I am often accused of being a curmudgeon, or contrarian or cynic because I am not willing to accept every new study or latest fad in the health and nutrition world. So, every now and then, I like to find gems like this one from Scientific American that debunks the myth that salt causes hypertension. The article does a great job of illustrating the difficulties of designing studies that can make definitive claims of links between certain foods and illness, and also shows how important it is to have more than one study to substantiate claims.
There is no shortage of "experts" willing to jump on the first study they find that shows a correlation between anything we eat and our latest health "epidemic". Inevitably, these connections are later shown to fall apart under further study, but once the thought is implanted it is difficult to wipe it from out lexicon.
The glory which is built upon a lie soon becomes a most unpleasant incumbrance. How easy it is to make people believe a lie, and how hard it is to undo that work again. - Mark Twain in Eruption.
It's no different for foods that are supposed to be good for us, either. The idea that red wine is a great way to stave off heart attacks or cancer are just as unsubstantiated and yet everyone who needs to justify their over doing it seems to want to remind us of the miracles of the magic grape. Or the latest study on the benefits of coffee. I drink coffee and wine because I like them. I put salt on food because it tastes better. I said it before, eat less/move more/all things in moderation, including moderation.
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