Low-Salt Diets May Add to Heart Troubles, Institute Says

The dietary battle against salt consumption has had a setback.

In a report to U.S. health officials released today, the esteemed Institute of Medicine has indicated that not only are the benefits of low-sodium diets now in question, but cutting salt consumption levels may actually prove harmful, according to a report by Reuters.

The independent panel reviewed the latest data on the link between salt intake and health and concluded while it's become standard practice to urge blacks, diabetics and others more likely to have heart problems to slash their salt intake, there was, in fact, limited evidence that suggested such a diet helped, while too little salt might increase the risk of heart trouble.

"The evidence on both the benefit and harm is not strong enough to indicate that these subgroups should be treated differently from the general United States population," the panel wrote.

The take-away is that higher-risk populations may not need such a drastic reduction of salt in their diets and that other steps to reduce heart disease risk may be required.

The IOOM experts still said, however, that Americans in general are still consuming, with the average U.S. adult eating about 1.5 teaspoons, or 3,400 milligrams, of salt daily

Federal guidelines recommend healthy people consume no more than 2,300 milligrams per day.

The new findings cast doubts on whether people with higher risk factors for heart disease or stroke should limit their daily intake to 1,500 milligrams, like the government recommends.

Brian Strom, the IOM panel chairman and a public health professor at the University of Pennsylvania, said the newest numbers still back the known benefits of "reducing sodium from very high intake levels to moderate levels," though "they also suggest that lowering sodium intake too much may actually increase a person's risk of some health problems," including heart ailments.

The IOM panel told the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which requested the report, that the studies were limited and in some cases flawed, so more research is needed.

Health advocates including the American Heart Association wasted no time in dismissing the findings, explaining the IOM focused on sick patients and not the majority of Americans who eat too much salt.

"The bottom line for consumers is still: cut back on sodium," Bonnie Liebman director of nutrition for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, was quoted saying by Reuters.

Health officials have advised Americans to take various steps to cut their salt consumption, such as asking for no-salt dishes in restaurants and eating more naturally low-salt foods like fruits and vegetables.

The IOM's review was a little off the mark, suggested Liebman, because sodium content in foods is so high in America, it's hard for anyone to limit their salt intake to 1,500 milligrams a day, even if they wanted to.

"Virtually any meal at any restaurant would give you at least half-a-day's worth of sodium, maybe a whole day's worth, maybe more," Liebman said. "You'd have to make everything from scratch...it's pretty tough."

Consumer groups and some lawmakers have long called on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to set federal salt levels for food --- an effort backed by the IOM in 2010.

In New York City, health officials have been working with restaurants and food companies to voluntarily remove salt from everyday foods.

And a trio of studies also published this week found smaller restaurants have still been loading up their dishes with salt, even as national chains and food manufacturers have had efforts to cut back.

The FDA, issued a statement saying it was reviewing the IOM's report, but called the data consistent with its own efforts to "work toward achievable and reasonable voluntary reductions in the sodium content of the U.S. food supply."

IOM was not asked to review current federal salt intake guidelines, which were issued in 2010 and are set to be revised in 2015.