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By Cliff Harvey ND
A recent article in the New Zealand Herald: 'Choice! Food goodness at a glance' tells of the proposed (soon to be implemented) Government initiative to label foods according to a 'star rating', similar to that used to show energy efficiency in appliances. In this system a rating of anywhere between half and five stars will be given according to how (supposedly) 'healthy' a food is.  Post by Cliff Harvey ND We've all been told time and time again that sodium (salt) is bad for us; that it's a cause of heart disease and stroke and that we should reduce our intake. The Dietitians NZ sodium fact sheet states: "Too much salt, and therefore sodium, can lead to more fluid being retained in the body. This means the heart is working harder, pumping more blood around the body, increasing pressure. High blood pressure increases the chance of having a heart attack or stroke, still two of the biggest killers in the Western world." and go on to say that "Reducing our salt intake by just a third, from around 9g (3460mg sodium) to the recommended maximum of 6g (2300mg sodium), could, in time, save over 900 Kiwi lives a year."
While this goal is admirable, the evidence seems to suggest that this isn't the case, and in fact not only is our current sodium intake safe and healthy, but reducing sodium too drastically could be related to several negative health outcomes. |
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