A controversial new study contends that a low-salt diet could be dangerous for your heart health.
Restricting dietary salt to below 3,000 milligrams a day appears to increase the risk for heart disease similar to that of high blood pressure patients who eat too much salt, said lead researcher Andrew Mente.
" Having neither too high nor too low levels of sodium [salt] is optimal for health,"said Mente, an associate professor of clinical epidemiology and bio statistics at McMaster University, in Ontario, Canada.
The American Heart Association is highly critical of Mente's study. The AHA says the study relies on incorrect estimates of sodium intake, and should not lead anyone to relax concerning over excess salt in the average U.S. diet.
"The American Heart Association continues to recommend less than 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day from all sources," he said.
Mente said, based on his analysis, only people with high blood pressure need to worry about reducing salt intake.
He said his study results showed that a low-salt diet increases the risk of heart attack or stroke 26 percent for people without high blood pressure and 34 percent for people with high blood pressure. For those with high blood pressure, too much dietary salt increases their risk 23 percent, the study said.
On the other hand, a diet with excess salt doesn't increase the risk at all if blood pressure is normal, the study reported..
More information
For more on salt and heart health, visit the American Heart association.
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