Recently, two medical controversies have made headlines: the question of whether too much salt is bad for your health and the debate over whether widely used antidepressant drugs work any better than placebo.
salt
Salt: How Bad Is It, Really?
Much like cell phones and eggs, salt is one of those things that studies say is bad for you one day, but O.K. the next.
Does Cutting Salt Really Improve Heart Health?
Asking people to reduce their dietary salt intake can help them slightly lower blood pressure, but it doesn’t seem to have any effect on their risk of heart attack or heart-related death, according to a new review of existing research.
Low-Salt Diets Reduce Heart Disease Risk, Right? A Study Disagrees
The government’s recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans had some familiar recommendations for health: eat more fruits and vegetables, exercise more and lower the amount of salt you eat.
Why French Fries Are Such Good Comfort Food
Ever wonder why French fries, potato chips and Cheetos are so appealing when you’re feeling stressed? A new study suggests that elevated levels of salt in the body lower stress hormones and raise levels of oxytocin, a hormone …
New Dietary Guidelines Show Politics Still Trumps Science
The U.S. government announced its latest update of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) today, advising Americans to eat less salt, sugar and fat, and to increase intake of fruits, veggies and fish. Pretty familiar stuff. …
Study: Proper Nutrition May Prevent 33,000 Deaths
The British government recommends that citizens eat five servings of fruits and vegetables a day. The reality is that few people meet this standard.
Halotherapy: Is Salt Treatment For Real?
When it comes to salt, we at Healthland tend to focus on its dietary advantages and disadvantages. But it turns out that there’s a burgeoning new trend in salt consumption: some people are breathing in the mineral, instead of …
Nine Out of 10 Americans Eat Too Much Salt
Nine out of 10 Americans are eating way too much salt, according to a report this week from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The government’s current dietary guidelines advise Americans to consume less …
Salt: “supertasters” and how obesity impacts sensitivity
New research from food scientists at Pennsylvania State University suggest that some people’s penchant for salt may be due to a broader hypersensitivity to taste. The researchers suggest that “supertasters” not only experience the taste of salt more intensely, but other flavors as well — meaning that they often rely on extra salt to
…
Cured, Smoked Meat Linked With Heart Disease Risk
Many studies have suggested that eating red meat can be harmful to your health — increasing the risk of death from cancer or heart disease — yet new research published this week in the journal Circulation suggests that the …
Subway, Boar’s Head join voluntary salt reduction initiative
While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is mulling possible strategies for limiting sodium content in manufactured foods—in large part in light of a recent report from the Institute of Medicine highlighting the health problems associated with the nation’s salt habit and the pressing need to cut back—the New York City-led National
…
An FDA campaign to curb salt consumption
Public health researchers have been working to highlight the dangers of excessive salt consumption for decades, and in the last year alone studies have underscored just how big a salt habit Americans have: on average, we consume up to twice the recommended amount of sodium each day, significantly increasing our risk for hypertension and
…