Governments should stop giving healthy eating advice

Mantras. Plural.

I think the NHS website just gives out the advice they want people to follow, without expecting anyone to actually feel a need to use their brains. Perhaps they think we can't be trusted to work anything out for ourselves.

If that's the case Jingl it's even more important that the advice they dish out is based on relevant research and good evidence!

Someone is getting paid out of public money to produce this sloppy information.

When Mr absent had a stroke a few years ago (fortunately a very mild one), the medical staff in the stroke ward went on and on about cutting down salt in his diet (not that I ever use much salt when cooking). Two weeks later – while he was still in the stroke ward – he was diagnosed with "dangerously low sodium levels".

When DH's elderly aunt was on a ward for reasons not diagnosed, she could not eat the food. Despite her dementia, she knew she wanted salt. Apparently salt was banned from that ward by the consultant because it was a heart and stroke ward. Sister advised fetching her little packets of salt from the canteen and they would ensure she got some on her food (quietly without fuss).
DA was 99 years old at the time.

A lot of interesting articles in Dr Briffa's site. Thank you for drawing it to our notice janeainsworth

I take the point being made, that NHS choices ought to confirm its sources and ensure these are reliable studies. But there is compelling evidence out there that over consumption of salt is a risk factor in stroke and cardiovascular disease.

Therefore giving generalised advice to cut down is appropriate.

But is there? That is just what the Dr Briffa link posted above queries.

Generalised advice that cutting down could be a good thing is not the same as saying categorically that cutting down by 1% will save X lives, and then being unable to give chapter and verse for your figures.

That's exactly it Elegran

But Flickety people will then mistakenly think it meant that there is no evidence that too much salt can affect your cardiovascular health.

British Medical Journal

Don't be put off reading these reports by their length and complexity, the 'Abstract' summarises the finding quite adequately.

FlicketyB I'm afraid I can't claim any credit for introducing Dr Briffa to Gransnet - it was actually Tegan a few months ago and now I'm a fan

Aka Dr Briffa is not arguing with the general advice that people shouldn't consume more than 6g a day of salt, which is the current advice.
He is objecting to this claim on the NHS Choices website which is not properly referenced, and which is making a spurious claim.
On following the link, I found myself being informed that if the UK public were to reduce salt consumption by 1 g a day, this would save 4,147 lives each year as a result of a reduced risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke.

He is also pointing out that the most recent Cochrane review (2011) of evidence found that restricting salt intake doesn't reduce the risk of death, heart attacks or strokes in people with either normal or high blood pressure.

Jane that's what I said and what I agreed with Elegrn about. I'm not disagreeing about that [exasperated emoticon]

This is a very interesting thread - I've only just caught up with it but I must say thatbagsthat I found that Observer article very interesting and printed it off - like the nerd I am - it will be good for future reference. Like you janeainsworth I read the Telegraph and am fed up with the appearance of at least one article a day about some stupid so called scientific outcome which sounds decidedly preposterous. I guess we're helping to finance these boffins.
I agree - the government is wasting it's time dishing out advice on food. I must say that I was rather surprised and disappointed on here when many of you didn't agree with my idea that the only way of sorting some of this is to sort out the food manufacturers - they get away with blue murder!!
Surely the best thing is to attack the problem at source.

But to quote from the article in the OP, gangy5 "...the public health establishment is too cowardly to take on the powerful processed food companies and their lobbyists by drawing a distinction between home-prepared food cooked from scratch and industrial convenience food."

And until they get their facts straight, how can they 'sort out' the food manufacturers?

I agree, ana. There's also this: we consumers can do our best to "sort the food industry out" by our choices of what food to buy. We don't have to buy highly processed food. What puzzles me is why anyone wants to, at least on a regular basis.

And even then, some processed food (cheese, for instance) is fine.

sooo agree!!

Very interesting article jane - thank you for posting that.