Salt consumption carries serious health risks, such as increased chances of developing high blood pressure, among other problems. Now, members of the University of Alberta (Canada) have carried out the largest randomized clinical trial to date looking at lowering dietary sodium intake and its effect on patients with heart failure.
The research, which has been published in the journal The Lancet, has analyzed the health of 806 patients with heart failure from 26 medical centers in the United States, Canada, Chile, Colombia, New Zealand and Mexico. Half of them received nutritional advice that helped them reduce their sodium intake, while the rest continued with their usual eating habits.
Heart failure is a disorder in which the heart becomes too weak to pump blood effectively. This health problem is quite frequent, since it is estimated that it affects about 15 people out of every 1,000, especially from the age of 70, where the figure increases to 40 out of every 1,000.
Less salt and better quality of life
The results showed that although reducing sodium intake did not reduce patients’ visits to hospitals as a result of heart failure, nor did it reduce their chances of dying, it did improve symptoms of the disease, such as fatigue, cough and swelling, which translated into a better quality of life.
“The rule of thumb I’ve learned from dietitians is that anything in a bag, box, or can usually has more salt in it than you think. We can no longer make a general recommendation for all patients and say that limiting sodium intake will reduce the chances of dying or being in the hospital, but I can comfortably say that it could improve the quality of life for people in general.” explained Justin Ezekowitz, co-director of the study.
“The rule of thumb I’ve learned from dieticians is that anything in a bag, box, or can usually has more salt in it than you think.”
And it is that most of the salt that is ingested comes from processed foods or restaurant meals. Participants’ sodium intake before the study was 2,217 mg per day, just under a teaspoon, and the target for participants was to take 1,500 mg per day or less, which would be two-thirds of a teaspoon of salt. This represents the maximum amount recommended by Health Canada, both for patients with heart failure and for healthy people.
The researchers are enthusiastic about the findings and stress that people with this health problem, and healthy people too, should reduce their intake of salt in food in order to improve their health and quality of life, and all with a simple and small change in eating habits.
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