Author Topic: So All That Stuff About Salt Being Bad Is BS  (Read 2933 times)

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Offline trapeze

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So All That Stuff About Salt Being Bad Is BS
« on: July 11, 2013, 11:34:35 PM »
In yet another blow to the food nazis, the CDC has announced that there is no need for a low sodium diet and having a low sodium diet can actually harm you.

Quote
(Atlanta, GA) For years, we’ve been told to reduce the amount of salt in our diets but the benefits may have been exaggerated.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) now says the the amount of salt taken in is no longer a substantial health hazard.

The study found, “…the committee found no consistent evidence to support an association between sodium intake and either a beneficial or adverse effect on on most health outcomes.”

The report warns that reducing our salt intake below 1 tsp per day could actually be a negative.


I eat pretty much whatever I want and I always have. When I get overweight I stop eating as much until my weight comes back into line. I exercise when I feel like it and that's that.

I don't stress out over what I eat. Not ever. Seems to have worked out so far.
In a doomsday scenario, hippies will be among the first casualties. So not everything about doomsday will be bad.

Offline Libertas

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Re: So All That Stuff About Salt Being Bad Is BS
« Reply #1 on: July 12, 2013, 10:19:57 AM »
I too employ the Trap Method.   ::thumbsup::

And didn't I hear that Omega-3 can sometimes increase the risk of prostate cancer?  The do-gooder libiot food police seem to get an awful lot wrong...probably because not all people are the same...shocking I know.
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Online Pandora

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Re: So All That Stuff About Salt Being Bad Is BS
« Reply #2 on: July 12, 2013, 10:41:30 AM »
How long have I been saying this?
"Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer." - Mark Twain

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Offline Libertas

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Re: So All That Stuff About Salt Being Bad Is BS
« Reply #3 on: July 12, 2013, 10:53:15 AM »
How old are you?   ;D

Ooops!  A gentleman does not ask a lady that!   ::exitstageleft::
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Offline Alphabet Soup

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Re: So All That Stuff About Salt Being Bad Is BS
« Reply #4 on: July 12, 2013, 09:17:22 PM »
How long have I been saying this?

My pop smoked like a chimney and salted everything. He was one of those guys who liked to salt his beer. He would automatically pick up his salt shaker and dust everything without ever tasting it first. And he lived to 89.

Me on the other hand? I'm hyper-sensitive to salt. I hate it. I never use it (but make it available to others).

Different strokes eh?... (ha-ha)

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Re: So All That Stuff About Salt Being Bad Is BS
« Reply #5 on: July 13, 2013, 01:11:52 PM »
How long have I been saying this?

My pop smoked like a chimney and salted everything. He was one of those guys who liked to salt his beer. He would automatically pick up his salt shaker and dust everything without ever tasting it first. And he lived to 89.

Me on the other hand? I'm hyper-sensitive to salt. I hate it. I never use it (but make it available to others).

Different strokes eh?... (ha-ha)

Most everything already tastes salty to me, some days even coffee, so I don't cook with it.  There are salt and pepper shakers present at meals, though.

I know some who automatically salt everything -- one friend will salt even an individual black olive swiped from the bowl -- and they're always being harangued about using too much salt.

For some time now, I have been reading "alternative" opinions on dietary salt and came to the conclusion that the heretofore "experts" are full of baloney, and I have posted about it here

I tried telling my brother's wife (she's one of the ones that nags every time he looks at a shaker; he's had two mild heart attacks) that, especially in the summer, he needs the salt because he sweats his ass off in the automotive shop all day long.  She's having none of it.  People have been brainwashed.
"Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer." - Mark Twain

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Offline Alphabet Soup

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Re: So All That Stuff About Salt Being Bad Is BS
« Reply #6 on: July 13, 2013, 01:31:35 PM »
My pop and I used to tease one another. We would invariably sit next to one another at meals and he would prodigiously salt his food and then hand the shaker to me. Now in the earlier years when his mind was still sharp he knew that I never salted anything so his handing me the shaker was a light-hearted taunt. I would politely decline.....and then a moment later offer the shaker right back to him. Sometimes when I did (I swear to God) he would apply another sprinkling to his food! In the later years I would just thank him and take the shaker, then pass it along.

The same thing was true with sugar. I never touch the stuff (I hate the taste) and he loved it. When they would come to my house to visit I would have to dig the shakers and the sugar bowl out for them.

Offline LadyVirginia

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Re: So All That Stuff About Salt Being Bad Is BS
« Reply #7 on: July 15, 2013, 09:31:56 AM »
I read some months back that limiting salt may actually have an adverse affect on heart disease conditions-the very thing that salt avoidance was supposed to help.  My father died of heart disease and I remember for years my mother didn't cook with salt. She is now also a heart disease patient and she comes over for dinner and will tell us in no uncertain how we need to stop using so much salt.  While I'm cooking she watches me and I know she taking note of the fact I'm putting salt in everything.  I feel sorry for her in a way though because she clings to these little beliefs as if they will save her. The reality is she's 100 pounds overweight and needs to MOVE.  But just going 10 feet is an effort. Watching her walk is painful**. So she holds on to these beliefs instead.

I know for me that what I eat seems less important than being active*. When I look at my family members the ones who sit a lot and aren't busy doing stuff tend to have more weight problems than the ones who are up and about all the times. The sitters also tend to be intensely interested in what they will be eating at their next meal to the point where it seems to be their main topic of discussion.


My neighbor is 85 and he eats whatever he wants and he drinks plenty of beer.  A skinny, old guy that never sits. He's always working on something around the house. My grandfather was the same way.

*my kids and I joke about what being active means--there are local tv commercials here that tout "active lifestyle" communities for seniors in which they show seniors driving around in golf carts and eating nice dinners.

**recently she had to walk quite a bit because she was flying and wasn't able to get a ride between terminals when she changed planes, that night she realized she experienced no pain and slept well, I've tried to remind her that exercise will do that for her if she does it regularly but she doesn't what to
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Offline trapeze

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Re: So All That Stuff About Salt Being Bad Is BS
« Reply #8 on: July 15, 2013, 05:48:42 PM »
I am going to modify my original statement a bit.

First of all I am over six feet, one inch tall. Second, until a couple of months ago I weighed in at over 205. Since then I have been on a reduced food intake diet. I am determined to get back to my college age weight of 175 and I am getting there. I knowingly had a very big meal last weekend and it shot my weight up about four pounds but before that I was at 187. I am back down to 190 today* and I am sure that I will be back in the 180's in the next day or two. I think that by late August I will be at my goal. I am losing weight by consciously cutting my caloric intake every day at every meal. It works. It's the only thing that works short of liposuction or lap band surgery or something extreme like that.

Warning: Slightly off topic rant

Those stupid dietary supplement ads on the radio make me ill every time I hear one. The ones that target women are especially evil. They say stuff like, "lose the weight without having to change your lifestyle." That is just plain false. There is no pill that will cause you to burn calories at a significantly faster rate that you do already. That is the same (false) logic that used to appear in gasoline ads back in the sixties and seventies that claimed a fuel additive could reduce pollution. Utter nonsense. So yeah, these supplement ads claim (imply, actually) that you can continue to eat like a pig and lose weight if you just shell out for their herbal concoction. Pure BS. And they always seem to throw in the phrase that must make women pull out the credit card and pick up the phone, "even helps with stubborn belly fat." You want to get rid of the stubborn belly fat? Quit eating like there's no tomorrow. And then exercise a bit. This is marketing to the low intelligence voter, pure and simple. It ought to be illegal.

Okay, now back to it...

After I get the weight off I am going to get into a serious exercise program. What can I say? I'm too lazy to exercise when I'm overweight...it's too much work. But I do get a lot of daily exercise in my work because I'm not tied to a desk all day. Just part of the day. Stairs are great and should never be avoided unless you are carrying something heavy.

Anyway...

I think that the salt thing takes care of itself if you let it. As noted above, some people just aren't interested while others insist on adding it to most of what they eat. I sort of put myself in the middle of that argument. I taste my food first and if it needs salt then I season it as needed. The thing is, you do need salt and if you aren't getting enough of it from what is already in the food that you eat then your body usually wants it added and you do it. It's really not the big a deal if you just do what comes natural. And speaking of natural...ever see a salt block in a feed store? Think about it.

I also believe that, as far as the heart/blood pressure thing goes it is largely a matter of genetics and there isn't much you can do about it other than trying to avoid stuff that your doctor (not Oprah) tells you to stay away from.

Fish oil is now supposed to be bad for you. A few years ago it was supposed to be good for you. I assume that the food nazis came up with that idea based on the longevity of people who have a high fish intake. My personal belief is that those people (usually asians) have a genetic predisposition to a healthy cardiovascular system and the diet has little to nothing to do with it. But, hey, my guess is as good as anyone else's.

And then there's the latest and greatest food fad: gluten free. I never even knew about gluten until I started to see food packaging bragging about how there wasn't any gluten inside the box. Turns out there is a small percentage of people who are actually allergic to gluten and shouldn't touch the stuff but for some reason the food nazis decided that that idea is good for everyone.

Again, my feeling is just eat whatever you want if you like it. Everything in moderation. Don't stuff yourself and get overweight. If you are too heavy then cut your caloric intake. Get used to being hungry...that's your body's way of telling you that you are losing weight. If you don't feel hungry all the time while on a diet then you are doing it wrong. After you get to your target weight then return to eating normally without pigging out. Do all that stuff and everything else will take care of itself.

Oh, and you aren't going to live forever. Even eating strange stuff or going vegetarian isn't going to, in and of itself, add a significant amount of time to your life. If your genes suck and you are destined to die earlier rather than later then you might as well enjoy the time you have. Punch a food nazi in the mouth. And then tell them to mind their own business. You will feel better.

*I dropped a size in my waist last week which was very cool.
« Last Edit: July 15, 2013, 05:55:18 PM by trapeze »
In a doomsday scenario, hippies will be among the first casualties. So not everything about doomsday will be bad.

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Re: So All That Stuff About Salt Being Bad Is BS
« Reply #9 on: July 15, 2013, 05:56:12 PM »
Fish oil is now supposed to be bad for you. A few years ago it was supposed to be good for you. I assume that the food nazis came up with that idea based on the longevity of people who have a high fish intake. My personal belief is that those people (usually asians) have a genetic predisposition to a healthy cardiovascular system and the diet has little to nothing to do with it. But, hey, my guess is as good as anyone else's.

I'm not going to look it up now, but I remember reading some time ago that because the Japanese diet has had an increase in meat (especially fast food meat: KFC, Mickey D's, etc.; I went to the Mickey D's on the Ginza, a main drag like 57th St in Manhattan, and just as expensive, if not more so), their coronary problems have had a corresponding increase.

Offline Predator Don

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Re: So All That Stuff About Salt Being Bad Is BS
« Reply #10 on: July 15, 2013, 07:27:38 PM »
I ignore the warnings. Sure, a mouse will die if you feed it 3 lbs of sugar. If you drink a 6 pack each nite, you will have a large belly. If you do zero exercise, the older you become, the slower the metabolism, you will gain bad weight. If Mcdonalds is your favorite restaurant, you probably have a weight issue.

Which brings me to a rant of my own. If I'm stopping in for a Whopper, or Big Mac, I'm not there for the calorie count. So posting the 780 calories of a Big Mac won't stop me from ordering it. My conscience isn't suddenly going to be seared when I see the calories listed next to the sandwich. I am not gonna order the salad, I don't go to Micky Dees for a salad. I go other places for a salad. One time, just once, i'd like to see a fast food chain stand up to the calorie police and REFUSE to post calories. It's Burger King, fer christs sake, not the tofu place. I don't go to fast food joints because the Big Mac may have 20 fewer calories than an Arby's. Give me a friggin break.

Eat in moderation. Get a little exercise.
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Offline LadyVirginia

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Re: So All That Stuff About Salt Being Bad Is BS
« Reply #11 on: July 15, 2013, 07:49:51 PM »
My kids and I laugh at the ads that claim "you can eat all your favorite foods and still lose weight". 

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Offline Glock32

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Re: So All That Stuff About Salt Being Bad Is BS
« Reply #12 on: July 15, 2013, 07:51:11 PM »
I lost over 40 pounds one summer, and in addition to exercise I made only two changes to my diet: I cut out all soft drinks and I declined any side items (french fries, potato chips, etc). I otherwise continued to eat the same stuff.  Soft drinks are the absolute worst. You're just downing water and corn syrup.

I need to get back to that level of discipline.
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Offline trapeze

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Re: So All That Stuff About Salt Being Bad Is BS
« Reply #13 on: July 16, 2013, 01:28:46 AM »
My kids and I laugh at the ads that claim "you can eat all your favorite foods and still lose weight".  

I despise the herbal supplement industry. It's all insulting to my intelligence.

SuperUltraMegaBetaProstate, indeed.

Herbal supplements can do anything.

Improve memory and brain function. Sure.

Fix your prostate. Uh, huh.

Reduce weight and stave off the effects of menopause. I'll bet.

And the most obnoxious of all: Male "enhancement"

The whole herbal supplement business (which does not include legitimate stuff like, say, vitamins) should be shut down and the purveyors should be put in stocks in public.

Their advertisements are a study in weasel words and walking the line in what is legal and what is just fraud. Stupid fraud for stupid people.

"Supports" a healthy immune system.

"Promotes" proper liver function.

BTW...if you can afford it, this is one of the best academic studies on the thief subculture ever published. I have a copy in my library and it makes excellent reading for understanding the psychology of those who are dishonest as a lifestyle choice. It looks at crooked gamblers (who aren't really gambling at all) but the applications directly parallel other fields as well. Politicians, lawyers, insurance salesmen, used car dealers all come to mind.
« Last Edit: July 16, 2013, 01:41:16 AM by trapeze »
In a doomsday scenario, hippies will be among the first casualties. So not everything about doomsday will be bad.

Offline Libertas

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Re: So All That Stuff About Salt Being Bad Is BS
« Reply #14 on: July 16, 2013, 06:48:12 AM »
Fish oil is now supposed to be bad for you. A few years ago it was supposed to be good for you. I assume that the food nazis came up with that idea based on the longevity of people who have a high fish intake. My personal belief is that those people (usually asians) have a genetic predisposition to a healthy cardiovascular system and the diet has little to nothing to do with it. But, hey, my guess is as good as anyone else's.

I'm not going to look it up now, but I remember reading some time ago that because the Japanese diet has had an increase in meat (especially fast food meat: KFC, Mickey D's, etc.; I went to the Mickey D's on the Ginza, a main drag like 57th St in Manhattan, and just as expensive, if not more so), their coronary problems have had a corresponding increase.

They got Americanated!   ;D

I guess I divert from Trap now too, reading his preceeding post...I too am over 6'1" but I am not ever going to see my weight get to even where it was in my Navy or college days...195?   ::hysterical::  NFW!
« Last Edit: July 16, 2013, 06:52:27 AM by Libertas »
We are now where The Founders were when they faced despotism.

Offline Libertas

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Re: So All That Stuff About Salt Being Bad Is BS
« Reply #15 on: July 16, 2013, 06:52:12 AM »
I lost over 40 pounds one summer, and in addition to exercise I made only two changes to my diet: I cut out all soft drinks and I declined any side items (french fries, potato chips, etc). I otherwise continued to eat the same stuff.  Soft drinks are the absolute worst. You're just downing water and corn syrup.

I need to get back to that level of discipline.

This is where I am effed...

I need caffeine in the morning to get my ass going...I get up really early, I don't sleep for crap even if I wanted to and had the time, and I am a light sleeper to boot...I have no problem getting up in the morning...it's just staying up...I don't like the taste of coffee no matter what you doctor it with, pills like No Doze can be hard on the stomach, tea leaves me thirsty...all I got is soda pop...usually Diet Mountain Dew in the AM and some cokes later on...

We are now where The Founders were when they faced despotism.