New Heart Assn. Diet Guidelines Urge Less Salt

The American Heart Assn. announced a major revision of its influential dietary guidelines Tuesday, with more specific advice on reducing cholesterol and fats and first-time recommendations on how people can limit use of sodium and alcohol.

Along with reducing fats, the new guidelines say that Americans should cut sodium intake by eating less than a level teaspoon of salt daily and should hold their alcohol consumption to less than the equivalent of two beers or two glasses of wine each day.

The American diet, high in fats, sodium and calories, remains a major factor in the development of heart and blood vessel disease, despite a 29% drop in the heart disease death rate over the last 20 years, the association said.

Revises Focus

The new recommendations emphasize consuming or restricting certain kinds of foods in proportion to the total calories a person needs each day to maintain his or her ideal weight.

Past guidelines focused too much on eating or not eating certain amounts of food and may not have been realistic for people who consume smaller portions because of body size, particularly women, said Dr. W. Virgil Brown of Mount Sinai Medical School in New York, past chairman of the committee that drafted the new guidelines.

The association recommended that people consult their doctors about their ideal weight, as measured by the 1959 Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. scale, and adjust their calorie intake to reach and maintain this weight.