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4 things you should know about sodium consumption

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High levels of sodium can force water into the blood vessels, leading to hypertension and also increasing risk for stroke, HF, osteoporosis, stomach cancer, kidney disease, kidney stones, enlarged heart muscle and headaches, according to the American Heart Association. One-third of Americans have hypertension, according to recent estimates, which can lead to heart disease, the No. 1 cause of death in the country. According to AHA estimates, 90% of adults are expected to develop high BP in their lifetime.

With that in mind, here are 4 things you should know about sodium consumption.  

1. Safety and efficacy of restricting sodium in HF patients is still contested.

   Although current guidelines advise sodium restriction for patients with HF, data on the effect on HF outcomes are inconsistent. To further assess the effect of sodium restriction in this population, Rami Doukky, MD, MSc, professor of medicine, preventive medicine and radiology and chief of the division of cardiology at John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County, Chicago, and colleagues analyzed data from the HART trial and found that sodium restriction may increase the risk for death or HF hospitalization in symptomatic patients with HF. Read More

    

2. A large percent of sodium intake among Americans comes from processed or prepared foods.

   The FDA has issued a draft guidance to the food industry on voluntarily reducing sodium in processed and commercially prepared foods. The draft guidance recommends 2-year and 10-year voluntary targets to gradually reduce sodium intake to 2,300 mg per day. Current mean sodium intake in the United States is approximately 3,400 mg per day.

   In an editorial published in JAMA, Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH, director of the CDC, wrote, “It is estimated that a decrease in sodium intake by as little as 400 mg [per day] could prevent 32,000 [MI] and 20,000 strokes annually. Reducing sodium intake by 1,200 mg [per] day may reduce the number of people with hypertension by nearly 11 million. Over a decade, this reduction could prevent up to an estimated 500,000 deaths and may save an estimated $100 billion in health care costs.” Read More

    

3. Excess sodium has been linked to an increase in CV-related deaths.

   Dietary sodium intake in excess of 2 g per day, as recommended by the WHO, was associated with 1.65 million deaths due to CV-related causes in 2010, according to a recent report. Read More

    

4. There are conflicting schools of thought on sodium intake levels, but more research is needed to find a definitive answer.

A systematic review and meta-analysis indicating that a low-sodium diet may increase risk for CV events and mortality in adults with and without hypertension has come under fire from the AHA. Read More