What's the best way to prevent asthma, and by extension, prevent deaths from asthma?

Well it was reported in the Telegraph this week that doctors, by way of Dr Dinesh Saralaya, who runs a specialist clinic in Bradford, are saying that 1,000 Asthma deaths a year could be prevented if patients, even those with only mild asthma, would regularly use "their ‘preventer’ inhaler - which contains a low-dose steroid" rather than relying "solely on the ‘reliever’ inhaler when undergoing an attack. " The evidence for this claim appears to be "a poll of 333 people with severe asthma, conducted by Ipsos MORI and funded by drugs firm Novartis". Personally, I would never give much credence to research funded by companies with a financial interest in the results, and in particular to research funded by drug companies hoping to increase the sales and use of their drugs and consequently their company profits. - Would you?

But I have even stronger reasons to regard this report with scepticism. The newspaper report is illustrated with a photo of a child using an inhaler, so I'll consider in particular child sufferers from asthma. - Now I am not a doctor and I have no medical qualifications whatsoever, so if you are wanting a medical opinion you would be better looking elsewhere than on my blog. But like you I do have a brain and I can read. My personal opinion is that the best way to prevent asthma, and to prevent deaths from asthma, is to protect children from a high intake of salt/sodium. My opinion is based on the following research evidence:

In this Telegraph article http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2137775/Too-much-television-is-an-asthma-risk.html, about research in Rome, Italy, led by Dr Giuseppe Corbo, despite its misleading title, the crucial finding is, "The study of 20,000 six and seven-year-olds, published in the medical journal Epidemiology, confirmed a strong link with asthma and obesity, but found that salt was the biggest risk. Those with the highest intake of salt were two and a half times more likely to develop asthma." (My emphasis.) I'll bet your brain comes to the same conclusion as mine does, doesn't it? - Protecting children from a high salt diet is the simplest, safest and most effective way to reduce their risk of developing asthma and also from any necessity to take steroid meds as treatment for asthma. (I'm not a big fan of steroid meds, especially if they can be avoided.)

This article, too, supports the wisdom of a low salt intake for children. "According to a new study published by the American Dietetic Association, high-salt foods and snacks are linked to lung changes that trigger asthma symptoms.," and that researchers in Greece found, using questionnaires, "Kids who ate high-salt foods more than three times a week saw their risk of asthma symptoms go up almost five times."

Another drug-free and very important measure to protect children from developing asthma is to avoid dosing children with paracetamol/acetaminophen (aka Tylenol and Calpol). A wealth of statistical data on this webpage http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/20/health/evidence-mounts-linking-acetaminophen-and-asthma.html?_r=1 suggests a link between acetaminophen and childhood asthma. Also have a read of this article from the Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/3233550/Delaying-baby-vaccine-could-cut-asthma.html for another simple measure that "could halve the likelihood of a child developing asthma by the age of seven."

As well as reducing the suffering of many thousands, even of millions, of people, these simple measures could also save about £1 billion a year - nearly one per cent of the NHS entire NHS budget - that is spent on asthma. - What it would not do, of course, is boost the profits of the drug company, Novartis...

A Steroid (Hydrocortisone) Victim wrote to me a few weeks ago

A Steroid (Hydrocortisone) Victim wrote to me a few weeks ago. This is what she wrote (omitting her name and location):

" In August of 2010 I had a brain tumor removed. I am doing well from a neurological standpoint, however the tumor was sitting on my pituitary gland so I developed hypothyroidism and Central Diabetes Insipidis (also known as "water diabetes"). And of course I was put on a steroid- Hydrocortisone- which is what brought me to your website.

I started the hydrocortisone August 26, 2010 and took it until May 5, 2011, so a little over 8 months. And in that time period I gained a total of 153 lbs. I have always been overweight, and then it was like adding the equivalent of an adult to my weight...in a very short time. All of my Dr.s (I had a total of 3- endocrinologist, neurologist, primary physician) all told me the weight would come off once I was off the steroid, and none suggested reducing sodium/salt intake. But the weight did not come off at all. Finally in July, my endocrinologist did suggest reducing my salt intake and also seeing a medical weight loss clinic. From July 22nd to August 25th I lost 10 lbs. But then the Dr. at the clinic cut my calories back and put me on a low calorie diet (1400 to 1600 calories a day) because "I clearly had an increased appetite" (this is the opinion of most drs that I see, due to my size. They usually form this opinion without having asked me what I eat. I do not eat any more than my healthy, 160 lb mother.) I gained the 10 lbs I had lost back, and was becoming so very frustrated with myself, my weight, and with Doctors.

I was so happy when I found your website today. It all made so much sense and it was so nice to read your story and know that someone has gone through what I am going through. Taking an hour to read your website has given me so much more hope than talking to any doctor over the last few months. I am going to try the sodium reduction again, now that I know it can work and I have the confidence that my problem is indeed not my caloric or fat intake, but my salt intake. I am only 21 years old and feel like I am missing out on so much, I use to be so active and outgoing before my surgery, but now I have no ability to do things people my age do or I am embarrassed by my size, but you have given me new hope at a chance to get my old self back.

Thank you for sharing your story and putting so much work into researching and finding the answer."

A happy email I received yesterday from the USA

This is the message the email contained:

"I wanted to let you know that I followed your advice about lowering sodium intake. I'm only about 10 lbs over weight but I had high blood pressure. I take blood pressure medicine but my Dr. wanted to give me a different blood pressure medicine with a diuretic in it. I refused to change to it. I wanted to reduce my blood pressure with out additional medicine and why is it getting higher. I started more exercise and watching what I eat but that was not working. Then I found your web site and started looking at all the foods we eat. My wife and I changed the types of food we eat and do not eat any with high sodium content. We cook more of our own dishes and eat just as good as we want. I try to limit sodium to 1500 mg and in two months time I have reduced my blood pressure by 25 points and feel much better. I can't wait until my next checkup to show the Doctor my results.

I think it is a shame that so much emphasis is placed on Calories, cholesterol and fat content but never a mention of sodium.

Thanks for your research."

If you have high blood pressure, why not try following that advice on my website and you too will find your blood pressure will go down and you will feel much better, like the man who wrote to me.

Watch out for salty salads!

See this Telegraph report. It's a bit sneaky making salads salty, because people tend to expect salad to be a healthy choice of meal. High salt intake can increase your risk of a stroke or a heart attack, especially if you are in one of the vulnerable groups. And if you have high blood pressure or if you are overweight, then salty food is extra damaging to you. See Sodium in foods.

If you are interested in the connection between sodium intake and blood pressure

as well as how reducing sodium intake reduces weight, you will find this new website saltandbloodpressure.weebly.com has insights you may not have encountered before.

Bread is high in SALT. Cut it down or cut it out if you are overweight.

Whether it's white, brown, wholewheat, wholemeal, granary, multigrain, mixed grain, malted, seeded, rye bread, ciabatta, whether it contains added oats, oatmeal or bran, whether it's a milk loaf or a farmhouse, a bread cake or a bread roll, soft-grain or crusty: - it's high in salt! - And salt/sodium is your enemy if you want to lose excess weight or reduce high blood pressure.

How to lose excess weight safely and easily by eating less salt and salty food. You will feel so much better!

See sodium in food.

Groups vulnerable to salt.

Obesity could shorten your life by eight years, study suggests

See LiveScience article. And of course there are the many health problems that you could suffer too because of the obesity.

Obesity is caused by people being given misleading information about the causes of obesity and how to avoid/reduce it. For example, only a small proportion of people know that the easiest and safest way to lose a lot of excess weight is to cut down on salt and salty food. This reduces fluid retention in the body, and is a really fast, effective way of losing weight because the excess fluid being carried about consists of salt and water, and as you know, water is heavy. Cutting down on your salt/sodium intake results in you excreting more urine, and so you lose weight and your blood pressure goes down and there are many other desirable health benefits from this simple, cost-free, drug-free alteration to the food you eat. - And it involves no hunger and no counting calories...(o:

How to lose excess weight safely and easily without bothering about calories at all.

See sodium in food.

Groups vulnerable to salt.

Sodium: do you need to cut down?

Check it out. - See Sodium in Foods.

Manchester professors claim that priests in Ancient Egypt developed atherosclerosis from eating rich food high in saturated fat

I heard Egyptologist, Professor Rosalie David, of Manchester University speaking on Radio 4's Sunday programme this morning. She was recounting "how the food that the Ancient Egyptians offered to their gods was ultimately eaten by the priests - who paid with their health." She explained that rich, fatty food, like beef and goose, was a feature of the food offered to the gods, and she claimed that because of eating this rich, fatty food, the priests developed atherosclerosis - furring of the arteries - leading to their early death. She also mentioned 'natron' as being a sort of early toothpaste they chewed to cleanse the palate. - My ears stood to attention at this because that sounded like a substance high in sodium. (Natrium is the Latin word for Sodium and Na is the chemical symbol for Sodium.)

And indeed Natron is a substance high in sodium. Wikipedia tells us that "Natron is a naturally occurring mixture of sodium carbonate decahydrate (Na₂CO₃·10H₂O, a kind of soda ash) and about 17% sodium bicarbonate (also called nahcolite^[1] or baking soda, NaHCO₃) along with small quantities of household salt (halite, sodium chloride) and sodium sulfate. "

This evening I found further information about the research. See Manchester University webpage. See also BBC News article.

Professor David, of the KNH Centre for Biomedical Egyptology in the Faculty of Life Sciences, worked with co-author Professor Tony Heagerty, of the Cardiovascular Research Group at the Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences. They conclude that their research provides clear evidence that atherosclerosis was a disease caused by fatty diet in ancient times, just as it still is today.

I'm sorry, Professor David and Professor Heagerty, I don't buy it! I don't believe that saturated fat is the guilty party today and I don't believe it was the guilty party then!

Now the professors may think I'm impertinent to say that, when I am neither an Egyptologist nor a cardiovascular researcher. - But I have become increasingly aware that the belief that saturated fat is unhealthy food, a belief zealously held by many health professionals and by the Food Standards Agency and other Government agencies and quangoes, is a belief less and less held by medics and other scientists who have opened their minds to a wealth of research that does not support the 'conventional wisdom'. And I am persuaded by this more recent research that finds saturated fat is healthy to eat, not unhealthy. See, for example, http://www.drbriffa.com/blog/2010/01/21/heart-surgeon-waging-war-on-saturated-fat-seems-seriously-short-on-science-to-support-his-claims/

My own belief, based on my experience as a steroid victim, is that high sodium intake is the primary cause of the atherosclerosis. The Manchester University webpage referred to above tells us that those priests ate a lot of salt and when I couple that with the additional sodium that would ingested from chewing the Natron 'toothpaste', that clinches it for me. See my own webpage on Fat Retention.

Low-Fat Chocolate Bar is not an answer to Obesity

There are currently a lot of articles such as this Daily Mail report about a high-tech, low-fat chocolate bar which, it is claimed, could help with the 'obesity crisis'. This low-fat bar, in which most of the fat is replaced by water, without, apparently altering the taste, is described as a "healthy" chocolate bar.

Well I've 3 observations to make:

1. Pigs will fly before these chocolate bars make the slightest difference to the incidence or severity of obesity.

2. There is no evidence at all to support the theory that fat intake is a cause of obesity.

3. 'Low-fat' does not equate with 'healthy'.

To lose excess weight you need to reduce your sodium intake, not your fat intake.

Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods and

Fat retention and fat excretion: the importance of getting enough calcium.

Associated health conditions

Welcome to Juvela 'No Added Salt' Mixes!

As I am not a member of the coeliac community, I have no knowledge of Juvela products other than what I can read on their website: http://www.juvela.co.uk/ but I was delighted a few minutes ago to come across their announcement about providing 'No Salt Added' Mixes.

It is excellent news that a food manufacturer is giving customers a 'no added salt' option. If only more manufacturers would do this! There are so many people who want to reduce their salt/sodium intake, and most manufacturers do precious little to assist them in achieving this.

See Sodium in Foods.

If you don't want to gain a lot of weight over Christmas, go easy on the salt and salty food.

When people gain excess weight it is because they are sensitive to salt. For them, eating salt/sodium and salty food increases fluid retention in the body, and it is this fluid retention that is the cause of the weight gain. See Sodium in Foods.

Salt sensitivity leads to some fluid retention from alcohol too. So go easy on the alcoholic drinks too.

But the good news is that you don't need to diet, or worry about calories, or avoid fatty foods. The Christmas cake and the cream in your coffee won't make you fat. Just shun the salt.

You don't need 'smart drugs' to improve your academic performance. - Just cut down on salt and salty food.

You don't need 'smart drugs' to improve your academic performance. - You really don't. - You can improve your academic performance by just cutting down on salt and salty food - and giving up dieting, of course.

Sodium in foods

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/socio.html

Sodium in foods: how to lose excess weight by lowering your intake of salt/sodium.

To lose excess weight you need to avoid salt (sodium) and salty food. Eat low sodium food instead. Potassium-rich food and drink will also help because potassium displaces sodium from the body.

If you find it hard to cut down on salt, do it gradually. Your taste will gradually change. Try using pepper, herbs such as basil, chives, lemon grass, rosemary, parsley or coriander, spices such as chilli or ginger, balsamic vinegar or lemon juice, rather than salt, to add flavour to your food.

If you usually use stock cubes or oxo cubes when you are making soup or stew or a casserole, remember these contain a lot of salt. - Why not try using a small glass of wine to add flavour instead of using the high salt cubes?

If you feel you must use salt in cooking or to sprinkle on your food, you could try using LoSalt or Solo Low Sodium Sea Salt. - These mineral salts contain only about a third of the sodium present in ordinary salt and taste very similar to salt. This is still a high proportion of sodium, so use as little as you can manage and try gradually to reduce the amount you use.

In the USA there are other mineral salts that you can buy. One is called AlsoSalt and it contains no sodium at all so it is a good salt substitute for people needing to reduce sodium, but it still should be used in moderation. Another is called Nu-Salt and it also contains no sodium at all.

All of these salt substitutes have websites where you can read about them in greater detail. You should not use any of these salt substitutes if you have been told to minimise your potassium intake.

These mineral salts should be avoided by people who take certain medications, such as ACE inhibitors, which are used to lower blood pressure. And if you have kidney failure, you should not use a mineral salt without medical advice. But if you have kidney failure, you should already have been advised about restricting salt intake.

If you use convenience foods or eat ready meals, read the labels to find the lowest sodium/salt content. Choose canned vegetables marked 'no added salt' and products such as tuna canned in water, rather than in brine or oil.

More information and lists of high and low sodium foods and potassium foods here: Sodium in foods

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

Vulnerable groups

I've been looking at Kellogg's Optivita. I see that it contains no added salt. - Hurray!

I've been looking at Kellogg's Optivita. I see that it contains no added salt. - Hurray!

It says on the pack "*Kellogg's Optivita can help lower cholesterol because it contains Oat Beta Glucan, the most effective part of the oat." - Well for all I know, that could well be true.

But the MOST IMPORTANT thing is that it contains no added salt/sodium - and lowering sodium intake DEFINITELY lowers cholesterol levels and reduces your risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, etc.

I see they have added potassium chloride instead of sodium chloride. (Sodium chloride is the chemical name for common table salt.) - Why can't the Food Standards Agency get some bread manufacturers to make some bread products using potassium chloride instead of sodium chloride, to benefit most people's health? - And don't tell me that salt is necessary for the bread-making process, 'cos I don't believe that for one moment. - I make my own bread, in a bread-maker, and I don't add salt, and it doesn't stop the bread rising or anything. The bread just doesn't keep as long. But bread is better eaten fresh in any case.

Optivita still contains a helluva a lot of sugar though. (Rhetorical question: Why do breakfast cereal manufacturers think that consumers want cereals that are sickly sweet and rot their teeth?)

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, heart attack, vascular dementia, stroke, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver damage and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs, hunger or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better! See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk

The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

Vulnerable groups

Sodium in foods

See also FAT RETENTION

advice for pregnant mothers

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

Associated health conditions

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/socio.html - social and economic considerations

I can be contacted from my website if you need my help. My help is free.

I'm puzzled about the New Scientist

Note added on August 17th:

I can now access the New Scientist website again. My comment has not been reinstated. I can now read the Terms and Conditions and I am still unaware of any way that I could be considered to have breached them. I put my real name to my comment and, where the form asked for website URL, I gave it. I gave it because the form asked for it. I studiously avoided putting any links in the comment itself. Anyone could click near my name to reach my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk which is a non-commercial website that warns of the harmful side-effects of prescribed steroids and other prescribed drugs and explains about the benefits of eating less salt, principally the benefit of losing excess weight easily and safely. I created the website because as a steroid victim myself I wanted to save others from the great and unnecessary suffering caused by the reckless over-prescribing of these and other drugs. The website does not sell or advertise anything and it has no sponsors.

August 14th: It's weird.

I receive emails from the New Scientist each week as I am on their mailing list, and I read many of their interesting articles. Occasionally I submit a comment on an article.

This week there was an article about weight control. The article is called "The fat that makes you thin," and I submitted a comment about how to reduce obesity easily, swiftly and safely. The comment appeared beneath the article and I did actually get a visitor to my website as a result so I know it was seen by at least one other person. - But I can't get to that exact webpage now and my comment appears to have been removed from the page though I can still find the comment in some archived pages on the internet. I can't access the New Scientist's terms and conditions for contributing comments so I can't check to see if I could possibly have contravened them. What I wrote has no connection with any adverts or sponsors and is simply facts/advice to help their readers. - I'm puzzled as to why my comment has been removed.

I do not seem to be able to access the New Scientist website at all. I'm disappointed about this and I'm genuinely baffled as to why I have apparently been banned. The New Scientist more than any other publication should, one feels, be open to new thinking about obesity.

This is what I wrote:

"Obesity is easily, swiftly and safely reduced by cutting down on salt and salty food, because this reduces fluid retention, the real cause of obesity. Reducing sodium intake also reduces fat retention, which most commonly caused by fluid retention aka salt retention. Increasing potassium intake assists because potassium displaces some excess sodium (and its attendant water) from the body.

Increasing calcium intake also reduces fat retention because it increases the amount of fat excreted in the faeces. The role of calcium in weight loss was explained on a BBC2 programme, The Truth About Food, a few years ago.

All of these safe, simple ways of reducing excess weight are nothing whatsoever to do with calorie intake or calorie reduction.

It is easy to put to the test what I have suggested. If you are overweight I urge you to try my suggestions. You will definitely lose weight and will also feel a lot better."

Could restricting sodium intake save you from having to have a heart transplant?

Could restricting sodium intake save YOU from having to have a heart transplant? - If you have heart failure you may not realise how dramatic an improvement restricting salt/sodium intake would have on your symptoms and general well-being. See megaheart.com article.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, heart attack, vascular dementia, stroke, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver damage and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs, hunger or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better! See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

And see Sodium in foods and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

amitriptyline

prescribed steroids and HRT

See advice for pregnant mothers

Children and Obesity

Associated health conditions

and FAT RETENTION

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/socio.html - social and economic considerations.

If you suffer from fluid retention, you should limit your salt/sodium intake, not your fluid intake.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, heart attack, vascular dementia, stroke, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs, hunger or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better! See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk

The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

And see Sodium in foods and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

amitriptyline

prescribed steroids and HRT

Associated health conditions

and FAT RETENTION

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

Don't be duped into buying dodgy OTC weight loss drugs. - You just need to cut down on sodium intake.

The Sunday Telegraph reports that this week UK chemists will be able to sell two over-the-counter drugs that are claimed to help with weight loss. One of them is Alli, which interferes with fat digestion causing very unpleasant side-effects, and the other is Appesat, which is said to reduce appetite. Both of them are potentially harmful and neither of them is necessary for losing excess weight. - You do not need to spend money on pharmaceutical junk in order to lose weight.

Excess weight is caused by fluid retention in people who are sensitive to salt and this excess weight can easily be reduced by cutting down on salt and salty food. - Read on:

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, heart attack, vascular dementia, stroke, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs, hunger or expense by eating less salt! - Try it!

See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

And see Sodium in foods and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/socio.html - social and economic considerations

amitriptyline

prescribed steroids and HRT

See advice for pregnant mothers

Children and Obesity

Associated health conditions

and FAT RETENTION

Continued Rise in Macular Degeneration is forecast

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the name given to breakdown of the macula, the area on the retina at the back of the eye which gives clear central vision. AMD is a leading cause of vision loss in people over 65.

High blood pressure and obesity are among the risk factors for developing AMD. - Now both high blood pressure and obesity are easily and safely reduced by eating less salt and salty food, so if you want to reduce your risk of AMD - and benefit your health in countless other ways too - cut down on salt/sodium. - This involves looking carefully at the nutrition information on the food you buy, and choosing the lower sodium options.

If AMD runs in your family then lower salt intake would seem a good preventative measure for you to take.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, heart attack, vascular dementia, stroke, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs, hunger or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
 
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

And see Sodium in food