation.
The new study followed 2642 older adults (age range, 71-80 years) participating in a community-based, prospective cohort study for ten years. The researchers analyzed the sodium intake of participants looking at three groups: those who consumed less than 1,500 milligrams per day; other who ate 1,500 milligrams to 2,300 milligrams per day; and those pigged out on more than 2,300 milligrams per day. What did they find?
In older adults, food frequency questionnaire–assessed sodium intake was not associated with 10-year mortality, incident CVD [cardiovascular disease], or incident HF [heart failure], and consuming greater than 2300 mg/d of sodium was associated with nonsignificantly higher mortality in adjusted models.
Cardiology Today noted:
At 10 years, mortality rates were lower in those with sodium intake 1,500 mg/day to 2,300 mg/day (30.7%) compared with those with sodium intake less than 1,500 mg/day (33.8%) and those receiving more than 2,300 mg/day of sodium (35.2%), but the difference was not statistically significant, according to the researchers.
This new report bolsters the findings in a New England Journal of Medicine study from last August that found that people who consume less 1,500 milligrams of sodium (about 3/4ths of a teaspoon of salt) are more likely to die than people who eat between 3,000 to 6,000 milligrams of sodium per day (1.5 and 3 teaspoons of salt).
To be sure, some people are more sensitive to sodium, but that is no reason for all of us to endure bland foods.
Disclosure: My blood pressure was 105/80 when my physician checked it most recently.
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