Warning on Salt…or the Salt Warning?

The CDC is cautioning the American public that nearly 70% consume too much sodium and should drop consumption levels down to1,500 mg of sodium per day. Why? Because national data shows 69.2% of the adult population are people with high blood pressure, blacks, or middle-aged (more than 40 years old) and older adults. The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that adults generally should consume less than 2,300 mg of sodium per day. The CDC estimates average U.S. intake of sodium is close to 3,500 mg per day.

What the CDC is basically saying is that everyone in these groups is a salt-sensitive hypertensive. Except, as I understand it, that’s not really true. (Warning: I’m neither a doctor, nor do I play one on TV. However, I highly suspect I am a salt-sensitive hypertensive.) According to research (Hypertension. 1996;27:481-490.), salt sensitivity was found in 51% of the hypertensive population (73% of African-American hypertensive patients) and 26% of those individuals with normal blood pressure. Without knowing the prevalence of U.S. hypertension, I can say with some confidence that those figures mean that the 70% figure is probably way high. If you’re a 50-year-old, overweight African-American hypertensive with a genetic predisposition to sodium-affected blood pressure, chances are good they have your number.  However, according to Darwin R. Labarthe, M.D., Ph.D., director of the CDC’s Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, “Reducing sodium intake can prevent or delay increases in blood pressure for everyone.’’

I get it. People eat too many salty fries, ham sandwiches, ramen noodles, pickles and pretzels. Salt is unhealthy for some of us. My bad. Still, I hate to see “authorities” throwing around artificially high numbers just to scare people.

Meanwhile, the industry is working hard to come up with ingredients and formulations that lower sodium and still taste good, since the majority of sodium is reported to come from processed foods and foodservice. But people still crave salt—including the people who shouldn’t have it—and it’s an easy fix for flavor-challenged food, whether processed or not. While common-sense public-health strategies make sense, inflating the dangers is likely to create unwarranted effects. So, will salt shakers go the way of the ashtray? Will we be reduced to sneaking those little packets out of our purses to surreptitiously sprinkle salt on our foods when no one is looking?

   —Lynn A. Kuntz