Last week, results of a study out of Harvard's School of Public Health (co authored by one of my fav's, Walter Willett) were released in the popular press and the Harvard Crimson. I do not think that the study has been published as I cannot find a journal citation.
I was busy last week, but when I saw the story which essentially states that Americans have consumed the same amount of salt for the last fifty years I did mention it on my FaceBook page.
Clearly if the salt or sodium levels (lab verified) are the same but cases of hypertension and heart disease have increased (alarmingly), the problem is something else. Obesity for instance - our weights have not stayed the same in the last 50 years.
But to be fair, my initial reaction has to be tempered with my new "doctoral student" mind, yes? First, the reports on overall salt consumption on the population level do not necessarily equal what individuals consume.
Secondly, Dr. Willett's study was an analysis of research where urine was actually tested and that holds some sway. A third consideration is better detection of hypertension, changing definitions of hypertension (high blood pressure) and different detection and measures of heart disease. YES? Meaning the number of high blood pressure cases did not really increase just the detection of them. (I don't think that explains everything)
At the end of the day however, my take is still that obesity is driving chronic disease not salt.
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