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After successfully forcing NYC restaurants to post calorie counts on menus and to stop cooking with trans fat, Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the commissioner of New York City's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, is waging a war on salt. A recent New York Times article explains that he's going after packaged food companies and mass-produced restaurant meals. Apparently, they contribute 80 percent of the sodium in the average American diet. Over the next five years, Dr. Frieden aims to cut the level of salt intake by 25 percent. Is salt so bad for us? Salt, in some people (not everyone) can lead to high blood pressure which is a leading factor in the incidence of heart attack and stroke. At the same time, many scientists do not believe sodium intake is directly related to high blood pressure. In the past, studies comparing hypertensive populations found that those on low-salt diets had more than four times as many heart attacks as those on normal-sodium diets.
Although the health link may not be clear, what's obvious is that excess of most ingredients cannot be healthy. And, foods at fast-food chains, like McDonald's, are outrageously high in sodium. It seems that if dealt with in a reasonable way, Dr. Frieden's goal can be quite progressive. What do you think?
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2-04-2009 @6:00PM Karen said... I am absolutely opposed the governments stepping in and forcing businesses to change the sodium content of their food.
The best way to make a change, is to successfully change the culture, like MADD did with drunk driving, or the current "trend" or culture toward going green.
The key is to convince everyone that they want low-sodium foods and then businesses will comply. But the government needs to stay out of it.
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2-04-2009 @8:22PM Michael Schmitt said... Thank you, Max, for writing, "what's obvious is that excess of most ingredients cannot be healthy". You have hit the nail on the head of this overall problem is in our society here in America.
Too much food is killing us.
When we didn't have ready access to any type of food from anywhere in the world like we do today, our diets consisted for grains, vegetables, tubers, and a bit of meat.
Now that we can have meat whenever we want, yummy tasty foods (flavor is carried in fats, many times, salt enhances flavor, and sugary foods always taste good) are killing us.
Chocolate cake used to be a rarity and eaten sparingly to make it last. Now we can have it everyday and we don't know why we are a nation of growing diabetics.
While I'm glad I live in a country in which too MUCH food is killing us, I'm saddened by the fact that we as a nation (66% is overweight) can't seem to determine the difference between what we want and what we need.
... and that goes for over-consumption of food OR purchasable "things" on credit...
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2-05-2009 @7:52AM brooke said... I have to say that I was happy to hear about Dr. Frieden's upcoming war on salt. Ever since I gave birth to my daughter several years ago, the way my body processes salt has changed dramatically. Previous to her birth, I could eat whatever I wanted without a problem. Now, it only takes a very small amount of extra sodium to make me puff up uncomfortably.
For example, eating even one slice of pizza, one small cheeseburger off of the McDonalds dollar menu, or using regular canned foods off of the grocery shelf in my home makes me puff up like a balloon. Because of this, I have had to give up many foods, both canned that I use in my home, and from restaurants because the effects on my body just aren't worth it.
I am lucky. I can afford to buy higher priced, organic, low sodium or salt free items when I need to. However, the problem is that in today's economy, there are so many people who are struggling to feed their families, who turn to cheap fast food daily, sometimes more than once daily to fill bellies. It is these people that are suffering the most, and usually the ones whose voices aren't heard when they have a concern.
I don't think Dr. Frieden is doing a bad thing. He is not saying "YOU CANNOT EVER USE SALT!!!" He is trying to bring the consumption of salt under control so that we can be healthier as a population, and I for one thank him.
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2-05-2009 @3:03PM Sarah said... I really think what is scary is how much sodium is hidden in commercially made food. Look at entrees in restaurants - a dinner can hold 2500 to 6000 mg in it! We only need 1500 mg a day at most. Healthy kidneys will hold on to what you need - after all, salt is present even in natural foods.
Does a can of commercial soup NEED to contain 980 mg of sodium per cup? NO! Now you see companies such as Campbells touting their "lower sodium soups: having 480 per cup - which is better but still so high!
Sadly, uncontrolled high blood pressure can lead to kidney disease and failure. Why not fight it any way we can?
After a couple weeks of not salting food/eating a lot less commercial foods you find that your taste buds come back online - what you find is all your old favorites are now salt fests.
I cook with a lot of herbs, spices, peppers, citrus juices - and rarely do I miss salt. Sodium is hidden everywhere....when you bake? Baking soda and baking powder are very high. Cheese is very high in sodium. Heck, frozen green peas are salted! (So shop wisely!)
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2-05-2009 @3:06PM Sarah said... And a sad note....a "normal sodium intake" is around 2300 mg a day for a healthy adult. Start adding up to see how fast a person tops that. Many Americans consume 4,000 to 8,000 mg a day. An ultra low sodium diet for heart patients might be 900 to 1,000 mg a day.
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2-05-2009 @8:55PM Curry Taylor said... Sooner or later breathing will be illegal.
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2-05-2009 @9:15PM Kaila said... Do people really support the government dictating what is and isn't okay for us to eat? I definitely wouldn't call that "quite progressive."
And who's this guy in New York telling me that I need to reduce my salt intake by 25%?
If he wants to use his own money to wage a media campaign against sodium, that's definitely reasonable. But something tells me that the New York City's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (ie taxpayers) is going to pay for the War on Sodium. And the businesses it targets are going to pay for it, too. Are there really no better things to do with those tax dollars?
How can you live in this country and not know that eating at McDonalds is unhealthy? Does some idealist government doctor need to force companies to stop manufacturing something in order to save you from your own bad choices?
Has the victim mentality completely taken over? Have people absolved themselves of all forms of personal responsibility?
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2-10-2009 @10:32AM mj said... WOW.............enough with the salt police
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