Posted on 04/04/2022 1:34:41 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
For the past century people with weak hearts have been told to lower their salt intake, but until now there has been little scientific evidence behind the recommendation.
The largest randomized clinical trial to look at sodium reduction and heart failure reported results in The Lancet, and the findings were mixed.
Though reducing salt intake did not lead to fewer emergency visits, hospitalizations or deaths for patients with heart failure, the researchers did find an improvement in symptoms such as swelling, fatigue and coughing, as well as better overall quality of life.
"We can no longer put a blanket recommendation across all patients and say that limiting sodium intake is going to reduce your chances of either dying or being in hospital, but I can say comfortably that it could improve people's quality of life overall," said lead author Justin Ezekowitz.
The target sodium intake was 1,500 milligrams per day—or the equivalent of about two-thirds of a teaspoon of salt—which is the Health Canada recommended limit for most Canadians.
Before the study, patients consumed an average of 2,217 mg per day, or just under one teaspoon. After one year of study, the usual care group consumed an average of 2,072 mg of sodium daily, while those who received nutritional guidance consumed 1,658 mg per day, a reduction of a bit less than a quarter teaspoon equivalent.
They did find consistent improvements for the low-sodium group using three different quality of life assessment tools, as well as the New York Heart Association heart failure classification.
Ezekowitz said that he will continue to advise heart failure patients to cut back on salt, but now he will be clearer about the expected benefits. He urges clinicians to recognize that dietary changes can be a useful intervention for some of their patients.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
We do need to eat more potassium and stay more hydrated than we do, but our kidneys keep the true healthy balance for us, as long as we feed our bodies enough of all three substances.
It’s interesting to note how they dance around the findings, because the study researchers know what they’ve been telling people has been a lie for decades.
I had to delete out multiple paragraphs of advice to limit sodium to fit the excerpt limit, but they admit sodium limitations can’t be justified, in any case.
Our medical “Establishment” cannot be trusted with even basic information. Sodium, food-based cholesterol, saturated fat, carbohydrates, low fat—all of these things have been 180 degrees WRONG, and your friendly doctor has fed you this bull.
shocker,....another ‘new’ study. : /
People die from not getting enough sodium. We carry salt pills on long hikes. I remember trying to share one with someone who was obviously suffering from hyponatremia, the abnormal condition of not having enough sodium in the blood and being rebuffed because she was on a low-sodium diet. Lots of times people refuse salt because their doctor tells them to limit salt intake.
My mom (90) has been hospitalized with low sodium. She was flushing her system out with water. We have her on Power Aid. Doing a lot better.
Also was told that Mobic may also contribute to the problem.
When I work hard in the yard for many hours under the Florida sun, I feel exhausted and weak. Only thing which revives me is sodium rich foods like pepperoni pizza, potato chips and a slice or 2 of bacon washed down with a large glass of Coca-Cola.
This is bulldickey. The issue with salt is that it raises blood pressure. This part is plain chemistry. If you are young and healthy and active, you can eat all the salt you want because if you are active are going to sweat it out anyway. That’s why we gave salt pills to troops in VN. Hard to fight a war in 100 degree heat without becoming dehydrated. Beyond that the medical issues become vague, but this much will still be clear: any condition for which high blood pressure is a risk factor, will be affected by excessive salt intake.
My wife is, by most standards, a salt addict. She salts her food before ever tasting it. She’s done this for years. Her doctor always congratulates her on her blood pressure! She’s going to be 77 this year.
I was in the ER last fall for dehydration.
I haven’t used salt on my food in over two decades. I added up my sodium intake and it varied from 350 mg/day to 1,200 mg/day for every day I ate at home. You die if you average too many days below 500 mg/day.
This was new to me. I take great pains to stay on top of so much health-related information, but willingly chose to disregard studies I previous read about sodium intake needing to be in the 3,000+ mg range, in favor of what doctors and the media constantly say, and not having an apparent issue with what I was getting. I felt fine, but was chronically dehydrated.
I should have known to ignore the “Medical Establishment” on this, too, in favor of what I knew outside, but, since I felt great, I figured the media and doctors were fine to follow (plus, we had the same unused salt shakers and Morton Salt container from 20 years ago, so we saved on buying salt).
Hi sodium can be bad only if one has a sedentary life style and has obesity to go along with it. I eat lots of readymade frozen foods, all of which are very high in sodium. But at age 82, that has no bad effect on me because I exercise daily on a treadmill with wrist weights, followed by workout on a weight machine. Shockingly I have new muscles under arms this year due the work with weights. Aren’t old people supposed to lose muscle mass?
I have reached a conclusion that old people get weak bones, lose muscle mass, develop bad balance and get joint pains because they avoid exercise like it was covid virus.
Sodium raises systolic blood pressure about 3.5 points every 1,000 mg.
If that level is a concern, then watch it, but the alternative is to also raise your potassium, and have your kidneys equalize it to where your body actually needs it.
God gave us kidneys for just that reason.
I remember trying to share one with someone who was obviously suffering from hyponatremia, the abnormal condition of not having enough sodium in the blood and being rebuffed because she was on a low-sodium diet.
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I heard someone say that if blood sodium is low, the body reduces sodium and increases magnesium in urine.
Are you blaming sugar for what seed oils do?
You’re much better off limiting your carb intake. Get off the junk food and sugar and your inflammation and edema goes way down
Keto/low carb + fasting is how you treat lifestyle diseases of the heart and T2 diabetes.
I’ll go with my doctors’ opinions on these things.
I’ve always gone by....my body knows what it wants...I’ll buy a bag of chips...eat a few for a couple of days...and throw the rest away.
A couple slices of cold cantaloupe sprinkled with salt and pepper does the trick for me, every time. Bacon of course, works for whatever ails you.
Morton's raises blood pressure because it is processed under very high temperatures.
Celtic sea salt does not raise my blood pressure. It is sun dried.
Do your own experiment.
Get two glasses and fill each with water.
Put a teaspoon of mortons in one and celtic in the other.
Leave overnight.
In the morning you will likely see the mortons still on the bottom.
Celtic will be dissolved.
My blood pressure is perfect (117/75) and I salt everything I can - all the time 😋
So processed crap food is usually loaded up with salt. Did they consider those with high sodium were eating that type of diet and that was fhe real cause of the problems?
I’m a saltaholic but only eat high grade sea salt like celtic.
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