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New study finds low salt diets may not impact heart disease risk

11/11/11

A new study conducted by doctors at the Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark revealed that low-salt diets may not reduce the risk of heart disease.

Researcher Dr. Niels Graudal told Reuters he believes the good and bad consequences of a low-salt diet cancel each other out, causing the diet to have little or no effect on the development of heart disease.

A low-salt diet has been said to lower blood pressure, but it also raises the level of cholesterol, fat and hormones that are known to increase the risk for heart disease, the study pointed out.

Graudal and some of his research colleagues believe recommending a low-salt diet is pointless.

"In my opinion, these recommendations should never have been there, because there's not enough science to make [them]," Graudal told Reuters.

Other experts are looking for further research on the topic before the recommendation of a low-salt diet is ruled obsolete.

"We have to look a little bit closer to see if a reduction in salt really does generate a net health benefit," Dr. Jochen Reiser, professor at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, told MyHealthNewsDaily. "Diet is complex, and the effects of eating less salt cannot be oversimplified."

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, heart disease was projected to cost the United States $316.4 billion in 2010, from medication, health care services and lost productivity.

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