Andrew Mente, PhD in Epidemiology, explains the flaws in the DASH diet study claiming that a low salt diet can reduce the risk of heart disease. He also presents contradicting findings based on another study he has conducted.
A/Prof. Andrew Mente - 'Dietary Sodium Consumption and Cardiovascular Disease and Mortality'
June 2018
A/Prof. Andrew Mente received his doctoral degree in Epidemiology from the University of Toronto. He completed post-doctoral training in cardiovascular epidemiology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, and is currently an Associate Professor in Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact at the Population Health Research Institute, McMaster University. He has received a Research Fellowship from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, and a Research Early Career Award from Hamilton Health Sciences.
Dr. Mente has studied the role of dietary sodium and cardiovascular diseases. His team conducted the largest ever epidemiologic study of the impact of sodium intake on blood pressure, cardiovascular disease risk, and mortality in the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study, a study of over 100,000 individuals from 18 low, middle and high income countries on 5 continents.
Recently, Dr. Mente has co-led an investigation on the role of fats and carbohydrates in cardiovascular disease in the PURE cohort. He also has conducted numerous large systematic reviews of diet and cardiovascular disease including saturated fat. He is currently co-leading nutrition work in the PURE study investigating the impact of individual foods on cardiovascular markers and cardiovascular disease events.
