May 16/Deerfield, Ill./Prepared Foods -- Among consumers, sodium has earned a bad, although somewhat undeserved, reputation. In fact, sodium is a crucial mineral in a multitude of metabolic processes. Beyond playing a pivotal role in key body activities, on-going research is pointing to a far more complex relationship between sodium and health than has been thought. For example, the results of an eight-year study by scientists in Belgium suggest eating a diet high in salt is not only beneficial, but it may also reduce the chances of developing heart disease. Over the course of the European-based study, people with the lowest salt intake had the highest rate of death from heart disease. Details of the study were recently published in the May 4, 2010, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
According to study author Dr. Jan Staessen of the University of Leuven in Belgium, the new findings “certainly do not support the current recommendation to lower salt intake in the general population.” For their analysis, the Belgian researchers examined data from two separate studies involving a total of nearly 3,700 Europeans with an average age of 40, among whom sodium was measured through urine samples taken at the beginning and end of the studies. Among the participants, none had heart disease, while two thirds had normal blood pressure, when the study began. The subjects were divided into three groups, including those with the highest and lowest salt intakes, and those with average intake. The participants were followed for an average of eight years, during which time the researchers tracked the number who were diagnosed with heart disease and hypertension.