Report Urges Americans to Reduce Sodium

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Report Urges Americans to Reduce Sodium

Wed Feb 11, 5:11 PM ET

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By LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer

WASHINGTON - Americans eat more than twice the salt they should but don't get

enough potassium, an imbalance that fuels high blood pressure.

 

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So says a long-awaited nutrition report, released Wednesday by the Institute of

Medicine (news - web sites), that sets the nation's recommended intake levels of

key nutrients.

 

Heart specialists praised the new salt recommendation while food manufacturers

deemed it unrealistic. Three-quarters of Americans' daily salt intake comes from

sodium hidden in common processed and restaurant foods, such as frozen dinners

and spaghetti sauce.

 

While factors such as weight and exercise play a role, salt and blood pressure

go hand-in-hand: Eat too much, blood pressure rises. Eat less, it drops. Some 50

million Americans have high blood pressure — putting them at risk for heart

attacks, strokes and kidney disease — and another 45 million are

pre-hypertensive.

 

Food labels today set daily sodium consumption at 2,400 milligrams, the

equivalent of a heaping teaspoon of salt.

 

The new recommendation is that most people get just 1,500 milligrams a day.

 

Yet women today eat, on average, twice that amount, men even more.

 

" We don't have our heads in the sand on this one, " said Dr. Lawrence Appel, who

co-authored the guidelines for the institute, an independent scientific

organization that advises the government. " We realize where we are is quite a

distance from where we should be ... and there are commercial interests that

don't want this to happen. "

 

" People can cook and prepare Western-style diets that are at that level " even

though " it will take work right now, " said Appel, a professor of medicine at

Johns Hopkins University.

 

Food makers countered that consumers will give up when faced with such strict

levels.

 

" Dietary recommendations for all Americans need to be realistic, " said Stephanie

Childs of the Grocery Manufacturers of America.

 

The Institute of Medicine report also:

 

_Lists 2,300 milligrams of sodium as a maximal upper limit for the average

adult's good health, but stresses that eating more than 1,500 is not recommended

for anyone. In fact, because blood pressure rises with age, it says people over

50 should strive to eat just 1,300 milligrams a day, and those over 70 just

1,200 milligrams.

 

_Urges Americans to eat more potassium — 4,700 milligrams a day, roughly double

current consumption. Potassium lowers blood pressure and reduces the risk of

kidney stones and bone loss. It is found in bananas, spinach, cantaloupe and

numerous other fruits and vegetables; food sources are better than supplements.

 

_Says consumers shouldn't bother with the old adage " drink at least eight

glasses of water a day. " The average healthy person gets plenty of fluid from a

mix of beverages — even those with caffeine — as well as the water content of

fruits and other foods.

 

For sodium, " These are certainly healthy goals, " said Dr. Daniel Jones of the

American Heart Association (news - web sites). " They will be a challenge for

individuals to achieve, but they can be achieved. "

 

The American Public Health Association (news - web sites) last year began

pushing for the sodium in processed foods to be halved within 10 years. The new

guidelines mean " the food industry really has to take this issue much more

seriously now, " said APHA's Dr. Stephen Havas of the University of Maryland.

 

 

 

If the new level makes it onto food labels, consumers could see significant

changes. For example, a popular brand of canned clam chowder that provides 36

percent of daily sodium under today's guidelines would provide 57 percent of the

new level.

The Food and Drug Administration (news - web sites) plans to update numerous

nutrient levels on food labels, based in part on Institute of Medicine advice.

But the process will take years, and food makers will oppose a salt change.

" One size does not fit all when it comes to sodium intake, " said Robert Earl of

the National Food Processors Association, who contends the lower level brings no

benefit to healthy people who aren't salt-sensitive.

Suddenly dropping sodium levels would hurt foods' taste, but companies are

hunting for new recipes to provide a gradual decline, said the grocery

manufacturers' Childs. Canned foods today contain 40 percent less sodium than a

few years ago, she said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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