CTV.ca News Staff

Updated: Wed. Feb. 11 2004 9:13 PM ET

Forget about chugging those eight glasses of water a day and concentrate on holding the salt. That's the message in a new North American nutrition report.

With studies raising the alarm that North Americans are eating their way to strokes, kidney disease and high blood pressure, the U.S. Institute of Medicine and Health Canada are recommending big changes.

In a report released Wednesday, the growing obsession with fat and carbohydrates is highlighted as a factor in breeding complacency on another known threat -- salt.

It's a vital part of our diet, but one that many are overdoing.

Too much salt causes blood pressure to rise. As blood pressure goes up, so does the risk of heart attack, stroke and kidney disease.

The solution, according to the Institute of Medicine, is a drastic reduction in the amount of people should consume daily.

The U.S. government currently recommends the equivalent of a heaping teaspoon of salt -- about 2,400 milligrams a day. The new maximum it suggests most people should allow themselves is 1,500 mg.

The report says people over 50 year old should aim for 1,300 mg, and 1,200 mg for those over 70.

The advice may have little effect, however, as studies show the average person eats more than 4,000 mg a day.

Another of the report's surprising findings bursts the bubble on a commonly held belief -- that to stay healthy, one must "drink at least eight glasses of water a day."

Counting the glasses is unnecessary, the report says.

Because all sources of water, including food and other beverages count towards the 3.7 litres of water men must drink daily, it's not necessary to down glass after glass.

Women, too, must get their 2.7 litre daily requirement. Just drink when you're thirsty, the group says.

And for those looking for a recommended snack, the report suggests a banana might be a good choice. Along with spinach, cantaloupe and a host of other fruit and vegetables, they are rich in potassium -- a nutrient critical in lowering blood pressure and reducing the risk of kidney stones and bone loss.
© Copyright 2003 Bell Globemedia Inc.

I like that recommendation. I never was able to drink water in any great quantity. My throat just closes up. Forcing it feels the same as trying to choke down food when you are no longer hungry.

My only conclusion is that I am not thirsty. When I AM thirsty I can easily drink three times the amount of water that I normally can.

I always wondered if that drinking water recommendation was bogus like what the pyramid recommends.

Instintively I knew that old saw about drinking 8 glasses of water was wrong. How could a human being, who can surivive on the savannahs of Africa on dew collected in the morning, be required to chug so much water they're peeing every 20 minutes? Why wouldn't I believe my own bodies signal of thirst? I tend to pay attention and trust other signals, like hunger, full bladder and so on.

And why would the human body be so inept at separating out the water from my coffee, tea, diet soda and whatever else I chose to drink? In truth, the people who say coffee, tea and so on are diuretics are only sort of right. They make you pee slightly more, but only if you're not accustomed to drinking them. And, if you drink a cup of coffee and it does work like a diuretic, it'll probably make you pee about 1 tablespoon more than you would normally.... not 5 gallons like the water-obsessed would have you believe.

There's a lot of mythology about water and "flushing out toxins" and "flushing out fat". Drink extra water doesn't flush anything in your body, although it does make you flush the toilet.

And here's another one, a weatherman on my news channel was saying something about drinking lots of water so your skin doesn't dry out. Ummm... I have to say, I can drink a small ocean of water and my skin will STILL be dry on cold, dry days. I don't think it works like that.

Then what about salt? I thought it was pretty well proven that only 10% of the population suffers from salt related hypertension, why are they telling everyone to cut back on salt if it only affects a minority of the people with high blood pressure?

Try to stay under 1500mg/day of sodium on a strict LC diet, and you're just asking for muscle cramps and general fatigue.

I actually had to increase my sodium intake when I was on Induction and very low carb levels.

Angeline, the salt and water recommendations are from the same people who brought us the food pyramid or the canadian eating guide for healthy living...
so-called experts, who are nothing more than short sighted parrots...
I think Barry Groves did a couple of articles dismantling the salt myth, but I'm not sure...

I wonder what took them so long. Snopes have been saying this for ages! http://www.snopes.com/toxins/water.htm

Can anyone explain why, given no other changes in my WOE, will my weight loss stop if I quit drinking my 64 oz of water a day? Based on the posts I have seen on this board, drinking the minimum 64 oz...or more...really makes a difference when LC'ing.

Your body burns some calories heating up the water to body temperature, maybe this is enough to trigger the weight loss.

Man, I really hate to exercise...I wonder if I just drink a whole lot more water (thereby increasing the number of times I have to walk to the loo and then flush and then wash my hands) I can eliminate exercising entirely?

Your body seems to retain water when the incoming supply drops.

danny