by Christopher Hessman
I'm from one of those boisterous, far extended midwestern families... one that likes to eat, drink, and be merry... and has decades of experience perfecting these skills.
I can see them all now, in the kitchen, at the cooler, at picnics, and most of all at Grannie Vic's sumptuous, over abundant meals, in the pigs feet tradition... every item luscious, every item over salted.
Today the feds tell me they have put sweet Grannie Vic's picture on the post office wall as Public Enemy Number One.
It's because of the salt, the whole salt, and nothing but the salt and Grannie's known proclivities for salting heavy, thereby producing the taste we craved. Apparently there is a salt toting, law breaking Grannie Vic at your house, too.
Why the feds despair so...
Here are the facts. Every five years, the U.S. Agriculture and Health and Human Services departments issue updated dietary guidelines to consumers -- and the all-important food industry. These recommendations become the basis for the popular food pyramid which can be found in virtually every school and other life changing, educational organizations. It also constitutes the curriculum for all nutritionists and dietary professionals. In short, It Matters.
The new guidelines were released January 31, 2011. What you notice right away is that the language this time round is stark, sobering, less advice than warning... and that even the authors of the report are in despair... because the problem is getting worse and worse. The plain fact is that the people at risk are just not paying attention, preferring to "hold the health" and pour, pour, pour the salt.
Moving from "should" to "must".
Government agencies shutter at the use of imperative verbs. Bureaucrats live in a world where deniability is crucial, CYA being the job-ensuring policy of every civil servant, bar none. Such people cringe when their recommendations go unread and ignored, and it becomes necessary to escalate the language.
But these departments have escalated the language... because The Problem is demonstrably worse this time round than it was five years ago, when the last such report was released... into oblivion and ho-hum... Miss Peggy Lee's classic "Is That All There Is?" (released 1969) playing in the background. "Then let's keep dancing." Pass the salt, please.
Who's particularly at risk.
The guidelines, in the most stark language on this subject to date, make it absolutely clear who's at risk... and the chances are very good indeed that that's you... and/or someone near and dear to you, including
* people 51 and older * all African Americans * anyone already suffering from high blood pressure, diabetes, or chronic kidney disease.
These folks must cut the amount of sodium they eat and cut it NOW, the desired objective reducing intake to just a little more than half a tea-spoon -- or 1,500 milligrams.
Now here's the kicker. The Pollyannas who produced the diet guidelines 5 years ago made it clear that the problem was solvable. The report positively radiated Optimism! Good Cheer! "God rest ye, merry gentlemen, let nothing you dismay!"
But the reality, then as now, was dramatically different... and the petty bureaucrats of these departments, more caring for self rather than national preservation, diluted, diminished and minimized the problem. For shame! If Senator Sam Ervin were alive today, he might well ask as he did of President Nixon, "What did he know? When did he know it?" The Senator got results with these questions then... and they need to be resurrected now for immediate use.
Half the population of these United States now at risk and clearly so.
The groups mentioned above are the at risk populations. They are the ones, and remember this means you and yours, with higher blood pressure due to the amount of salt they eat.
For the rest of the population (many of them trending to the at risk category), the government continues to recommend about a teaspoon a day -- 2,300 miligrams, or about one-third less than the average person consumes.
Salt, a tasty killer.
Here the results are arresting, sobering, even frightening. Too much sodium increases the risk of high blood pressure, stroke and other problems. All this is known, clear... and largely ignored.
What you can do.
Still, we must do what we can. We are, after all, Americans, the original "can-do" nation and somewhere in our bag of angst, we still have (I hope) the necessary resolve and tenacity to confront the crisis of a great people (mis)eating themselves to death. The solution? Keep your mouth shut and think before you salt, every single time. And follow these government guidelines:
* Read nutrition labels. Buy low sodium products.
* Consume more fresh or home-prepared foods and fewer processed foods.
* Ask that salt not be added to your restaurant meals.
* Decrease sodium over time so that you're not jolted and put off by the different taste of your foods.
The tragedy, however, is that even if these constructive acts became the custom of the land today at the wave of a wand, they would still be insufficient to solve the problem. The reason? We are at the mercy of a food industry which must be a crucial player in the solution of a problem they helped to both create and exacerbate. And these folks are not yet sufficiently involved. Eldridge Cleaver was right: "You're either part of the problem... or you're part of the solution."
These companies, including many of the largest and best known, have another culprit in mind: our craving for foods with salt (and sugar). In short, the food industry is at the mercy of our (jaded) taste buds. And that industry is clear: we cannot afford to produce what people will not buy... and eat.
This being the problem, it is little wonder that the dietary professionals despair. This is not a problem effortless to solve. Thus, while glacial progress is being made, we as a nation and people eat ourselves into hazard.
My suggestion: En boca cerrada no entran moscas. Or salt either. Try it. It works.
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About The Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., where small and home-based businesses learn how to profit online. Dr. Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books. Republished with author's permission by Christopher Hessman http://ProvenAutomatedBiz.com. Check out AutoBlog Syndicate -> http://www.ProvenAutomatedBiz.com/?rd=kk0GLQbI
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