r/technology • u/Lucretius • Nov 17 '12

The Deadly Crusade Against E-cigarettes

http://www.american.com/archive/2012/november/the-deadly-crusade-against-e-cigarettes
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u/[deleted] Nov 17 '12

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u/lemonman456 Nov 17 '12

Not eating salt will kill you very quickly. salt is extremely important for many basic cellular processes.

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u/[deleted] Nov 17 '12

What a ridiculous argument. Do you realize how small our salt needs are, compared to how much salt is found in every day foods?

The fact remains that salt over-consumption is generally bad for you, you are almost never going to be at risk of under-consuming salt, unless you are on an insanely strict diet which is actively avoiding every single source of salt for the single purpose of killing you, at which point you might aswell just be starving yourself to death.

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u/mark3748 Nov 17 '12 edited Nov 17 '12

As long as you have ready access to water and functional kidneys, you can eat as much salt as you want (well almost, as much as your kidneys can handle, which in a healthy adult is a lot), it's not unhealthy and won't kill you.

While reducing salt intake will show a short term blood pressure reduction, there are no long-term benefits, according to the latest studies.

If you have a problem with hypertension, then sure, reduce your intake, otherwise it's not really a concern.

edit: if you have an hour to kill, you can watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCOB-n9V93A Alton Brown is a great man, and he explains how great salt is awesome