Somebody tell Michael Bloomberg that his obsession over limiting salt consumption may be doing more harm than good.  Actually, he probably just read about it at his breakfast table in the New York Times (while eating a low-sodium breakfast, no doubt).  Gina Kolata writes in the Times: The salt equation taught to doctors for more than 200 years is not hard to understand. The body relies on this essential mineral for a variety of functions, including blood pressure and the transmission of nerve impulses. Sodium levels in the blood must be carefully maintained. If you eat a lot of salt – sodium chloride – you will become thirsty and drink water, diluting your blood enough to maintain the proper concentration of sodium. Ultimately you will excrete much of the excess salt and water in urine. The theory is intuitive and simple. And it may be completely wrong. New studies of Russian cosmonauts, held in isolation to simulate...(Read Full Post)