WHO Is Dead Wrong on Salt Intake: Report Gives Us a Peek at What "Enforcement" of a WHO "Treaty" On Public Health Would Look Like

WHO hold an unscientific, incorrect and dangerous position on salt. It is an important example of why ethical physicians must ignore WHO's advice, treaty or no treaty.

From Liberty Nation: Tedros - At the Heart of WHO Beats a Marxist

The presumption of power by the World Health Organization is arrogant and breathtaking - even if they are right. Their position on dietary salt levels shows their gall is paralleled only by their incompetence. Biden’s “Treaty”, thank goodness, is DOA.

Let’s say in the near future the WHO has decided that countries around the world must adopt a new policy or protocol related to public health. Let’s say it’s about an infectious agent - one that is thought to cause illness in humans to the point where, say, some medical interventions, vaccines, and other public health responses are considered, by WHO, to be necessary.

What will it look like now that Biden has given some assurance to the WHO that the US will abide by their recommendations?

Well, first, it won’t happen. Fifteen GOP Senators have introduced a resolution making it clear that any WHO treaty with “legal force” relating to a pandemic response that creates "significant international commitments" must first be approved by the Senate.

The WHO rules include that all treaty countries must provide 20% of their emergency response capacity to less developed countries in the name of “health equity”. That’s not going to happen.

These Senators are concerned that Biden will try to enjoin WHO treaty obligations without first asking the Senate and that the treaty itself was or will be negotiated in a manner that could lead to benefits to China at the expense of the United States.

We can take a look ahead at the process of WHO-led US public health policies with the WHO’s reckless and ignorant call for “massive efforts” to reduce sodium intake via mandatory dietary salt intake restrictions.

Today, WHO published a news release entitled “Massive efforts needed to reduce salt intake and protect lives”. The news release discusses a “first of its kind Global report on sodium intake reduction”, which the WHO claims to show that the world is off-track to achieve its global target of reducing sodium intake by 30% by 2025.

From the WHO:
“The report shows that only 5% of WHO Member States are protected by mandatory and comprehensive sodium reduction policies and 73% of WHO Member States lack the full range of implementation of such policies.”

Did you catch that?

“mandatory and comprehensive”

Pardon us?

This tells us that WHO will nudge with news releases, alerting useful idiots in member countries to create initiatives to make WHO’s dreams come true.

First, WHO is dead wrong about salt intake. It’s essential for life, so they better have it right.

At the extreme end, a very low salt level (hyponatremia) is a condition that occurs when the sodium in your blood falls below the normal range. Very low salt intake increases the risk of muscle cramps, nausea, vomiting, and dizziness. Eventually, a lack of salt can lead to shock, coma, and death.

Too little salt can be a bad thing. A meta-analysis published by Graudal et al. in 2014 found that studies of dietary sodium intake found that too little and too much are associated with high mortality compared to what they called a “usual” amount. They wrote:

“Both low sodium intakes and high sodium intakes are associated with increased mortality, consistent with a U-shaped association between sodium intake and health outcomes.”

Their study identified a range of sodium intake that could be considered “optimal” (2,645–4,945 mg). But that’s SODIUM, not SALT.

The study’s ranges considering SALT were:

Low sodium (mean daily sodium intake <115 mmol; 2,645mg Na; 6,613mg NaCl)

Usual sodium (mean daily sodium intake of 115–215 mmol)

High sodium (mean daily sodium intake >215 mmol; 4,945mg Na; 12,363mg NaCl).

So per the meta-analysis “usual” healthy salt intake is 6.6 g to 12.3 g. (6,600 mg to 12,300 mg).

WHO has it wrong. Potentially by a lot. Per their news release:

“The global average salt intake is estimated to be 10.8 grams per day, more than double the WHO recommendation of fewer than 5 grams of salt per day (one teaspoon)”.

Their 5 grams (5,000 mg) is already 75% of the low healthy limit, whereas the average they report (10 grams, or 10,000 mg) is right in the middle of the healthiest sweet spot.

This raises the question: Has WHO confused sodium mass with salt mass? And if so, either way, Why would we listen to an organization that confuses the mass of salt (NaCl) with sodium if they are ignorant of the 2014 meta-analysis?

This is a serious issue: the WHO’s stated goal is an across-the-globe reduction in salt intake by 30% - mandated. MANDATED.

Science shows that low salt intake is associated with an increased risk of mortality: Low salt intake has been associated with an increased risk of dementia and diabetes, among other conditions.

See: Low salt is associated with a 30% reduction in cognition. (See Studies linked in that article)

See: Low sodium is associated with diabetes.

WHO is not credible and WHO is not a reliable source of health information.

We have learned from Dr. Brownstein that salt is an essential part of an integrative holistic approach to health. In his book, “Salt Your Way to Health”, Dr. Brownstein writes:

“Unrefined salt is a vital substance that is a wonderful source of minerals. It helps to support the thyroid and adrenal glands. My clinical experience has shown that it is impossible to have an optimally functioning immune system when there is a salt-deficient state. Adding the right kind of salt to your diet can help:

• Fatigue

• Adrenal Disorders

• Immune System Function

• Thyroid Disorders

• Headaches

• Cholesterol Levels

• Blood Pressure”

We are SO lucky to have Dr. Brownstein on our faculty at IPAK-EDU. He has an entire lecture on the importance of salt to human health in his course, “Wholistic Approaches to Human Health”, which will be offered in the Fall of 2023.

Thanks to oryxdesertsalt.com, you can read this flyer written by Dr. Brownstein on the topic.

If we adopt WHO’s top-down ignorance, we’ll all be sicker as a result.

That comes as no surprise to readers of Popular Rationalism, but even as I’m writing this, I’m shocked that WHO confused salt mass with sodium mass. It makes one wonder if it’s intentional.

Either way, they are a dangerous organization spreading - and trying to enforce - misinformed public health policies.

They should just leave us - all of us - alone.

Reference

Graudal N, Jürgens G, Baslund B, Alderman MH. Compared with usual sodium intake, low- and excessive-sodium diets are associated with increased mortality: a meta-analysis. Am J Hypertens. 2014 Sep;27(9):1129-37. doi: 10.1093/ajh/hpu028. Epub 2014 Mar 20. PMID: 24651634. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24651634/.

Liberty Nation. Tedros - At the Heart of WHO Beats a Marxist.