This blog site has reported that:
- Overweight people live longer than those of normal weight (my next door neighbor, who is in the medical profession, and, second, my personal doctor, both tend to disagree with me, as does the general field--but I think that is because change is difficult to accept).
- People who drink alcohol live longer than those who don't. But more is bad.
- Until only recently, the medical profession warned of severely limiting, if not omitting, butter, milk and eggs from your diet. It now turns out that certain forms of margarine are really bad for your health and the cholesterol found in eggs has no effect on your blood cholesterol.
- Milk? Depending on who you consult, it can be good or bad. Surprisingly, though, research has indicated that milk, high in calcium, is also acidic, and actually causes calcium loss from your bones.
- Here is some interesting history of butter:
- 1884 Margarine can cause your teeth to loosen, your skin to crack, and your hair to fall out. (Margarine was invented in 1869, so I would think the butter industry had something to do with these symptoms.)
- 1901 There's a lot of bacteria in butter; salted varieties keep better, so you should eat those instead of unsalted varieties.
- 1913 Butter's so bad for you that it gets banned from Vassar College (along with cotton mattresses). Also, butter could carry disease. You should eat margarine.
- 1984 Cholesterol is BAD and butter is the cause.
- 2000 Butter can actually protect you against pretty much every ill, including heart disease, cancer, arthritis, and osteoporosis; butter—or actually the vitamins it contains—is essential for your health.
- 2009 Eating butter may reduce your risk of heart attack.
- 2012 The saturated fat in butter can slow down your cognitive ability.
- 2013 The removal of saturated fat—that'd be butter—from our diet has made cardiovascular disease more prevalent. People who eat more vegetable fats than animal fats have higher death rates.
- 2014 Butter—and other full-fat foods—may help us lose weight. In other good news, a new study says there is definitely no link between the saturated fat in butter and heart disease. But wait: Some big flaws with that study prove that there may be a thread of connection between butter and disease after all. No. Wait again. Butter really is okay. Just in moderation, and as a part of a balanced diet.
- Beef has been demonized, but is not as bad for your health as was earlier reported. Japanese wagyu beef could well in addition be healthy, for it contains more Omega 3 fatty acids and monounsaturated fats, plus, meat contains anti-cancer agents and ingredients that combat arteriosclerosis. The iron, zinc and vitamin B are also helpful. Perhaps even more surprising, wagyu beef, higher in fats, reduce your cholesterol level and are better for your health than lean meat.
But wait a minute, didn't the World Health Organization in 2015 report that red meat is probably carcinogenic? Further, the British Medical Journal this year indicated that red meat is linked to nine diseases and will lower your life expectancy. However, note that there is that factor of processed meats, like sausages.
Conclusions The results show increased risks of all cause mortality and death due to nine different causes associated with both processed and unprocessed red meat, accounted for, in part, by heme iron and nitrate/nitrite from processed meat. They also show reduced risks associated with substituting white meat, particularly unprocessed white meat.
Reading further, the message is clear that you should especially avoid processed meats and to maintain a balanced diet. In moderation and occasionally, a small (how small?) steak should be fine.
Now something that even I find difficult to accept: Current salt guidelines are based on almost nothing. That is a quote from Suzanne Oparil, former president of the American Health Association. An average person who reduces his or her salt intake from median levels to the U.S. recommended levels may see a drop in blood pressure from 120/80 to 118/79, according to American Heart Association figures.
- Under the current dietary guidelines, too much is more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day - the amount of sodium in a teaspoon of salt. (For people over 50, and for African-Americans, the current recommended intake is even lower - 1,500 milligrams per day.)
- If the U.S. salt warnings are correct, Americans are indeed endangering themselves on a massive scale. Americans typically go way over the limit, ingesting about 3,500 milligrams per day.
- If the skeptics are correct, on the other hand, most Americans are fine. In their view, a typical healthy person can consume as much as 6,000 milligrams per day without significantly raising health risks. But consuming too little - somewhere below 3,000 milligrams - also raises health risks, they say.
- olive oil 0
- apple 0
- unsalted pecans 0
- vinegar 0
- 1 cup macaroni 1
- 1 oz peanuts with no salt 2
- 1 cup beans 2
- 1 cup orange juice 2
- 1 tbsp butter 2
- 3.5 oz red wine 5
- 8 oz water 7
- 12 oz regular beer 18
- 1 cup broccoli 41
- 3 oz salmon 56
- one boiled egg 62
- 12 oz club soda 75
- 1 tbsp butter with salt 117
- 1 cup chocolate milk 153
- 1 5 tbsp French dressing 214
- 11 oz milk shake 297
- 3.5 inch plain bagel 379
- 1 croissant 424
- 3 oz canned salmon 471
- 1 cup canned corn 571
- 1 dill pickle 833
- 1 tbsp soy sauce 914
- 1 cup chicken noodle soup 1106
- 1 cup baked beans 1008
- 1 cheeseburger 1108
- 1 cup past with meatballs 1053
- 1 cup mac and cheese 1058
- 3 oz ham 1128
- 1 large taco 1233
- 1 cup potato salad 1323
- 1 cup tomato sauce 1482
- 1 cup sauerkraut 1560
- 1 tsp table salt 2325
- 1 cup miso 2507
Lengthy list, but, in general, any canned product, pickles and processed meats are extremely salty.
Much of salt guidelines was influenced by a 1973 paper from Lillian Gleiberman reporting that those populations (African bushmen, Eskimos, etc.) consuming exceptionally low levels of salt had the lowest blood pressures. The medical profession stepped in and suggested dietary guidelines that amounted to a series of guesses that kept changing. Studies, though, contradicted the perceived facts, as for example, South Koreans consumed vast amounts of salt, but had low blood pressure. Nevertheless the 2.3 gram limit has pretty much held:
Here is a 2008 paper Gleiberman published. She has recently said:
They have a simpler life. They don’t have the obesity, the diabetes and the other problems we have. We can’t look at a no-salt culture and say, if we just do that, we’d be okay.
To finally quote from that Washington Post article:
- In 2013, the Institute of Medicine published a major review of the evidence connecting salt consumption and health outcomes. There was insufficient proof, the panel concluded, that heeding the U.S. recommended limit on sodium consumption improved health outcomes.
- Then, this past August, the New England Journal of Medicine published the results of a massive research effort known as the PURE study. It indicated that people who conform to the U.S. recommended limits actually have more heart trouble.
In my mind there has to be some correlation between too much salt and higher blood pressure. Salt causes water retention in the body, known to raise hypertension. I do take two pills to minimize this condition. However, my blood pressure can get too low (as minimal as 80/50) when I have a big meal and walk on a golf course. I've experimented with li hing mui (salty Chinese plums) and other salt infusions. Not sure if they actually helped. However, I've found a way to minimize this problem just by not eating much before golf.
So what is the bottom line? Salt remains a contentious subject in the medical profession. There is no consensus on the need for dietary guidelines. I'll just observe how these professionals sort this matter out and, in the relatively short period I have left, use judgement in eating what I want within reason. Their discord, though, serves to ameliorate any guilt conscience on my part.
A big part of the problem is that we are all different in how we react to salt, and experimental science is nowhere close to finding the optimal solution. There definitely is too much salt in poke (Hawaiian marinated fish dish), pickles and a whole host of things I'll just continue to enjoy while keeping my blood pressure within a reasonably healthful range.
I love the taste of butter and wagyu beef, so will strive to maximize my input within certain limitations, especially as my overall cholesterol is well within limits, with good high density lipoprotein levels. Alcohol? I probably drink too much, but my body continues to function well and I'll adjust as necessary, assuaging my remorse by continuing to serve as the voice of moderation at 15 Craigside dinner tables.
So why is salt not as bad as you think?
- The medical profession seems to be verging on relaxing strict standards.
- It is cheap. About $5/pound, but consider the cost of producing and shipping this commodity.
- Iodized salt is essential for healthy brain development.
- Aids in healthy muscle functioning and reducing cramps.
- Helps fight off infection.
- Might have been an important factor in the origin of life, as 3.5% of the ocean is sodium chloride, or salt. How much salt is this? If removed from sea and spread on land, the layer would be 500 feet thick. In comparison, if all the ice melts, our sea level would rise by 264 feet. Florida would disappear, save for perhaps 25 very tiny islands. What has this to do with salt? Nothing, except I can again point out the folly of Donald Trump. Although some time this coming week I'm pondering on whether I should enumerate the benefits of the USA pulling out of the Paris Climate Change Accord.
We bemoan the fact that the medical profession keeps changing guidelines. But that's because the field of nutrition and the human body are complex. While the current knowledge base to prevent the onset of Alzheimer's is exercise, diet and active thinking, with excitement about Liraglutide (brand name Victoza), a common type 2 diabetes treatment drug, in time, I expect prevention and cure to occur. But can this be attained in time for me?
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