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'.
Dark thoughts
1 hour 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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