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A study questions the value of a low salt diet - and suggests it might even be harmful. Salt gets a shake in a large study, reinforcing previous research which questions the value of a low salt diet - and suggests it might even be harmful. I know. One day they're telling you one thing and the next the opposite. The trouble is that with salt, doctors and dieticians have assumed because a low salt intake may help blood pressure, that it saves lives. A 13 year follow up of 7000 people has found that in most groups, the lower the salt intake, the higher the risk of dying from a heart attack or stroke - independent of other lifestyle factors. The study wasn't a trial; it observed people's health rather than tested a proposition, so had potential problems. But the authors say that applies to almost all the studies which supposedly justify reducing salt and that none, they claim, show that a low salt diet saves lives. The reason for the possible risk is that a low salt diet may increase artery damaging hormones. So while it's not carte blanche for salt, it's probably okay to enjoy the taste of food again.
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