Hacker News Reader

Comment by calvinbhai | Hacker News Reader

This article is BS. I mean, its a FUD advertorial.

I say that based on my personal experience:

A nurse in the clinic checked my BP (as a routine) when I went to get checked for some eye infection. And she was shocked that it was 170/100 (normal is 120/80).

It was shocking for her (and of course me) because: I was 25 I looked healthy and lean (not too thin). I showed/experienced no signs of hyper tension.

My eating habits, was to go on a Frozen Prepared Food diet (for lunch and dinner) because that was the cheapest tasty food I could afford along with cereals for breakfast, for about 3 months before my BP was checked.

I dropped this diet since that day, reduced salt intake considerably. And it took about 9 months for my BP to come down to normal levels, without any medication, and with a little extra exercising.

I'd have taken this article with a pinch of salt. But, I have cut down on salt intake. So I prefer to not take it :)

View on HN

Which is why for so long people believed that salt was the cause. But in your situation salt is also a proxy for a lot of other things that were wrong with your diet. Gobs of processes carbs, no 'good' cholesterol, a lack of protein, just to get started.

Since anything that cuts processed salt considerably almost assuredly improves those other metrics, I'm not sure why you believe your anecdotal evidence is so convincing.

"Anecdotal evidence" is acceptable if everyone said salt is healthy and I claimed otherwise.

btw, my diet, even though had a lot of frozen food, wasn't loaded with carbs, and was sufficient in protein.

Back to the point: When doctors I trust say that I'm better off cutting salt and sodium intake, I'll cut down on it. And because its the trusted doctors that say so, I consider it as non Anecdotal Evidence

It is well known that restricting salt intake can reduce blood pressure. This is a different question: does high salt intake cause high blood pressure?

How is this comment downvoted?!

A terrible article from Time magazine going against what a lot of institutions doing research are saying. Not like this is controversy to get eyeballs or perhaps a study backed by industry to confuse people.

And suddenly there are a lot of experts on nutrition and diet on a startup forum.

Thanks Alecco! I guess there are a lot of Salt sympathizers on HN :)

You made changes to your diet other than just reducing salt intake. How can you conclude it was the salt?!

Stopped eating frozen food and reduced salt. Frozen food contains a ton of sodium, which is a great preservative.

I started eating out more often because of this, which is not low on Sodium, but its not as loaded as it is in the frozen foods.

Anyone who thinks there's an ounce of truth in the Time article, try living on a frozen food only diet (at your own risk) for a few months.

Check your blood pressure regularly. if after 3 or 6 months, your BP remains the same, Salt and Frozen Food industry would be ready to pay you millions to publicize your anecdotal test.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com