Was the closing line of an email I received from a friend who is in no rush to make my chicken and rice dish. Immediately, it got me thinking. First, of Mark Kurlansky's riveting examination of the history of salt, and how that history has shaped humanity's story.
Then, of the image salt has on the psyche of much of the English speaking world. You know, the idea that at the bottom of salt shaker is a free trip to a cardiovascular surgeon and that factors like activity level and genetic predisposition, are somehow less relevant than what we put in our bellies.
I'm not saying it's time to ditch the asparagus and grab the pork rinds. It's just...well... Sandy Szwarc of the blog Junkfood Science -- bookmark it now -- offers this:
...the best science for nearly half a century — including the
government’s own findings on examinations reflecting 99 million
Americans; more than 17,000 studies published since 1966; and even a
recent Cochrane systematic review of the clinical trial evidence — fails to support the hypotheses that salt reductions offer health
benefits for the general public. Cochrane’s reviewers specifically
concluded that such interventions are inappropriate for population prevention programs.
