

The salt controversy - huherto
http://www.nasw.org/awards/1999/99Taubesarticle1.htm

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nkurz
Read the article even if 'salt' doesn't seem exciting. One can see why this
article won the 1999 award from the National Association of Science Writers.
It does a tremendous job of explaining a complex controversy.

For me, the parallel with global warming is uncanny: locked in camps looking
at the same data, coming to opposite conclusions, and accusing the other of
being blinded by bias.

Searching now for other things Gary Taubes has written...

~~~
healsdata
Taubes has definitely made a name for himself researching and reporting on bad
science. After the parent article, he set his sights on nutrition in general:

"What if It's All Been a Big Fat Lie?"
([http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/07/magazine/what-if-it-s-
all-...](http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/07/magazine/what-if-it-s-all-been-a-
big-fat-lie.html?pagewanted=all)) and "Good Calories, Bad Calories"

Before all of that that, he wrote "Bad Science: The Short Life and Weird Times
of Cold Fusion" and "Nobel Dreams: Power, Deceit and the Ultimate Experiment"

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mynameishere
Science is edging ever closer to stating the basic truth: The perfect food is
pork rinds. Nothing but fat and salt.

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jared314
Woody Allen might have been on to something. Sleeper:
<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070707/quotes?qt0231370>

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jcnnghm
Particularly interesting article in light of the recent attempts to ban salt
in restaurants in NYC ([http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/11/new-york-
restaur...](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/11/new-york-restaurants-
salt-ban)). The more government gets involved with health care, the more
attempts we'll have by fascists like the Democrat Ortiz to control people.
Perhaps the state should focus on avoiding bankruptcy, rather than limiting
the salt intake of adults.

~~~
jws
Not NYC, the whole State of New York.

 _attempts to ban salt in restaurants_ – not true, this stupid bill which will
never see a vote or chance of passage, only bans the cooks from adding it. It
would put the salt under control of the diner at the table.

 _limiting the salt intake of adults_ – Nothing in this asinine bill to limit
the salt intake of adults. It simply puts the adults in control of it.

It's a dumb enough bill without make it sound dumber. It was read once and has
been referred to the Committee on Health where it will presumably die,
probably to polite laughter.

(I am a tiny bit sympathetic toward people whose doctors have told them to
lower sodium or die and are wondering if that bowl of chicken noodle soup will
kill them. But I want my food cooked in salt.)

~~~
dgordon
"not true, this stupid bill which will never see a vote or chance of passage,
only bans the cooks from adding it. It would put the salt under control of the
diner at the table."

Do you even cook? Salt added while cooking brings out the taste of food. Salt
added afterwards makes food taste salty. I guess with soups this wouldn't
occur, but otherwise it makes a big difference.

There's actually no evidence that eliminating salt lowers blood pressure more
than a tiny amount. Sea salt, with its trace minerals, actually lowers blood
pressure when it's added to the diet. It's much better for you for other
reasons too, well worth the extra money.

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tungstenfurnace
If I drink salt solution this might have very little effect on my blood
pressure.

However, if I add salt to my pasta bake it might make it tastier.

I might therefore eat more of it and raise my blood pressure this way.

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jrmg
This article is eleven years old. Has the scientific concensus moved on since
then?

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Mz
FWIW:

I have found that good quality sea salt is critical my personal health. (I
have a genetic disorder and have used food as a primary means to get healthy.)
My kids and I refer to table salt as "industrial salt". We buy it to scrub
mold from the sink and similar household uses. We don't consider edible
anymore. A good quality sea salt has a high percentage of other minerals, not
just sodium chloride. I have found the presence of those other minerals
changes the way my body relates to sodium chloride and has, over time, changed
the way my body works, very much for the better.

