Let's talk about salt

[ruben]

Anyone know about all this anti-sodium hubbub?

Doctors now say to keep it under some miligram level.

Is it bad for you? I can't figure it out.

 

[kwilkinson]

Originally Posted by ruben

Anyone know about all this anti-sodium hubbub?

Doctors now say to keep it under some miligram level.

Is it bad for you? I can't figure it out.

It makes your food taste better. That's all that matters to me. I may die of high blood pressure related problems at 35, but I'd rather have lived for 35 years eating properly seasoned food than live to 60 years eating bland ****.

 

[Alter]

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

It makes your food taste better. That's all that matters to me. I may die of high blood pressure related problems at 35, but I'd rather have lived for 35 years eating properly seasoned food than live to 60 years eating bland ****.

Do you consider 60 as maximum life expectancy for a healthy life? You're going to scare the hell out of Rube.

 

[ChicagoRon]

Originally Posted by ruben

Anyone know about all this anti-sodium hubbub?

Doctors now say to keep it under some miligram level.

Is it bad for you? I can't figure it out.

It's just not that simple. Probably a good idea to avoid canned/junk/fast/processed/manufacturerd food-products. Bit you should do that for a lot of other reasons than they are over salted and over sweetened to hide their lack of real flavor.

I propose we ammend Michael Pollan's famous maxim...."eat properly seasoned food, not too much, mostly plants"

 

[iamrobertjulius]

i like salt

 

[kwilkinson]

Originally Posted by Alter

Do you consider 60 as maximum life expectancy for a healthy life? You're going to scare the hell out of Rube.

Well, I'm fat, don't exercise, drink too much, and smoke. I don't see myself getting much past 60 in any scenario.

 

[impolyt_one]

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

Well, I'm fat, don't exercise, drink too much, and smoke. I don't see myself getting much past 60 in any scenario.

depends on your genetics too man, a lot. You got guys who exercise well, try to live healthily and they flop over dead way early, and you have decrepit Asian guys who drink soy sauce like a beverage, drink their alcohol in shots and drink beer before noon, and smoke a pack a day or more, and they'll live til they're 90+... so give yourself a few more chips in that life lottery, you can do it. (I have high blood pressure =\\)

 

[randallr]

Originally Posted by Alter

Do you consider 60 as maximum life expectancy for a healthy life? You're going to scare the hell out of Rube.

Jan must already be over the hill.

 

[jhe0417]

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

It makes your food taste better. That's all that matters to me. I may die of high blood pressure related problems at 35, but I'd rather have lived for 35 years eating properly seasoned food than live to 60 years eating bland ****.

Cannot rep this enough. What's the point of living a long life if it isn't culinarily fulfilling?

 

[ruben]

Originally Posted by ChicagoRon

It's just not that simple. Probably a good idea to avoid canned/junk/fast/processed/manufacturerd food-products. Bit you should do that for a lot of other reasons than they are over salted and over sweetened to hide their lack of real flavor.

I propose we ammend Michael Pollan's famous maxim...."eat properly seasoned food, not too much, mostly plants"

So why does seemingly every doctor and medical report harp on cutting back salt?

There must be some bigger reason that links to blood pressure and hypertension to use less of it.

Originally Posted by jhe0417

Cannot rep this enough. What's the point of living a long life if it isn't culinarily fulfilling?

Seriously?
IF I had to pick, properly seasoned food would be one of the first vices I'd let go of.

 

[edinatlanta]

Originally Posted by ruben

Seriously?
IF I had to pick, properly seasoned food would be one of the first vices I'd let go of.

I don't really call food, which I'll consume several times a day because the body needs it to survive a vice but hey, YMMV.

 

[randallr]

Originally Posted by edinatlanta

I don't really call food, which I'll consume several times a day because the body needs it to survive a vice but hey, YMMV.

We know you wouldn't want to cut back on your food.

 

[ChicagoRon]

Originally Posted by ruben

So why does seemingly every doctor and medical report harp on cutting back salt? There must be some bigger reason that links to blood pressure and hypertension to use less of it. Seriously? IF I had to pick, properly seasoned food would be one of the first vices I'd let go of.

Originally Posted by edinatlanta

I don't really call food, which I'll consume several times a day because the body needs it to survive a vice but hey, YMMV.
You should really read "In Defense of Food" - Ed - some interesting commentary on the Puritan roots of America and its influence on our diets (the idea that eating is an animal compulsion and we should not derive pleasure from it). Reuben - there is no question that excessive sodium is linked to hypertension. There's further speculation / anecdotal evidence that the combination of salts and sugars used in processed foods creates an addiction, and is so high in order to mask the lack of flavor in the ingredients used in such foods that it basically makes our taste buds dead and need extra salt and sugar to taste anything. Either way- there are diets all over the world that include more than 1tsp of salt / day and yield healthy people. That doesn't mean you should eat as much salt as you want without thinking about it, just that a blanket rule like 60g / day might be a little alarmist.

 

[jcusey]

Originally Posted by ruben

So why does seemingly every doctor and medical report harp on cutting back salt?

There must be some bigger reason that links to blood pressure and hypertension to use less of it.

The connection between sodium consumption and hypertension (and the belief that reduced salt consumption leads to better health) is much more tenuous than you think, at least for most people. See here, for example.

 

[edinatlanta]

Originally Posted by randallr

We know you wouldn't want to cut back on your food.

Asshole.