Tuesday 24 July 2012

May, risks, according to, wants, less, more, would, if, could be, too much, can, can, recommended, about, said, around, estimated, could be, if, etc.

From the BBC:

Cutting back on salty foods such as bacon, bread and breakfast cereals may reduce people's risk of developing stomach cancer, according to the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF).

It wants people to eat less salt and for the content of food to be labelled more clearly. In the UK, the WCRF said one-in-seven stomach cancers would be prevented if people kept to daily guidelines. Cancer Research UK said this figure could be even higher.

Too much salt is bad for blood pressure and can lead to heart disease and stroke, but it can also cause cancer. The recommended daily limit is 6g, about a level teaspoonful, but the World Cancer Research Fund said people were eating 8.6g a day. There are around 6,000 cases of stomach cancer every year in the UK. The WCRF estimated that 14% of cases, around 800, could be avoided if everyone stuck to their 6g a day.


Strip out all the conditional and vague words, and there's not much left of that is there?

5 comments:

Sarton Bander said...

Too little sodium is seriously harmful to muscles.

Anonymous said...

Yes, and so is too much. You can get enough sodium without adding salt to anything, unless you're a water nut and drink 10 cups a day. Like smoking, excessive salt is [insert weasel word here] "bad" for you but if you enjoy it, who cares?

View from the Solent said...

"Too much salt is bad for blood pressure "
Lying with the partial truth.
If you suffer from hypertension, excess salt intake can (note - can)aggravate the condition. If you don't, no effect.
Amongst many others -
http://junkfoodscience.blogspot.co.uk/2009/01/who-decides-what-you-can-eat-sating-on.html

A K Haart said...

"Strip out all the conditional and vague words, and there's not much left of that is there?"

No there isn't - just policy.

Mark Wadsworth said...

SB, J, VFTS, by definition "too much" or "too little" is unhealthy (albeit possibly so enjoyable that it's a price worth paying), but surely, human bodies being what they are, there is no precise correct amount of salt? It must be a range of anywhere between (say) 3 and 9 grams.

AKH, but what is the policy? Why do they waste so much of our money tilting at windmills? I can understand the war on smokers, because puritans don't like the smell of cigarette smoke, but salt? What do I care how much salt somebody consumes?