1/27/2020 0 Comments Why I’m a Little Salty About the Sodium Myths: Does Lowering Your Sodium Levels Really Protect You From Heart Disease?
The Research However, in the case of sodium, this cause-and-effect relationship seems to be skewed. Researchers from across Australia came together to review the available literature in 2016, and were surprised to find that “the association between sodium intake and cardiovascular outcomes cannot be based on blood pressure alone…. The current dietary sodium guidelines have been challenged because there is emerging evidence to suggest an associated increase in morbidity and mortality with lower dietary sodium intake in high-risk groups, including those with diabetes.” A year earlier, a systematic review conducted in Canada criticized the previous studies for being too limited, concluding that “current evidence would suggest a recommendation for moderate sodium intake in the general population, with targeting the lower end of the moderate range among those with hypertension.” The reason for this may be the mechanism by which sodium causes high blood pressure. Traditionally, blood pressure is caused by plaque buildup in our arteries, which makes our heart work harder to get the blood through a thinning pipe. I mentioned before that sodium is an electrolyte (along with chloride and potassium), which means that its function in our bodies is water regulation.
Excess sodium impairs the kidney’s ability to do its job of filtering the blood. Through osmosis, well-functioning kidneys will draw the excess water out of the blood before shipping the vessels off to the rest of your body. However, when the proportion of sodium : potassium is out of whack, too much water remains mixed in with the blood vessels, and that water then puts the extra strain on your arteries. Implications The lack of research to support the previously-held belief that cutting sodium protects our heart despite the well-recorded association with high blood pressure leads us to the hypothesis that arterial pressure caused by water may be less concerning than that caused by plaque. Of course, almost every source I’ve come across does agree that, while cutting out sodium altogether is worse for health than an excess of it, hypertension patients should aim to reduce their salt intake to less than 1,500 mg per day. None of the information I’ve provided should ever substitute advise from a personal physician.
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