Controversial Salt Report Peppered with Uncertainty

摘要

A recent institute of medicine (IOM) assessment (1) provoked controversy by concluding that there is a lack of evidence for health benefits of reducing sodium intake to the very low levels recommended by some authoritative groups ("Report reignites battle over low-salt diets," K. Kupferschmidt, News & Analysis, 24 May, p. 908). The IOM report was remarkable not only for its cautious analysis of the evidence-the authors said they could not define a "healthy" sodium intake range-but for its acknowledgment that salt's contribution to disease had been controversial for four decades.