Fitness Files: Take advice with a grain of salt

“Don’t Toss Out Your Salt Shaker!” says Dr. Niels Graudal’s Danish study, which adds that people with very low levels of salt in their diets suffer elevated mortality.

Of course, a few lines down, Graudal’s American Journal of Hypertension article makes it clear that high salt intake raises a person’s risk of heart disease. His safest range? Between 2,645 and 4,945 milligrams of salt a day.

The Food and Drug Administration information below explains why I’m suspicious of Web MD’s reprint of Steven Reinberg’s Health Day article citing Graudal’s study in saying, “[N]ew research indicates that Americans consume a healthy amount of salt”:

Americans’ sodium intake breaks down like this, the FDA says: 77%, packaged and restaurant food; 12%, naturally occurring in foods; and 11%, added to food while cooking or at the table.

So it’s not the salt shakers. It’s the tasty restaurant lo mien lunch at 3,460 milligrams of salt, the frozen barbecue chicken dinner with cheese potatoes at 1,290 milligrams, and that innocent-looking salad at 210 milligrams of sodium because of just two tablespoons of lite dressing.

Sodium is a vital nutrient, needing daily replenishment. I’m willing to let the academics argue over exactly how much is healthy. It may be that the FDA’s salt warnings are too dire. However, nobody pays attention to them anyway. On the other hand, have you counted the number of restaurants on every block? Everyone’s eating out. Who’s counting sodium milligrams in that foot-long sandwich?

Despite the Danish study, the American Heart Assn. and the FDA stand by their sodium warnings. Under the heading “Health Facts,” the FDA’s “Sodium in Your Diet” says, “One in three U.S. adults has high blood pressure. Heart disease is the leading cause of death,” with strokes in fourth place.

A few extra shakes of the salt shaker won’t kill, but health professionals agree that too much sodium contributes to all of the above.

By the way, there’s hidden sodium in whole grain as well as white breads, rolls and bagels, processed and unprocessed poultry, sweet baked goods and relish.

Here’s an idea: Let’s say a few times a week you eat out and enjoy a handful of mixed nuts and crunch chips with guacamole while sipping your margarita. But most of the week, you eat at home — or if you’re out, you order a plate full of fresh fruit, vegetables, fish or a few ounces of meat.

We won’t pass on our bounty of restaurants or fine cheese and crackers any more than the Danes will give up open-faced sandwiches.

Let the FDA and Graudal tease out the exact amount of salt we should ingest. In the meantime, get a bonus of health benefits from fresh foods while you read the latest groundbreaking health study for entertainment.

Oh, so you’d rather be entertained by good company and a margarita? Include some fresh jicama with lime ... and a little salt.

Newport Beach resident CARRIE LUGER SLAYBACK is a retired teacher who ran the Los Angeles Marathon at age 70, winning first place in her age group. Her blog is lazyracer@blogspot.com.