University of Warwick, W.H.O. Collaborating Centre for Nutrition†, Warwick Medical School, Gibbett Hill Road, CV4 7AL, Coventry, UK.
University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
Curr Nutr Rep. 2022 Jun;11(2):172-184. doi: 10.1007/s13668-021-00383-z. Epub 2022 Feb 14.
The scientific consensus on which global health organizations base public health policies is that high sodium intake increases blood pressure (BP) in a linear fashion contributing to cardiovascular disease (CVD). A moderate reduction in sodium intake to 2000 mg per day helps ensure that BP remains at a healthy level to reduce the burden of CVD.
Yet, since as long ago as 1988, and more recently in eight articles published in the European Heart Journal in 2020 and 2021, some researchers have propagated a myth that reducing sodium does not consistently reduce CVD but rather that lower sodium might increase the risk of CVD. These claims are not well-founded and support some food and beverage industry's vested interests in the use of excessive amounts of salt to preserve food, enhance taste, and increase thirst. Nevertheless, some researchers, often with funding from the food industry, continue to publish such claims without addressing the numerous objections. This article analyzes the eight articles as a case study, summarizes misleading claims, their objections, and it offers possible reasons for such claims. Our study calls upon journal editors to ensure that unfounded claims about sodium intake be rigorously challenged by independent reviewers before publication; to avoid editorial writers who have been co-authors with the subject paper's authors; to require statements of conflict of interest; and to ensure that their pages are used only by those who seek to advance knowledge by engaging in the scientific method and its collegial pursuit. The public interest in the prevention and treatment of disease requires no less.
全球卫生组织制定公共卫生政策所依据的科学共识是，高钠摄入量以线性方式增加血压（BP），从而导致心血管疾病（CVD）。将钠摄入量适度减少到每天 2000 毫克有助于确保血压保持在健康水平，从而减轻 CVD 的负担。
然而，早在 1988 年，最近在 2020 年和 2021 年发表在《欧洲心脏杂志》的八篇文章中，一些研究人员传播了一种错误观念，即减少钠摄入量并不能始终降低 CVD 的风险，而是较低的钠摄入量可能会增加 CVD 的风险。这些说法没有充分依据，并且支持一些食品和饮料行业在使用大量盐来保存食物、增强味道和增加口渴方面的既得利益。尽管如此，一些研究人员，通常是在食品行业的资助下，继续发表此类声明，而没有解决众多反对意见。本文将这八篇文章作为案例研究进行分析，总结了误导性的说法、他们的反对意见，并提出了这种说法的可能原因。我们的研究呼吁期刊编辑在发表前通过独立审稿人严格质疑关于钠摄入量的无根据说法；避免与主题论文作者有合著关系的编辑撰稿人；要求声明利益冲突；并确保他们的页面仅供那些通过参与科学方法及其学术追求来寻求推进知识的人使用。公众对疾病的预防和治疗的利益要求更高。
