From the comments to an earlier post:
Von Spreuth said "Hmm. Low salt diets do not seem to have reached us here in Germany. I have never heard salt mentioned as a problem, and when I first came here, permanently 15 years ago, I found most of the food so bloody salty, that it was inedible. A lot of it still is (Schnitzel, for instance). Do you have different internal organ arrangements in the UK or something? Because I do not recall seeing any figures suggesting that Germans have higher salt related heart attack/stroke rates."
Pogo said: "The '6 grams of salt a day' limit is complete bollocks anyway. See John Brignell's blog/book to see how to demolish a very incompetent set of "statistics"...
Hmm. I Googled the German words for "salt", "diet", "heart attack" and "stroke" and scrolled down to the first recent article that appears on the website of a 'reputable' newspaper, to wit Stern (that's German for 'star' by the way, the German word for 'stern' is probably 'ernsthaft', or something like that).
To cut a long story, there is a German 'consumer body' calling itself 'Foodwatch' (they think it's cooler to use English words, but haven't realised that they are supposed to have a capital 'W' in there, doh) who reel off a long list of ready made meals which are high in salt, mention things like breakfast cereal and bread en passant, and point out that yet another quango/industry lobby group/bunch of meddling do-gooding cranks* called the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Ernährung says that the daily recommended intake of salt is no more than six grammes.
They claim that a higher salt intake leads to higher blood pressure, which in turn might lead to an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes, whence it is only a short step to missing out the middle bit and saying that a higher salt intake leads to heart attacks and strokes, I suppose.
* Delete according to taste. Their 2008 accounts say that their membership consists of 4,038 individuals, 58 companies, 24 trade associations and 24 otherwise unspecified 'groups'.
Why Have You Told Us For Years That It Is, Then?
11 minutes ago
2 comments:
If in doubt, eat potassium-rich foods. Sodium and potassium have a see-saw relationshi - one depletes the other. E.g., spinach.
The best result would be obtained by avoiding 'ready' foods. Home-produced cooking is so much tastier, and more nutritious, anyway!
Which, of course, puts you in control.
I had a medical the other week, the GP said I had high blood pressure so asked for a blood sample. When the results came back my blood pressure was fine but I was high in cholesterol. Load of twat.
The public are well aware that every week there is a new food scare and that foods once regarded as 'dangerous' are now suddenly OK, milk and liver for example.
Let's hope the Germans don't fall for this tosh.
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