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Abstract
Background
The relationship between lower sodium intake and total mortality remains controversial.
Objectives
This study examined the relationship between well-characterized measures of sodium intake estimated from urinary sodium excretion and long-term mortality.
Methods
Two trials, phase I (1987 to 1990), over 18 months, and phase II (1990 to 1995), over 36 months, were undertaken in TOHP (Trials of Hypertension Prevention), which implemented sodium reduction interventions. The studies included multiple 24-h urine samples collected from pre-hypertensive adults 30 to 54 years of age during the trials. Post-trial deaths were ascertained over a median 24 years, using the National Death Index. The associations between mortality and the randomized interventions as well as with average sodium intake were examined.
Results
Among 744 phase I and 2,382 phase II participants randomized to sodium reduction or control, 251 deaths occurred, representing a nonsignificant 15% lower risk in the active intervention (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.85; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.66 to 1.09; p = 0.19). Among 2,974 participants not assigned to an active sodium intervention, 272 deaths occurred. There was a direct linear association between average sodium intake and mortality, with an HR of 0.75, 0.95, and 1.00 (references) and 1.07 (p trend = 0.30) for <2,300, 2,300 to <3,600, 3,600 to <4,800, and ≥4,800 mg/24 h, respectively; and with an HR of 1.12 per 1,000 mg/24 h (95% CI: 1.00 to 1.26; p = 0.05). There was no evidence of a J-shaped or nonlinear relationship. The HR per unit increase in sodium/potassium ratio was 1.13 (95% CI: 1.01 to 1.27; p = 0.04).
Conclusions
We found an increased risk of mortality for high-sodium intake and a direct relationship with total mortality, even at the lowest levels of sodium intake. These results are consistent with a benefit of reduced sodium and sodium/potassium intake on total mortality over a 20-year period.
dailycarbs wrote:My research of n=1 tells me that sodium is sodium. Meals loaded with sodium (be it sea salt, kosher salt, msg, whatever) produce the same results in me: bloating, delayed BM, cotton mouth thirst, slight headache. I'd call it a low grade poisoning event. Our foods have the sodium we need. No need to add it. If a pinch at the table helps you stick to this woe that's one thing. Doesn't mean that salt is a health food.
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=5966&hilit=Sea+salt
dynodan62 wrote:If I am cooking something that I know will taste ultra bland, and I thus will not be able to resist the temptation to add salt at the table, I often add msg during preparation since sodium in that form is less harmful. Still, since I generally avoid processed food (and always select those that are salt-free), rarely eat in restaurants, and NEVER cook with salt at home, I believe the enhanced flavor I get from occasionally sprinkling on a bit of large grain kosher sea-salt justifies it's use in keeping my WFPB meals fully satisfying.
DenverGuy wrote:How about Morton Lite Salt?
from their site:
"Morton Lite Salt is a salt and potassium chloride blend that contains 50% less sodium than regular salt. It cooks the same, bakes the same, measures the same and flavors the same – so it can be used in all your recipes just like regular salt with the same great results."
In uncooked pasta, the concentration of sodium was higher in the rice based pasta products (24 mg/100g) compared with the wheat-based pasta (2.3 mg/100g). The sodium content in pasta cooked with different levels of salt increased approximately linearly with the amount of salt added to the cooking water. Pasta cooked in 4g salt/100g raw took up on average 28 mg Na/100g whereas when cooked in 40g/100g raw this increased approximately 10 fold to 230 mg Na/100g.
...
These results have been compared with the 6th edition of McCance and Widdowson’s The Composition of Foods (2) and on the whole compare well with one exception. The sodium concentration of uncooked wholewheat pasta was found to be lower than previously published values (3 mg Na/100g raw pasta compared with the published value of 130 mg Na/100g) but did compare well with the levels indicated by packaging labelling.
THE TEST: We boiled a pound each of dry spaghetti (sodium-free) in 4 quarts of water containing varying amounts of salt.
THE RESULTS: (per 6 ounces cooked pasta); 1 teaspoon salt (2,360mg sodium): 75mg sodium; 1 tablespoon salt (7,080mg sodium): 253mg sodium; 2 tablespoons salt (14,160mg sodium): 446mg sodium; ¼ cup salt (28,319mg sodium): 896mg sodium
Bottom line: It's not that pasta soaks up salt like a sponge: Only 3% was absorbed into each serving of pasta. But 3% of the sodium in ¼ cup is 896mg—nearly 40% of your 2,300mg daily limit.
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